Master of Arts in Public History

Public history is the presentation of history and culture outside of the traditional classroom setting. These pursuits include, but are by no means limited to, museums, historic preservation, historic site management, archival management, cultural resource management, documentary film making, digital history projects, and policy applications.

The public history program at WMU is one of the oldest in the nation, WMU faculty helped to found the National Council on Public History (NCPH) in 1980. The WMU public history program, like the NCPH, stresses an interdisciplinary approach to the field. It prepares professionals to engage the widest public audience in the continually emerging questions of history and culture. At WMU, our graduate and undergraduate programs emphasize public history, offering B.A. and M.A. degrees as well as a Graduate Certificate for those interested in the field.

The WMU public history graduate program trains socially responsible professionals to serve in diverse venues at the local, regional, national, and international levels. Our graduates work for the government, in private foundations, at museums, archives, historic homes, and in a multitude of other settings. Public history enriches communities, offering educational opportunities and planning information that may structure essential choices about our natural and built environments. WMU's public history program relies on a rich blend of resources and methodologies, emphasizing the examination of regional environments, places, and economic systems.

Baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution.
Undergraduate major in history or a closely allied discipline in the social sciences of humanities. Applicants with substantial course work in history, together with preparation in allied social sciences and humanities, also may be considered.
An undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4-point scale, GPA in history and course work in allied disciplines preferably will be higher.
Students with outstanding academic records but lacking in requisite course work may be admitted subject to completion of additional undergraduate course work.
All candidates must take the Graduate Record Examination and submit the scores to WMU.
Test of English as a Foreign Language TOEFL 80 iBT graduate.
TOEFL Essential 8 Graduate.
International English Language Testing System IELTS Academic - 6.5 graduate.
Pearson Test of English Academic Module PTE - 54 graduate.