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The Certificate in Public History

The Certificate in Public History program prepares students for non-teaching careers as historians outside the academy. Emphasis is placed on gaining skills and knowledge necessary for public and private sector employment in the fields of historic preservation, historic site assessment, archival management, and cultural resources management.

Course Requirements for the Certificate: 30 units

The following courses, or their approved transfer equivalents, are required of all candidates for this certificate.

8 courses required:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Case study examination of fundamental concepts, methods, and changing theoretical orientations of archaeology. Archaeology in the contemporary world, and archaeology as a profession. 3 hours lecture. (000506)
Methods and techniques of locating archaeological and historical cultural resources in the field. Proper site recordation by means of photographs, drawings, maps, and appropriately filled-out site survey forms for cultural resource management purposes. 6 hours activity. You may take this course more than once for a maximum of 6.0 units. (000613)
Introduction to essential geographic problem solving techniques which include: data collection, analysis, and presentation of spatial information. Techniques include map measurement and interpretation, aerial photo analysis, field observations with GPS, introductory geographic information systems, computer cartography, summary of numerical data, elementary probability, distributions, and introduction to statistical inference. This is an inductory tools course for students majoring in geography, the natural and earth sciences, and in such applied fields as planning and recreation. Several software analysis packages are introduced. 3 hours lecture. (015867)
Prerequisites: GE Written Communication (A2) requirement, GEOG 390W with a C- or higher for Geography majors.
Analysis of the special character of North American landscapes. Examination of the historical evolution of contemporary landscapes through maps, reading, literature, field observations, and class discussion. Emphasis on comparison of regional patterns and the shaping of American landscapes by cultural and economic factors. 3 hours discussion. This is an approved Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement course; a grade of C- or higher certifies writing proficiency for majors. This is an approved Writing Course. (003890)
History of the attitudes, concepts, and public policy toward the American environment, including the natural, rural, and urban environments. Emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. This is an approved US Diversity course. (004539)
Prerequisites: HIST 492, HIST 494.
Occupational experience in public history with a private-sector firm, non-profit organization, or governmental agency. 9 hours supervision. You may take this course more than once for a maximum of 15.0 units. (015915)
Introduction to archival research and source materials. Practical experience in locating, interpreting, and using the various kinds of primary documents that form the raw material of the historian's craft. 3 hours seminar. (004707)
The application of historical scholarship to non-academic pursuits, including historic preservation, management of records and resources, public policy, and private consultantcy. Emphasis on development, objects, ethics, and methods of the public history profession. 3 hours seminar. (004714)

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
Effects of the "moving frontier" experience upon American development, with emphasis on the people and the land from the colonial era to the twentieth century. 3 hours seminar. This is an approved US Diversity course. (004646)
Social, economic, cultural, and political development from Spanish explorations to the present. 3 hours seminar. This is an approved US Diversity course. (004634)

1 course selected from:

SUBJ NUM Title Sustainable Units Semester Offered Course Flags
This course is also offered as AIST 261.
Survey of Native North America with an emphasis on U.S. indigenous peoples. Diverse traditional cultures, rituals, languages, interrelationships, and economic and social institutions are examined as informed by archaeological and ethnographic data, in addition to native perspectives. Culture continuity, adaptation, and change in a post-contact period are featured. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. This is an approved US Diversity course. (000383)
This course is also offered as AIST 362W.
Native peoples of California: their origin, prehistory, languages, and pre-contact cultural practices, such as subsistence, settlement, socio-political organization, and ceremony, with the local area highlighted. Interactions with Europeans are also discussed. Emphasis is placed on the archaeological and ethnographic records. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved Writing Course. This is an approved US Diversity course. (000519)
This course is also offered as AIST 230.
A history of the Indian in North America, development of Indian culture, Indian-white relations, the disruption of the Indian way of life, wars, assimilation, and Indian culture in a Caucasian world. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved General Education course. This is an approved US Diversity course. (000382)

An overall GPA of 2.5 is required for the entire program.

Catalog Cycle:20