Heritage Studies and Public History Minor

Heritage Studies and Public History (HSPH) are the publicly engaged and community-accountable practices of historical scholarship, whether based in archival research, archaeology, material culture studies, architecture, preservation, or landscape studies. Although such a commitment to public interpretation, education, and preservation is part of all these disciplines, it is of tremendous benefit to heritage professionals to understand the connections and common issues in all of these perspectives, because the heritage field is increasingly characterized by such interdisciplinary integration. The master's level minor is intended for students who are in programs preparing them for work in the heritage field, such as anthropology, art history, architecture/historic preservation, urban and regional planning, history, American studies, and other allied fields. The doctoral minor is intended for students who plan to work in heritage/public history positions outside of academia, or to be academic scholars whose work includes community-engaged research. The HSPH program and grad minor take advantage of the deep scholarly expertise in these fields at the University of Minnesota, as well as the Minnesota Historical Society's extensive resources and expertise, to offer unparalleled training in the theory and methods of heritage and public history studies at the graduate level.