About

Area Advisor: Matthew Frye Jacobson (matthew.jacobson@yale.edu)

Public Humanities at Yale approaches the relationship between history and the public as a two-way street:  it is not merely a matter of presenting academic work to ”the public,” but of also of developing historical knowledge in critical dialogue with various publics.  In addition to studying the elements of public historical work that are stressed in traditional Public History units–exhibition, design, public writing, archives–students are encouraged to engage oral history and ethnography as critical tools for a dialogic historical practice.  In addition to regular courses offered in Oral History, Ethnography, Public Memory, Public Writing and Community Studies, the Ethnography and Oral History Working Group and the Oral History micro-credential workshops have provided important settings for developing and sharing this work.