Introduction to Public Humanities

Public humanities is a new field that happens whenever humanities scholarship interacts with public life. It starts with the interpretive thoughts and conversations that happen in our daily lives, on the internet, at the dinner table, in classrooms, on holidays, at the pub, in houses of worship, on television, and with our friends. Then public humanities extends from journalism and activism to cultural organizations and government policy. This course historicizes these endeavors, maps recent research in the field, and provides a tool kit of best practices for making your humanities knowledge matter beyond the classroom. Special guests include distinguished authors, activists, politicians, journalists, influencers, and business leaders whose work grows from their humanities research. Personalized assignments ask students to use the ideas and strategies of the course to turn their academic interests and aspirations into public-facing papers and projects.