Public Humanities Integrative Concentration

Note(s) on Requirements

• If a student wishes to count a course that is not listed below toward the concentration, they can petition the concentration chair(s) for approval to apply the completed or in-progress course toward their concentration.
• In planning their schedules, students should be aware that some of the courses listed below have prerequisites.

Public Humanities Integrative Concentration Course Lists

Demonstrated Skill Competencies

Return to the summary of requirements.

Concentrators are required to demonstrate competency in at least two of the skills or practices that are commonly employed in the field of Public Humanities. Students may acquire experience with these skills through an academic course, a Winter Term project, or an internship experience. Concentrators will consult with one of the curricular committee co-chairs about their plans to develop specific skills and will demonstrate and document their competency in their required digital learning portfolio.

Example areas of competency are:

• Communicating with Diverse Publics/Public Speaking
• Curation and Exhibition Building
• Digital Humanities Tools such as Omeka, Scalar, ArcGIS, StoryMaps
• Grant Writing
• Interviews and Oral History Methodology
• Museum Interpretation (i.e., label writing or programming that serves to support interpretation)
• Project Management
• Public Programming for Community Audiences
• Sonic Storytelling (Podcasting, etc.)
• Translation: Translating Humanities Scholarship for a Public Audience
• Video Storytelling
• Writing Across Platforms (Social Media)

Experiential Component

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Students are required to pursue an internship, work experience, or an approved Winter Term project in the field of public humanities. Internship and work opportunities, which can take place on-campus or off-campus, will provide students important practical experience in the area and enable them to explore different career pathways in the field. All hands-on experiences must be full-time for a minimum duration of 4 weeks (or one Winter Term).

Students are encouraged to pursue an internship through joining a relevant career community in such areas as Arts and Creative Professions; Education; Music Leadership; and Nonprofit and the Public Sector. Many museums, cultural, and advocacy organizations offer internships that would be suitable for concentrators.

Campus or local opportunities may include:

• Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM)
  • Career preparation
  • Student Gallery Guide Program
  • Student work and research
• History Design Lab
• Museums, Memory, and Politics in Egypt (Winter Term course)
• Oberlin College Archives
• Oberlin College Libraries
• Oberlin Heritage Center (OHC)

Faculty involved in the concentration are also working with different public humanities organizations to craft internships that would be suitable for concentrators. Reflection Point, an organization that uses short stories to encourage small groups to discuss challenging civic issues, is interested in partnering with Oberlin on student experiential opportunities. The Fenton History Center in upstate New York and the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museum in Fremont, Ohio are also eager to have Oberlin students as public humanities interns.

Learning Portfolio

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Concentrators are required to maintain a digital learning portfolio that will include signature course work, evidence of competency in two public humanities skills, and documentation of their experiential learning opportunity. Students will begin their portfolio as soon as they begin the concentration and will use it to chronicle and reflect upon their interests in the field and the synergy between their course work, their engaged practice with communities, and their internship or other experiential learning. Students will also document and showcase their public humanities work and their skill competencies in their learning portfolio. Portfolios will be reviewed by two members of the concentration advisory group upon completion of the integrative concentration requirements.