Faculty: Burleigh (Program Director), B. Miller (Program Director), Byrnes, Keysor, Luman, Ribeiro, Shaw, Sinha Roy

The Public Humanities major is a program in the Interdisciplinary Studies Area of Study. Public Humanities majors may complete any minor to satisfy the college requirement that the major and minor be in different areas of study.

Public Humanities Major Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes for students who graduate with a Public Humanities MAJOR:

• Content: Recognize the foundations of the Public Humanities as an interdisciplinary scholarly practice and the diverse theoretical perspectives that characterize this field of study.
• Collaboration: work collaboratively and effectively with constituencies outside of the college, especially community-based program partners. 
• Critical and Ethical Assessment: Critically assess the purpose of humanities-based inquiry in public contexts. Evaluate the ethics of social engagement and investigate the complexities of the idea of the public.
• Methods: Successfully use a variety of tools for public engagement which could include museum and archival curation and categorization, best practices in working with oral histories and Institutional Review Board, and specific advanced training in Digital Humanities tools. 
• Public-Facing Communication: Effectively convey complex ideas to non-specialist publics. 

The Public Humanities Major

The Public Humanities major, consisting of 44 credits, leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree. At graduation, Public Humanities majors must have a GPA of at least 2.0 in the major. The calculation is based on the grades of all courses taken at Allegheny for the major. Only the most recent grade is considered for courses that have been repeated. All courses taken for the major must be taken on the letter-grade basis. A maximum of eight transfer credits may be counted toward the major; exceptions must be approved by the department chair.

The Major consists of an 8-credit core; 8 credits of methods course work; 16 credits of course work in one of the following tracks: Space & Place, Museums & Collections, Advocacy & Social Justice, Memory Studies, and Public Writing; 2 credits of experiential learning (EXL, internship, or GL Study Away); Junior Seminar; and a 6 credit Senior Project.