Professional Development for Students

Experiential Learning
Public History students gain valuable professional experience during internships and residencies. Although the internship and professional residency are required components of our graduate degree programs, workshops , conferences , and other forms of experiential learning and networking will always be a part of the professional development of public historians.
   
Workshops - Public history faculty members regularly organize workshops that encourage both students and faculty to pursue further professional and academic development in specific areas of study. Often, these workshops are tailored for specific courses, other times they are organized independently from individual course work and are intended for a broad audience of students and professionals. Examples of recent workshops include:
Oral History: Theory and Practice
Section 106 Review and Compliance
Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives
Virtual Museums and Web-based Historical Interpretation
Public Relations
Grant Writing for Non-Profits
Conservation of Photographs

Conferences - Like most professional fields, public historians have opportunities to participate in a multitude of local, regional, and national conferences that provide forums to discuss new research and developments within the profession. Examples of organizations that regularly organize conferences include:
Tennessee Conference of Historians
Tennessee Association of Museums
Society of Tennessee Archivists
National Council on Public History
American Association for State and Local History
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Society of American Archivists
American Association of Museums
Kentucky-Tennessee American Studies Association
Tennessee Folklore Society

Career Placement - The program provides placement assistance for all graduates. MTSU graduates have been hired by state agencies, private consulting firms, historical commissions, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, State Historic Preservation Offices, exhibit design firms, universities, Main Street programs, and planning commissions throughout the nation. To assist with internships, residencies, and career placement, the Public History Program maintains these professional memberships:
American Association of Museums
American Association for State and Local History
National Council on Preservation Education
National Council on Public History
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Society of American Archivists
Southeastern Museums Conference
Society of Tennessee Archivists
Tennessee State Library and Archives
Tennessee Association of Museums
Tennessee Preservation Trust
U.S. Committee, International Council on Monuments and Sites