Public History is most identifiable as the presentation of history and culture outside of the traditional classroom setting. These pursuits include, but are by no means limited to, museums, historic preservation, historic site management, archival management, cultural resource management, and policy applications. Working from this tradition, Western Michigan University's Public History Program, established in 1980, stresses an interdisciplinary approach to the field. It does so in the hope of preparing professionals to engage the widest public audience in the continually emerging questions of history and culture.

WMU’s Public History Program seeks to train socially responsible professionals who can facilitate historical awareness in diverse venues on the local and regional level. With the aim of making history a useful educational and planning tool in communities, WMU’s Public History Program employs a unique and rich blend of resources and methodologies and emphasizes public history practice in ecological terms through the examination of regional environments, places, and economic systems.

Program Links
Program Information (pdf)
Faculty List

Image by Kriss Szkurlatowski

Public History Faculty at WMU

Borish, Linda J. American Studies; women, sport and health history; rural history

Brandão, José António. American Indian; Canada; Comparative Colonial

Carlson, Lewis. Recent U.S.; popular culture and sport; oral history

Carlson, Sharon. Director, Archives and Regional History Collections. History of Women; History of Libraries; United States History

Coryell, Janet. 19th-century U.S.; Documentary Editing

Kachun, Mitch. African American History; 19th-century United States

Norris, R. Patrick. American History; American Political Thought; Intellectual History; Museum Studies; Local History