What is Public History?

Summary

In this video, historian Thomas Kovan explores the concept of public history as a field that engages with a broader audience beyond academia. He discusses the challenges of defining public history due to its diverse interpretations across countries. Kovan outlines three key principles: doing history with a public perspective, broadening the meaning of historical practice, and the necessity of new skills for historians to communicate history effectively. He emphasizes the participatory aspect, suggesting a democratization of history-making and the importance of collaboration and shared authority with various stakeholders.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Public history is a field that emphasizes a public perspective, involving a broader audience beyond academic peers.
• 🌟 The project 'Public History as the New Citizen Science of the Past' is based at the University of Luxembourg and aims to redefine how history is done, where, and by whom.
• 🔍 Defining public history is complex due to its varying approaches and translations across different countries, reflecting its diverse nature.
• 📚 The first principle of public history is doing history with a public perspective, which means history is done for and in public spaces, and with a larger audience in mind.
• 🌳 The 'tree of public history' metaphor illustrates the broadening of historians' roles from interpreting sources to creating, communicating, and considering the uses of history.
• 💬 Public history involves new skills for historians, such as public speaking, scriptwriting, and learning to write for different media to effectively communicate history.
• 🤝 The participatory aspect of public history calls for collaboration with partners, institutions, and communities, leading to a democratization of the history-making process.
• 🔧 Sharing authority is a key concept in public history, where historians work with other experts and community members, balancing rigorous methodology with diverse perspectives.
• 🎯 Public history raises questions about the role of historians in contemporary societies, challenging traditional boundaries and inviting a reevaluation of historical practice.
• 🔗 The International Federation for Public History aims to connect projects, people, and events to share knowledge and best practices in the field of public history.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Thomas Kovan's project on public history?

Thomas Kovan's project on public history is focused on presenting his views on public history as a field, discussing how history is done, where it is done, and who does it. It is based at the University of Luxembourg and aims to reinvent the questions related to the practice of history.

What does the term 'public history' encompass according to Thomas Kovan?

Public history, as described by Thomas Kovan, is a way of doing history with a public perspective. It involves doing history for the public, in public spaces, and with the public, which includes a broad audience and various types of media and spaces.

Why is defining 'public history' considered tricky, and how does it vary?

Defining 'public history' is tricky because there is no single definition, and the approach can vary significantly according to country and context. It can be difficult to translate, as seen with different translations in Brazil, Poland, and Italy, reflecting the diversity in its interpretation and application.

What are the three main principles of doing public history that Thomas Kovan discusses?

The three main principles Thomas Kovan discusses are: 1) doing history with a public perspective, 2) broadening the meaning of doing history, and 3) the need for new skills to communicate history effectively to a broad audience.

How does public history differ from traditional academic history in terms of audience?

Public history differs from traditional academic history in that it is done for a larger audience, not just academic peers or scholars. It aims to communicate history to the general public through various mediums and in public spaces.

What is the significance of doing history 'in public' as mentioned by Thomas Kovan?

Doing history 'in public' signifies conducting historical work outside of traditional academic settings like universities, in spaces such as archives, through guided tours, podcasts, websites, and more. It emphasizes the accessibility and visibility of historical work to the public.

What metaphor does Thomas Kovan use to describe the broadened activity of the historian in public history?

Thomas Kovan uses the metaphor of a tree to describe the broadened activity of the historian in public history. The roots represent creating sources, the trunk is interpreting sources, the branches are the various ways of communicating history, and the leaves are the different uses of history by various publics.

What new skills are required for historians to effectively practice public history according to Thomas Kovan?

For historians to practice public history effectively, they need to master new skills such as public speaking, script writing, and learning different writing styles for various mediums like podcasts, museum labels, and captions.

How does the concept of 'sharing authority' come into play in public history?

In public history, 'sharing authority' involves historians working with partners, institutions, and communities, recognizing and incorporating their expertise and perspectives. This collaboration ensures a more inclusive and democratic approach to history-making.

What challenges does public history pose to the traditional role of historians?

Public history challenges the traditional role of historians by asking them to move beyond source interpretation to also consider the creation, communication, and various uses of history. It requires them to collaborate with non-historians and share authority, which can be controversial but enriches the historical narrative.