Applied History

Applied History is history taught in a way to incorporate historical events in a hands on environment encouraging historical analysis, investigation, museum studies, archival work, historic preservation, documentaries and firsthand experience.

Applied History is meant to teach history in a way to engage the pupil. It is taught to have the students question, reason and connect with history. Analysis on every event and reflection is highly encouraged. Students investigate history and dig for a deeper level of meaning behind events in history.

It stresses the idea of museology museum studies. Students learn from museum exhibits and displays. They participate in the curatorial process and help in researching for the museum. Their own perspective on the historic event is then formed and broadens their ideas for the subject. Students gain hands on experience and may even possibly handle historical documents, enriching their experiences with history. Archival work is the direct source, very different from learning from a text book because they are interpreting the documents itself.

Programs of Applied History can be found at universities and even some high schools. The course is meant to teach students and engage them in history. In some college programs that offer applied history, “Coursework includes expository writing, public speaking, museum administration, archives and manuscript preservation, archival records technology, and related subjects. Graduates may become museum curators, administrators of historical sites, popular writers, or enter other careers that keep the public aware of its heritage.”

College Classes

Applied History programs can be found at eleven different universities: Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, Loyola University Chicago, Meredith College, North Carolina State University At Raleigh, Salem State College, Texas Lutheran University, University of Houston, University of South Carolina-Columbia, Wayne State University and Western Michigan University.

High School Classes

An Applied History course is offered atWest Springfield High School(Virginia) and has been for over a decade. Teacher James Percoco offered a course that would “emphasize historiography, archival work, archeology, historic preservation, museum studies and career planning.” History in the Making: The Development of a High School History Applied History Program. Percoco, James. With the themes of Applied History, the course Applied History offered at West Springfield involved students early in their history careers an alternative to the text book approach to history. It involved a classroom component, where students studied various texts, posterities, books, and films and other media to derive meaning from events in history. The second semester involved an internment at historical sites such as, Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, Ford’s Theater, Frying Pan Park, The Octagon House, Fairfax Archeology, and the Black Historical Society. Applied History student from West Springfield High School Tamara Theftford was quoted “Applied History exposed me to a side of the historical process that students don’t usually see in the textbook teaching of history. The field trips fostered a behind the scenes appreciation for the people who created the history we are taught.”

Importance of Applied History

“Applied Historians do the research themselves.” [http://www.jstor.org/view/01455532/ap040023/04a00040/0] Applied History teaches students to immerse themselves in history. Applied History is a course that makes students take on their own approach to history and analyze history to uncover a deeper meaning.

References

External links

http://www.jstor.org/view/01455532/ap040023/04a00040/0http://www.uscollegesearch.org/public--applied-history-and-archival-ad-colleges.html