“History is useless if it is not shared” Knupfer said

What is public history? Coming into this class, I thought public history was something specific, like a certain type of history. Maybe even a focus, like a lot of our classes are, such as "US in the Cold War" or "The Vietnam War from the Vietnamese perspective". Not realizing that everything that has happened in the past and what is happening now in our world is public history. People are impacted by it, a part of it, move because of it, and oftentimes don't even realize how important their role is in impacting history.

So what kind of history is presented to the public? The thing about history is that most people don't know how to communicate their academic knowledge with the public (or a large audience), so they only end up sharing it with one another. Reading through our books, like the one by Tyrrell, this semester supported this dilemma along with our examinations of how history is presented in the media. They showed that history is often made glamorized, elaborated/fictional in parts, and diluted to the general audience. The majority of the History Channel's shows on prime time were in this fashion, such as Ganglands, Pawn Stars, or Ax Men. If any show pertaining to our country's past is presented in a special or to a prime time audience, it tends to be about war or controversy. Granted, both are very apparent throughout our past, but what does this say about the audience we are trying to reach by that? This is the sort of history that is made 'public', not the history of our political framework or the "less exciting" events of our past.

This blog topic sort of relates to a conversation a friend and I were having the other day. We were discussing the importance of exams, in that most are for simply regurgitating information to show we know what has been lectured to us. In an age of resources and technology, why are we given exams where we cannot use them on? Where in our careers will we be ALONE as we answer a question or plan? Never. Books, letters, photos, interviews, etc. will be at our fingertips, whether you are a teacher, interior decorator or even a scientist. We never are alone, we are working with and off of what other people before us have, and there is nothing wrong with that. Historians work in the same way, and this class project helped open my eyes (and stubborn self) to the idea of depending on others for help/advice/resources.

What have I learned about public history?
It is useless if our knowledge is not shared to others. Finding our audience is crucial in spreading this information, and finding the medium to connect with them on is a challenge we must face. As we go on researching or teaching as historians, it is also important to use others' help and information, because we are never alone on a project/lesson plan/lecture/research. We need to always be open to new ideas, new teaching styles, and be critiquing ourselves constantly so that we can better our practices always. My opinions on teaching and the idea of public history have dramatically changed throughout this semester in this class and working on our I496 project. I will be a better educator because of it, and for that I am eternally grateful.