Partners in Public History: Training Students and Engaging Communities

FAIN: ZH-258522-18

St. Mary's College of California (Moraga, CA 94575-2715)
Aeleah Soine (Project Director: May 2017 to present)

A public history program that includes undergraduate courses; partnerships with immigrant community organizations (including internships); and a National History Day mentorship program for middle school students.

The History Department at Saint Mary’s College of California seeks a Humanities Access grant to engage in the study and practice of Public History. It is embarking on a three-part program: 1) new undergraduate courses introducing students to Public History theory and practice through coursework, research, and public presentation; 2) partnerships with Asian-American and LatinX immigrant community organizations including internships providing direct services and a digital humanities project for the primary benefit of the organizations; and 3) a History Day mentorship program introducing middle-school children to historical inquiry and research and to the prospect of college attendance. The project will primarily benefit young adults; it will also benefit families and youth associated with community partners; and middle-school children (age 12-14) in partner schools.

Media Coverage

History Day: A Pipeline Into History and the Liberal Arts (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Ginny Prior
Publication: Saint Mary's College of California
Date: 3/12/2018
Abstract: Saint Mary's hosted its first-ever History Day on March 10.
URL: http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/History-Day-A-Pipeline-Into-History-and-the-Liberal-Arts

Margaret Salazar-Porzio Speaks to History Department About Diversity in Smithsonian Exhibits (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Linda Lenhoff
Publication: Saint Mary's College of California
Date: 10/1/2018
URL: http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/margaret-salazar-porzio-speaks-to-history-department-about-diversity-in-smithsonian-exhibits

Associated Products

HIST 181: Voices of Asia America in Public History (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: HIST 181: Voices of Asia America in Public History
Author: E. Elena Songster, Ph.D.
Abstract: This course introduces students to the field of public history through the study of Asian-American experiences and narratives of immigration, ethnic identity, community and social movement formation, political citizenship, cultural traditions, economic and labor patterns, and popular culture. Public history broadly studies the preservation, interpretation, and (re-)presentation of historical narratives in public spaces such as museums, multi-media (films, tv series, music, theater/art), memorials, popular literature and non-fiction, genealogy projects, historically- themed content for children, and commercial use of historical themes or narratives (ads, theme parks, etc.). As a collaborative discussion and workshop-based course, students should expect a Seminar-style classroom experience enriched by guest speakers/participants from campus and Bay Area communities and field trips to historic sites, museums, community institutions, or food/culture experiences. In addition, the second half of each on-campus meeting will be dedicated to workshops on the theory and practice of public history, in which students will bring their individual community engagement experiences to the final class project of creating and presenting a small public history exhibit on campus that showcases both their classroom learning and experiential observation and application.
Year: 2018
Audience: Undergraduate

Creating Communities of Courage: The Challenges of Public History at the Smithsonian (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Creating Communities of Courage: The Challenges of Public History at the Smithsonian
Abstract: On September 24-25, 2018, we welcomed Dr. Salazar-Porzio to campus for a faculty workshop, lunch with students, a public talk, and to celebrate Ester Hernandez (an artist currently featured in our Museum of Art). Her expertise was helpful to us in preparing and creating enthusiasm for our interdisciplinary, community-engagement approach to public history among colleagues in Anthropology, Environmental Studies, Performing Arts, the Library, the Museum of Art, and the Institute for Latino and Latin American Studies (ILaLS).
Author: Margaret Salazar-Porzio, Ph.D.
Date: 9/25/2018
Location: Saint Mary's College

A Conversation between Professor David Ayon, author of Power Shift and one of the leaders profiled in the book, Maria Elena Durazo, '75 General Vice-President of Unite Here (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: A Conversation between Professor David Ayon, author of Power Shift and one of the leaders profiled in the book, Maria Elena Durazo, '75 General Vice-President of Unite Here
Abstract: A Conversation between Professor David Ayon, author of Power Shift and one of the leaders profiled in the book, Maria Elena Durazo, '75 General Vice-President of Unite Here.
Author: David Ayon
Author: Maria Elena Durazo
Date: 10/22/2018
Location: Saint Mary's College

Women’s and Gender Studies 126 and History 181: Engaging Communities through Public History: 25 Years of Women’s and Gender Studies at Saint Mary’s College (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Women’s and Gender Studies 126 and History 181: Engaging Communities through Public History: 25 Years of Women’s and Gender Studies at Saint Mary’s College
Author: Myrna Santiago
Abstract: Course content. This is a history research seminar. That means that students will produce a 20-page (5,000 words) research paper with a poster for public presentation at the end of the term. The topic students will research will be the history of the Women’s and Gender Studies program, which is celebrating its XXV Anniversary this academic year (1993-2018). Students will develop their research questions, conduct their investigations in the College Archives and in private faculty archives, do oral histories with people involved in the program’s origins and evolution, and write up the history of the program.
Year: 2019
Audience: Undergraduate

HIST 182: History Mentors (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: HIST 182: History Mentors
Author: E. Elena Songster, Ph.D.
Abstract: The History Mentors course is a .25 designed as a Community Engagement class is to train our students to engage in teaching and outreach to local primary and secondary school students who will be participating in the annual National History Day competition hosted each year in March by SMC. Students will first learn pedagogical techniques to assist elementary and secondary students in conducting historical research and in creating a formal display of their projects. SMC students will be paired with local participating schools, offer research mentorship at the local schools, meet students on the SMC campus and guide them in doing research in our own library, and participate as a judge on National History Day. The bulk of the class will take place during the Fall semester with the additional work as a judge the following March. Based on the FYAC time-structure model this class—which has most of its time obligations in the fall and some limited time requirements for the spring is a Fall-Spring sequence for a total of one .25 unit class.
Year: 2019
Audience: Undergraduate

Exploring Public History in Washington D.C.: Museum Curation, Controversies, and the Role of the Historian (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Exploring Public History in Washington D.C.: Museum Curation, Controversies, and the Role of the Historian
Author: Independent Study
Abstract: This independent study course is designed to prepare and support a public history intern during their internship experience with the Smithsonian National American Museum of History. Course content and graded work are separate from the internship itself but will encourage students to reflect upon their internship experience and the expertise of their Smithsonian mentors to deepen their consideration of enduring theoretical, methodological, and ethical challenges in the historical profession and public historical literacy.
Year: 2019
Audience: Undergraduate

Public History and the Voices of Asian America (Exhibition)
Title: Public History and the Voices of Asian America
Curator: E. Elena Songster
Abstract: View samples of the formal class exhibit for HIST-181: Public History and the Voices of Asian America created in Fall 2018.
Year: 2018

National History Day- Contra Costa County (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: National History Day- Contra Costa County
Abstract: NHD introduces school children to historical inquiry and research while helping them to see themselves as historical thinkers and future college students through college student mentorship and campus visits.
Author: History Department
Date: 3/2/2019
Location: Soda Center, Saint Mary's College

Oral History & Gender Panel (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Oral History & Gender Panel
Abstract: On March 7, 2019, the History Department hosted a panel of local practitioners of oral history, who provided attendees with references to best practices and challenged them to consider the limits of effective and ethical uses of oral history methods, including the ability to illuminate the human dimensions of stories while cautioning against harming their subjects.
Author: Kathryn Nasstrom
Author: Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo
Author: Jessie Turner
Date: 3/7/2019
Location: Saint Mary's College

History 181: Immigrant Voices at Saint Mary’s College (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: History 181: Immigrant Voices at Saint Mary’s College
Author: Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo
Abstract: An understanding of U.S. immigration history (major periods, themes, problems) An understanding of current U.S. immigration policy, attitudes toward immigrants, the factors driving immigration, and the experience and contributions of varied immigrant groups An understanding of and ability to apply oral history methodology and practice to a community-based project An understanding of and ability to apply public history methodology and practice to a community-based project
Year: 2020
Audience: Undergraduate

Medievalism and the Bay Area (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Medievalism and the Bay Area
Author: Brother Charles
Abstract: This course will be a study of the modern uses of the medieval past. Medievalism has been defined as "the ongoing process of recreating, reinventing and reenacting medieval culture in postmedieval times" (Elizabeth Emery and Richard Utz, eds., Medievalism: Key Critical Terms, Cambridge: 2017, p. 2). The topic is very much to the fore in contemporary culture and has even entered the political arena with the controversy over some extremist groups use of medieval themes and imagery. We will explore this and the many uses of medievalism today. A central focus of the course, moreover, will be to study several Bay Area churches for a profile of the elements of medieval art and architecture employed in their making and to share our findings with the custodians of those churches. The latter component of the course will fulfill the Community Engagement component of the Core Curriculum.
Year: 2019
Audience: Undergraduate

Race and Our Moment of Crisis: 45 Years after the Viet Nam War (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Race and Our Moment of Crisis: 45 Years after the Viet Nam War
Abstract: Nguyen makes a critical call to decolonize historical and literary narratives.
Author: Viet Thanh Nguyen
Date: 10/28/2020
Location: Virtual

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