Applied Public History: Places, People, Stories

In this first week, we’ll meet the course presenters, and explore place and history with help from Historic England, Layers of London and others. How do we get a sense of the history and heritage of a place, and how can we involve our communities in understanding the historic environment? We’ll look at the professional practice of describing historic places and buildings, as well as what maps can reveal about place and history – with special access to historic maps in the Institute of Historical Research archive, and reflections on 'deep mapping' in the crowdsourced Layers of London project. There's also a chance for you to introduce yourself: the first step in forming our virtual community and sharing our varied experiences and expertise.

This week, we'll explore some fantastic case-study projects, to discover fascinating stories from history, and approaches to recovering and sharing the past. With the help of Youth Club Archive, we'll reflect on different approaches to collecting and telling stories, with varied audiences in mind. Through the Victoria County History 'Red Boxes' project, we'll look at how stories can be told through objects. And we'll look at how a project gathering the oral histories of Syrian refugees brings together different participants and communities.

Where does applied public history meet creative practice? This week, we'll learn from a range of projects to explore what art, and artistic collaborations, can bring to interpretation of the past, to examine historical re-enactment and costumed interpretation, and to look at how a creative approach to mapping might draw a place and its history in imaginative, thought-provoking and engaging ways. There's also an opportunity to try your own creative skills by joining in a creative masterclass! Whether you're naturally an artistic type or not, this week is an opportunity to consider creative approaches for your own applied public history work and projects, and to reflect on what these methods facilitate.

Anniversaries, statues, blue plaques and monuments - history is all around us in the present, in our places and in our public debates. This week, we'll examine how history is commemorated today, with attention to lines of exclusion and absences. We'll look at strategies for mobilising history to make positive interventions in present-day society, with perspectives from the #RememberHer project on female memorials in London, the Haringey Peace Forum (working on World War 1 conscientious objectors), and History Workshop Online, with their activist approach to 'history of the present'.