HSPH8005

This course will operate as a series of lectures and discussions in which leaders of historical organizations explain how they are navigating major changes and challenges associated with their professional practice. Speakers in this course will be invited and organized by the instructor in coordination with HSPH faculty and colleagues at the Minnesota Historical Society. Topics to be presented by speakers may include: making history accessible and meaningful to increasingly diverse audiences; interpreting difficult or traumatic histories; gathering, storing, and providing access to physical collections in a digital age; engaging the public in historical research and interpretation; the financial management and leadership of historical organizations. The course has several objectives: students will learn from, and have the opportunity to meet, leaders of historical organizations located throughout Minnesota and the United States; it will also be a cohort-building opportunity as students in the first and second years of the program meet regularly in this course to hear from professional practitioners and discuss presentations and readings.