Public History in Practice is a blog for University of Guelph students in HIST 3450 – Public History and Society can gain experience with the following:

• Writing for the web
• Spotting objects/places of historical significance
• Researching local history
• Engaging the public
• Creating metadata

Posts will be short, descriptive, and aimed at piquing your curiosity about the past and ways that it is represented in our current society. With a critical eye, students will be asked to comment on history in public today: What does “history done right” look like? What could be improved? What, perhaps, shouldn’t be done at all?

Many of the topics covered will be Guelph specific, like the Covered Bridge in the image above, but several students live elsewhere in Southern Ontario and will be free to cover material that’s closer to them.

The original idea for this site came from similar courses designed by Rebecca Wingo and Lindsey Passenger Wieck. I’ve extended the length of the posts and changed the direction slightly, but I want to acknowledge their thinking and openness about teaching public history — thank you!

Students are free to list their names on this blog, but this is not expected or mandated in any way. Any concerns or questions about this site should be directed to the instructor, Dr. Kim Martin at kmarti20@uoguelph.ca.