Public History

The MA in Public History at Queen’s University Belfast offers an opportunity to study how historical knowledge is produced, mediated, represented and consumed in public spaces, in a region where the past continues to resonate powerfully. The close relationship Queen’s enjoys with a broad range of partners across the country, from national cultural institutions, heritage organisations and media through to community-led initiatives, provides an unparalleled opportunity for first-hand experience of how history works and is put to work in many different ways. The close involvement of partner organisations in the delivery of the course through practitioner workshops, guest lectures, field trips and events, as well as the 30-day placement, provides first-hand, practical experience of the wide range of issues, challenges and opportunities faced by the public historian.

This course approaches public history from many perspectives ranging from the local to the global. The city of Belfast offers an exciting opportunity to engage with key issues surrounding contested histories, national narratives, memory, commemoration and community history in a very real and meaningful way, and to gain first-hand understanding of the relationship between history, heritage and public audiences at a local and national level. A global understanding of public history is encouraged through taught modules on difficult public history in a range of national contexts, collaborative teaching with public history programmes in other countries, and the possibility of international field trips and placements.

Students will carry out 30-day placements in one of a wide range of museums, archives, heritage sites or visitor experiences across the country.

The course combines academic training in historical theory and research methods with specialised topics relating to history in the public sphere, such as negotiating contested pasts, oral history, heritage and tourism, or digital curation, thus linking the analytical and critical approaches of traditional academic history with innovative ways of creating and disseminating histories for a diverse variety of public audiences.

Public History highlights

History at Queen’s is ranked in the top 150 History Schools worldwide (according to the QS World University Rankings 2017) and our international reputation is enhanced by the work of our prominent leading academics.

Industry Links

• We work closely with a range of cultural institutions heritage organisations, media, local government bodies and community initiatives to students are regularly meeting, engaging with, and working alongside professionals and those with first-hand experience of the field.

Career Development

• Guaranteed work placement with a cultural institution or heritage organisations. Internships have taken place with the following organisations: Ulster Museum, Armagh Public Library, Special Collections at Queen’s, Titanic Belfast, HMS Caroline, Ulster-American Folk Park, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, BBC, Doubleband Media, Belfast City Council, Hillsborough Castle (Historic Royal Palaces), Mount Stewart and Castle Ward (National Trust), Newry and Mourne Museum, Ulster Rugby Musuem, Museum of Free Derry. The course develops a range of skills such as research methods, archival work, oral history, digital curation, and museum collections.
• Many of our graduates have gone on to PhD programmes both here at Queen’s as well as at some of the best universities in the world, Other go into a wide variety of employment including careers in museums, archives or libraries; journalism or media related work; teaching; private and public administration' economic development and the voluntary sector.

World Class Facilities

• All students have full use of the award winning McClay Library, which blends the best features of a traditional library with the latest technology. The library provides access to a vast book and journal collections along with computing and media services, IT training rooms, quiet study and group work areas, a cafe, and a Language Centre. Students on this course have access to Queen’s Graduate School, an exclusive postgraduate hub which connects students and researchers across fields and disciplines and provides high-quality, transdisciplinary training and development programmes. Based in the beautifully restored and remodelled Victorian Lynn library, this space offers modern, hi-tech meeting and group study rooms, a silent study area and social spaces creating a vibrant hub for intellectual exchange and collaboration.

Internationally Renowned Experts

• The School is a world-leading centre for innovative and dynamic historical research. In the 2014 UK assessment of research (REF), History at Queen’s was ranked in the top 20 departments for research.
• Research-led teaching by world leading experts who have secured grants by UK and EU funding bodies for research on a range of subjects relating to public history

Student Experience

• Close involvement of practitioners from a wide range of organisations in many aspects of the course including practitioner-led workshops.
• Field trips to public history sites in European cities and across Northern Ireland, including a residential field trip to Derry-Londonderry.
• The School has a rich research culture and postgraduate community. Postgraduate students host regular graduate-led seminars, colloquia and conferences.
• Close involvement of practitioners from a wide range of organisations in many aspects of the course including practitioner-led workshops
• The Centre for Public History, with its seminar series, annual lecture, and regular conferences and symposia, provides an exciting interdisciplinary and collaborative environment in which to study public uses and understanding of the past.

Brexit Advice

Information on the implications of Brexit for prospective students.