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Program Overview
Public History Program
The Public History Program within the Rutgers University New Brunswick History Department offers students, faculty, and staff opportunities to participate in public historical engagement through coursework, experiential learning, events, and collaborative projects.
Program Description
Public history is history at work in the world. Practitioners of public history work in museums, archives, historic sites, landmarks, architecture firms, government offices, and beyond, where they aim not just to share historical information with diverse audiences, but to critically examine how history is presented.
Certificate in Public History
The program offers an undergraduate Certificate in Public History with exciting course offerings.
Public History Internship
The Public History Internship program connects students with opportunities to work and learn hands-on in the field of public history.
Partnerships
The program has partnerships with historic sites and agencies in New Jersey.
Student Engagement
Rutgers public history students build impressive resumes of empowering research, interpretation, presentation, and outreach engagement. In recent years, these students have participated in the curation of exhibits at Rutgers Special Collections & University Archives and the New Brunswick Free Public Library, collaborated with the Humanities Action Lab, consulted on the construction of mobile apps featuring historical data, created and offered historical walking tours of the Rutgers campus as part of the Scarlet and Black Project.
Program Director
Since 2016, the program has been directed by a public historian and scholar of early American history who has worked in the field as an archivist, curator, research analyst, and consultant, Dr. Kristin O’Brassill-Kulfan.
Featured Public History Alumni
- Caroline Peters, Class of 2019:
- "The Public History education I received during my time at Rutgers has set me up for a fulfilling career as a Historic Preservationist. My work has provided so many experiences and adventures, and a background in Public History allows me to connect with communities and stakeholders across the country. I am currently working for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in their Historic Preservation department to help administer the state’s first Historic Tax Credit."
- Sherine Hamade, Class of 2019:
- "Since I've graduated...I've done everything from costumed interpretation and exhibit work in Florida to museum education and natural historical interpretation in Massachusetts. Though I've had these myriad jobs in various historical fields over the years, now I've settled into a permanent and full-time position as the new site interpreter for Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park under the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. I will forever be grateful to have found myself part of Rutgers' Public History program, as I really do think that the cumulative practical knowledge and hands-on professional experience it provided made me so open to and comfortable with taking on so many different projects over the years. I really love what I do, and hope to cap off my undergraduate academic experience with a completed Masters in the near future."
Department of History
The Department of History offers various programs, including:
- Academics
- Undergraduate
- Public History Program
- Graduate
- Master's in Global and Comparative History
- About
- People
- Faculty
- Faculty by Field
- Faculty Emeriti
- Affiliated Faculty
- Graduate Students
- Staff Directory
- Lecturers
- History Librarians
- In Memoriam
- News & Events
- News
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- Newsletters
- Resources
- Affiliated Centers
- All Affiliated Centers
- Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis
- Rutgers Oral History Archives
- Rutgers British Studies Center
- Thomas A. Edison Papers
- Lectures & Projects
- Distinguished Lectures in European History
- Global South Workshop
- Interpreting American History Lecture Series
- Medieval and Early Modern Data Bank
- Support Us
- Contact Us
Undergraduate Quicklinks
- Academic Calendar
- Course Schedule Planner
- SAS Academic Advising
- SAS Core Curriculum
- University Schedule Of Classes
- Web Registration System
Public History Program Details
- Public History Program
- Certificate in Public History
- Courses
- Public History Internship
- Partnerships
- Forms / Applications
Featured Public History Alumni
Caroline Peters, Class of 2019
"The Public History education I received during my time at Rutgers has set me up for a fulfilling career as a Historic Preservationist. My work has provided so many experiences and adventures, and a background in Public History allows me to connect with communities and stakeholders across the country. I am currently working for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in their Historic Preservation department to help administer the state’s first Historic Tax Credit."
Sherine Hamade, Class of 2019
"Since I've graduated...I've done everything from costumed interpretation and exhibit work in Florida to museum education and natural historical interpretation in Massachusetts. Though I've had these myriad jobs in various historical fields over the years, now I've settled into a permanent and full-time position as the new site interpreter for Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park under the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. I will forever be grateful to have found myself part of Rutgers' Public History program, as I really do think that the cumulative practical knowledge and hands-on professional experience it provided made me so open to and comfortable with taking on so many different projects over the years. I really love what I do, and hope to cap off my undergraduate academic experience with a completed Masters in the near future."
Program Director
Since 2016, the program has been directed by a public historian and scholar of early American history who has worked in the field as an archivist, curator, research analyst, and consultant, Dr. Kristin O’Brassill-Kulfan.
