PUBLIC HISTORY WORKSHOP

The workshop is part of the Master’s Degree Programme in ‘History from the Middle Ages to the Present’, and is connected to the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities (VeDPH) in the Department of Humanities.

The Workshops, together with formative and orientation Internships, concur to provide the students with helpful knowledge to access the job market. They are based on a participatory and interactive teaching, aiming at strengthening the students' transferable skills: for this reason attendance is strongly recommended.
The Workshops don’t have a final exam but the achievement of a qualification ('idoneità', corresponding to 3 credits) which will be granted at the end of the course on the basis of the activity carried out by the students.

1. Knowledge and understanding:
• Knowledge of the evolution of the Public History from the twentieth century to the present, and of the relevant theoretical debate.
• Knowledge of the main techniques and methodologies of historical research carried out with the public, in public, and for the public.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
• Ability to apply the practice of Public History to a specific historical event or phenomenon, also through participatory history and the relationship with the communities.

3. Ability to rielaborate autonomously what has been learned:
• Ability to critically analyse a historical source.
• Ability to develop critical thinking skills with reference to the issue of the public use of history and the alteration of historical memory in non-scholarly contexts.

4. Communication skills:
• Ability to interact with the peers and the professor and communicate the outcomes of the student’s work.

Basic knowledge of medieval, early modern, or modern history.
No specific computer science knowledge is required.

The course revolves around the forms of production and consumption of history in public, with the public, and for the public, from communication to entertainment, from applied history to participatory historical research. Many concrete examples will be made, but the most problematic theoretical and methodological aspects will also be stressed, such as the relationships between education and entertainment, history and memory, simplification and trivialization, or between broadening of participation and acknowledgement of competencies.

For its own nature, the workshop revolves around the execution of a project to be carried on throughout the semester. The student will work towards the creation of a Wikipedia article of historical topic, which should fall within his/her competence and will be chosen together with the professor. In this respect, the work will be divided in two different phases, strictly connected one another:
1. Historical research on the secondary sources available on the topic, including their critical assessment.
2. Creation of a Wikipedia article.
The use of electronic tools and a digital online platform make it a form of Digital Public History.

Apart from the Wikipedia work, the workshop will include some other activities

The contents of the course include the main topics related to the theory and practice of Public History, such as:
• Public sources
• Public memory and historical sites
• Museums, archives and heritage centres
• History with the communities
• Family history
• Oral history
• Public History writing
• History in the media and the web
• History and fiction
• Re-enactments and commemorations
• History games
• Public engagement
• Applied history
• Shared authority and crowdsourcing

COMPULSORY READINGS:

• Lori Byrd Phillips - Dominic McDevitt-Parks, 'Historians in Wikipedia: Building an Open, Collaborative History', Perspectives on History, 1 dicembre 2012. https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/historians-in-wikipedia-building-an-open-collaborative-history-december-2012/

• Mirco Carrattieri, 'Per una Public History italiana', Italia Contemporanea, 289 (aprile 2019), pp. 106-121.

• Stefano Dall'Aglio, 'Scrivere la storia con Wikipedia. Il Laboratorio di Public History dell’Università Ca’ Foscari', Ricerche Storiche, 54 (2024), pp. 19-29


OPTIONAL READINGS:

• Thomas Cauvin, ‘New Field, Old Practices: Promises and Challenges of Public History', magazén - International Journal for Digital and Public Humanities, 2 (2021), pp. 13-44. https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/it/edizioni4/riviste/magazen/2021/1/new-field-old-practices-promises-and-challenges-of/

• Roberto Bianchi - Gilda Zazzara, 'La storia formattata. Wikipedia tra creazione, uso e consumo', Passato e Presente, C (2017), pp. 129-155

As for every other workshop of this programme, for the Public History Workshop there is no a final oral exam.
Assessment consists of a qualification ('idoneità') and will be based on the following components:
1) Completion of the workshop project on the Wikipedia article.
2) Completion of the other activities, with respect of fixed deadlines.
2) Class presentation.
3) Participation to class discussions.

Please note that all the students must complete the activities over the semester, week by week, meeting the deadlines fixed by the professor. Since there is not an oral exam, this is the only way to obtain the qualification.
Consulting the Moodle platform is not enough to have all the relevant information.

written

The workshop doesn't have grades, but just a pass/fail result.
The qualification can be obtained by completing the over mentioned activities reaching at least a sufficient level.

Seminar-syle classes with practical activities and interaction between professor and students.
Execution of the workshop project.
When possible, also a guest lecture and/or a field-trip will be included.

Given the nature of the workshop, both attendance and active participation to class discussions are very important.
Teaching materials will be made available through the Moodle e-learning platform.

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion.
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments:
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development