Any change from the primary field in American History or selection of a non-history secondary field, for instance anthropology, must be approved by the departmental Public History committee. Doctoral students will follow the preliminary examination procedure. A supervised internship is an integral part of the Public History track. Most, though not all, travel to off-campus locations to serve internships. Summer internships are common, but several students who have enrolled in 10 hours of History 598, Internship will have spent a full semester as on-site interns.
Internships provide students with practical insights into potential historical employment.
Private sector or institutional supervisors provide mentoring relationships, and they introduce students to the professional networks common to the public historian's work environment. The supervisor and student will compose a final evaluation of the internship. Academic credit can be earned by registering for History 598, Internship. For each semester hour of credit, the student works 40 hours. At some point in their program all students must register for at least three hours of internship credit.