Certificate in Public History
BGSU’s Graduate Certificate Program in Public History offers advanced graduate training for professionals in the public history profession. The program is practical and career-focused in its design, featuring courses in historical museum management, museology, local history, archival administration, and preservation studies taught by academic specialists in these topics and by expert practitioners in the field of public history/historical museum management. The program of study is capped by an internship experience to give students actual hands-on experience in the field.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Students who wish to be admitted to the graduate certificate program in Public History must meet at least one of the following requirements:
- Be enrolled in an appropriate graduate program at BGSU (History, ACS, or other related field), with a current graduate GPA of 3.0 or better.
Or, for the stand-alone certificate:
- Hold a bachelor degree in an appropriate field of study (History, American Studies, or other related field) with a 3.0 minimum grade point average, or
- Have already completed a graduate degree in an appropriate area of study.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Students currently enrolled in a BGSU graduate program who wish to add the Graduate Certificate in Public History to their degree program should contact the History Department Graduate Coordinator.
Students interested in the stand-alone certificate must submit the BGSU Graduate College Online Application for admission.
In addition to the application required by the Graduate College, applicants to the certificate program must submit the following materials with the online application:
- One letter of recommendation from a recent instructor, employer, or other individual qualified to evaluate probable success in the program
- A personal statement of intent indicating the purpose for enrolling in the program and outlining career goals (2-3 pages). Careful attention is given to these materials.
TIME TO COMPLETION OF DEGREE
The graduate certificate in Public History must be completed within six years from the semester date that the first course is taken. The certificate is awarded upon the completion of all degree requirements, including the internship. The graduate certificate in Public History will appear on the student’s official transcript.
CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS
The certificate program consists of 14 to 15 academic credit hours of work. These must include 12 hours of course work (described below) plus two to three hours of approved internship credit as a capstone experience in the completion of the graduate certificate program. The program of course work includes one required course, which is typically offered during the Spring semester of each academic year:
- HIST/ACS 6510 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HISTORY (3 HRS)
The program of study also includes a requirement that students successfully complete any three of the following courses:
- HIST 6100 LOCAL HISTORY (3HRS)
- HIST 6540 MUSEOLOGY (3 HRS)
- HIST 6560 ARCHIVES ADMINISTRATION (3 HRS)
- HIST/ACS 6570 HISTORICAL SOCIETY ADMINISTRATION (3 HRS)
- HIST/ACS 6760 SEMINAR (For appropriate topics) (3 HRS)
Other relevant courses may be substituted with the written approval of the certificate program faculty committee.
Finally, the program includes a requirement that students successfully complete a capstone internship, to be arranged with the graduate directors of the History/ACS programs at an approved historical museum, historical society, or other professionally appropriate worksite.
- ACS 6890/7890 or HIST 6880 INTERNSHIP (2-3 HRS)
The internship will normally be taken during the second year of study in the graduate certificate program, following the completion of all course work for the certificate, but may be taken somewhat earlier in the certificate program as circumstances dictate and with the approval of the graduate director of the ACS or History program. BGSU requires that for each hour of academic internship credit, students must complete 45 hours of supervised on-site work.
INFORMATION
For more information about the BGSU Graduate Certificate Program in Public History, please contact:
Dr. Rebecca Mancuso, Graduate Coordinator
Department of History
Bowling Green State University
419-372-7424
Updated: 05/15/2023 09:57AM