MA in Public History

Overview: Who Are Public Historians?

Public historians are front-line interpreters bringing historical knowledge to a broad public audience beyond the traditional academic classroom. Working in such varied institutions as museums, government agencies and heritage destination sites, public historians expand on the research skills and content knowledge of traditionally trained historians to incorporate new sources of historical evidence such as oral history and material culture.

How Are Public Historians Trained at CCSU?

At CCSU, our M.A. Program in Public History combines academic coursework, job-specific skills and field-based experience to prepare students for work in museums, historical societies, local and community history and heritage tourism. These careers offer exciting opportunities for preserving, interpreting and researching the past. Many of our students are also professional educators who use their degree to energize their classroom teaching, while others are dedicated amateur historians committed to exploring their communities’ stories.

With CCSU’s central location in New Britain, the M.A. Program in Public History uses Connecticut as its field lab, drawing on the state’s wealth of museums, historical societies, archives and historic sites. CCSU maintains institutional affiliations with Amistad America and the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society. CCSU’s History Department also includes the Stanislaus A. Blejwas Endowed Chair in Polish and Polish American Studies, a distinctive academic chair which owes its existence in large part to New Britain’s Polish-American immigrant community.

See podcast tour of New Britain's Walnut Hill Park, developed by Public History students at CCSU.