Who Are We?
‘Tis I, Dr. Rebecca S. Wingo, the Director of Public History and Associate Professor of History at the University of Cincinnati. “We” are me, myself, and my students over three courses now since 2018. Check out the generations of Student Scholars who have enthusiastically* taken part in my harebrained ideas and joyfully embraced** my strange sense of humor. (Toilet stalls for history? Really?)
* this might be an exaggeration
** this is definitely an exaggeration
What is Public History in the Wild?
The best assignment ever.
– every student
“Public History in the Wild” is an assignment designed to teach students to see their worlds through the lens of a public historian.
Objectives
- Practice writing for a public audience
- Practice writing concisely for exhibit and label text
- Learn to explore and interrogate the environment around you
- Become familiar with local history
- Learn a content management system (WordPress)
- Introduce concepts of metadata and information architecture
Once, my pal Lindsey Passenger-Wieck and I even wrote an article about this assignment for the American Historical Association.
We hope you enjoy exploring our Close Encounters of the Public History Kind in and around the “wilds” of Cincinnati and beyond!
