Graduate Program in Public History

Public History Program Director :
Dr. Lynn Denton
Phone: 512-245-6196
E-mail: pd16@txstate.edu


The Department of History at Texas State offers graduate students an M.A. degree in history with an emphasis in public history. This program prepares students for public history careers in historic preservation, heritage tourism, historic site interpretation, and museum and archives management.

Public history students learn to apply skills and methods to the study, documentation, preservation, and management of cultural resources. Practicums and internships provide students with the opportunity to work with community members, resource managers, and regulatory agency staffs on collaborative projects.

The program combines traditional historical study and training for a variety of history-related professions. The curriculum takes full advantage of established scholars in the Department of History, experienced professionals on campus and region-wide, and cooperating institutions throughout Texas.


Program :
Texas State's Public History Program provides students a foundation of both graduate-level training in history and experience in applying historical skills to a public beyond the classroom. The 36-hour M.A. degree program consists of 18 hours in public history course work and 18 hours in traditional history courses, and can be completed within two years.


Area Resources :
Within a one-hundred mile radius there are over fifty history museums, archives, and historic sites. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, The Alamo, and Witte Museum in San Antonio; National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg; The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin History Center, Center for American History, and O. Henry House in Austin; Katherine Ann Porter House in Kyle; Center for the Study of the Southwest.

The National Park Service operates several parks in the vicinity. And a statewide system of historic and recreational parks, some built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, are managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Many state parks and historic sites are within easy distance.

Nearby, students can study the landscapes of Texas's early Hispanic and German settlers, as well as those of the state's ranching heritage. San Marcos's own Aquarena Springs alone provides an opportunity to study historic architecture, heritage tourism, environmental history, and community history.

In the Texas capital, Austin, numerous public agencies are charged with historic preservation, cultural resource management, and archives and collections management of resources for the entire state. They include the Texas State Archives and Library, Texas State Historical Association, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, State Preservation Board, and Texas Historical Commission.

On the Texas State campus students can take courses and engage in public history projets with the Center for Texas Music History or study heritage tourism and environmental history at the Texas Rivers Center, located on campus at the headwaters of the spring-fed San Marcos River.

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