Public History
Public history is audience-centered history that happens outside of a textbook and the classroom. Its practitioners interpret the past for the public in museums, national parks, historic houses and on main streets and digital platforms across the country and world.
Duquesne’s public history program provides you with skills to engage confidently with different audiences and diverse historical materials in various institutional and community settings. It is thought of as “history put to work in the world,” because it mixes deep historical knowledge with public-facing presentation—making it a useful field for career development in a number of areas.
For more than 40 years, Duquesne’s public history program has introduced graduate students to the theories and practices of the field. Our M.A. program, which has more than 400 alumni, offers the following professional benefits:
- You’ll be immersed in cutting-edge courses.
- You’ll explore unique and valuable internships (see below).
- You’ll be prepared for rewarding careers in both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.
With our excellent job placement and new research and networking opportunities for students, now is an excellent time to consider Duquesne for your graduate education in public history. And as a major metropolitan area, the Pittsburgh region offers Duquesne students a wide variety of notable institutions for internships.
Our internships provide valuable opportunities for students to gain first-hand knowledge and build their professional skill set. They also offer important opportunities for students to build their resumes, network with professionals in the various fields of public history and find exciting positions in public history institutions after finishing their graduate degree.
Program Information
Our M.A. in Public History is an immersive program that teaches our students how to interpret the past and convey that knowledge to diverse audiences.
Degree
Master's
Academic Department
History
Required Credit Hours
36
"The public history graduate program at Duquesne offers a wide range of courses,
from museum education, to archives, to historic preservation. This breadth allows
students to find a path within the field of public history that they will thrive in!
"
The Public History Program at Duquesne University is set up so that you can complete
your degree in four semesters, should you take the full courseload of three courses
per semester. All courses are 3 credits. No more than 6 transfer credits may be applied
to the graduate Public History degree. For the past 25 years, over 30 Duquesne students—many of them pursuing master’s degrees
in public
history—have interned at Rivers of Steel in Pittsburgh. "My Rivers of Steel internship
really opened my eyes to the region’s industrial life," said Carrie Hadley, A'15. There are a number of potential career paths open to you with a master's degree in
public history. Archives, museums and national parks are all traditional avenues of
employment for public history professionals, but your degree can take you in many
directions. 
Program Requirements
Preserving Pittsburgh's Past
Careers & Internships
Application Requirements
All students must submit a completed application with a resume or curriculum vitae.
Official transcripts recording all baccalaureate work, along with degree, from an accredited undergraduate college or university. If you are currently taking classes, please submit your transcript once grades are posted. Note: If your undergraduate and/or graduate degrees are from an institution located outside of the United States, you must use a transcript credential evaluation service to obtain a course-by-course report. The official reports must be sent directly to Duquesne University from the organization you order through and will qualify as official transcripts.
Three confidential letters of recommendation from individuals familiar with the applicant's academic studies or professional work. (NOTE: The Department does not contact recommenders. Letters should be submitted through the University's online system).
A brief (2-3 page) personal statement explaining your educational and/or professional experience thus far, your academic interests, the reason why you are pursuing graduate studies at Duquesne, and your career goals. Public History applicants should mention any professional experience in the field, and History applicants should identify their geographical area of interest (American, European, or Global history). Please also indicate whether you are interested in departmental graduate assistantships, full or part-time study, and list any foreign language experience.
An academic writing sample, not to exceed 25 pages (double-spaced).
An official score report indicating satisfactory performance on TOEFL examination (applicable to international students only).
Student Opportunities
In addition to internships, there are many other ways for students to engage in the scholarly world at Duquesne and elsewhere. Many students have their first chance to do so at the Graduate Student Research Symposium (GSRS) where they display posters and present papers about their work to an audience of faculty, students, and staff from across the university.
As a Public History student, you are encouraged to develop ant present research at conferences such as:
- Phi Alpha Theta
- National Council on Public History
- Oral History Association
- Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region (OHMAR)
- American Historical Association