"The Public History program at Wright State prepared me well for my first job. It’s not that I started out knowing everything, but WSU gave me the tools with which to learn and grow professionally. I have a challenging job that I love, and I thank Wright State for that."
Tanya Zanish-Belcher
Professor and head of Special Collections and University Archives
Iowa State University
Launched in 1974, the Public History Program at Wright State is one of the oldest in the country. The requirements for a Master's Degree in History with a concentration in Public History consist of six academic core courses, a series of courses and practica in public history, a project, and an internship in an area of specialization such as archives, museums studies, or historical administration. The faculty in history together with professional staff at nearby historical institutions offer courses in records management, archival theory and practice, museum studies, exhibits, material culture, architectural history, state and local history, history and new technology, oral history.
Students may select electives from other excellent programs at Wright State University; these include management, marketing, urban affairs and geography, archaeology, teacher education, educational technology, art and art history, English, women's studies, African and African American studies, theatre arts and motion pictures.
"Wright State pointed me in the right direction and my Public History degree is a cornerstone to my career. I wouldn’t be where I am without it."
Student interns work alongside professionals in a wide variety of settings including the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Air Force Museum, the Montgomery County Historical Society, and the Ohio Historical Society. The two-year program prepares graduates for careers in state and local historical societies, archives and records management, history museums, business history, historic preservation, state and federal park services, and public programs in history education.
Wright State University is named for the Wright brothers, inventors of powered flight. Special Collections and Archives in the Paul Laurence Dunbar Library houses one of the most complete collections of Wright brothers material in the world. In Southwest Ohio, students have access to rich historical and educational resources including the U.S. Air Force Museum, the National Aviation Hall of Fame, the National Afro American Museum and Cultural Center, Carillon Historic Park, the Paul Laurence Dunbar Historic Site, the Montgomery County Historical Society, the Cincinnati Museum Center, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Dayton—preparing to open a new center for the performing arts and to celebrate Ohio Statehood and the Invention of Flight in 2003—hosts other cultural institutions including the Dayton Art Institute, the Human Race Theater Company, the Boonshoft Museum of Natural History, CityFolk, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Rhythm and Shoes Dance Company, and the beautifully restored Victoria Theater.
The Department of History as well as area archives and historical societies offer a number of graduate assistantships and tuition fellowships to qualified applicants.
"I would like to say that the program at Wright State is fantastic. . . . The strengths from the program were the hands-on courses in exhibits and archival preparation, the internship and the focus on historical thinking and research."
For more information, contact Dawne E. Dewey, Director of Public History, Public History Program, P.L. Dunbar Library 401E, Wright State University, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway, Dayton, OH 45435-0001; tel. (937)775-2011; e-mail: dawne.dewey@wright.edu
