About the program
Since 2000, our Public History program has afforded FIU students unique, hands-on learning opportunities and trained them to:
· Collaborate with premier cultural organizations in Miami and South Florida, as well as sites across the nation and abroad
· Develop historically-oriented and publicly accessible programming and research
· Conduct research and prepare engaging portfolios of their work and accomplishments
· Secure internships and jobs with cultural organizations, government agencies, community partners, and other public history-oriented bodies
FIU Public History program collaborators have included Miami-Dade County Public Schools; City of Miami Beach; HistoryMiami Museum; Vizcaya Museum and Gardens; City of Coral Gables Historical Resource Department; South Florida Collections Management Center in Everglades National Park; FIU Special Collections and University Archives; Frost Art Museum—FIU; and The Wolfsonian—FIU.
MA students in the Public History Track have also gained meaningful experience and training from supervised internships at a plethora of additional local institutions, including: The Historic Stranahan House Museum; Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library; Miami Art Museum; Historic Hampton House; World AIDS Museum and Educational Center; Miami Military Museum; and Miami Dade Parks and Recreation Department, among many others.
Both at the MA and PhD levels, students have received external funding for public history work, including to help establish, organize, and digitize a major historical urban archive; assist in the implementation of oral histories of local veterans; and contribute to the development and curation of a variety of exhibitions in local museums. They have also been active in more global endeavors, via the digitization and cataloging of an archive on the history of Christianity in Latin America, and the creation of digital exhibits for Green Library’s dLOC (Digital Library of the Caribbean).
Our graduates work not only in cultural and historical institutions such as museums, parks, and archives, but also in government agencies and other institutional settings, as well as journalism and digital media.