Students interested in the way history is reflected in monuments, memorials, museum exhibitions, oral histories and in other ways can now sign up to minor in public history.

The new minor, which became available last fall through the history department, involves a core course, “Monuments, Museums and Memory,” taught this semester by Stephen Vider, assistant professor of history and director of the Public History Initiative in the College of Arts and Sciences.

This semester, the class of 35 students delved into the ethics and methods of historical production, visited the Rare and Manuscript Collection and the Johnson Museum and took part in public events featuring guest speakers. Erin L. Thompson, professor of art crime at the City University of New York, visited in March and Dominique Jean-Louis, chief historian of the Center for Brooklyn History at the Brooklyn Public Library will visit Monday, April 17.

“The class is drawing together students who might not otherwise be in the same room together,” Vider said, adding that students come from urban studies, history, communications, American studies, fashion, architecture and city and regional planning. “These students are connecting related questions about how space shapes memory, culture, and politics, through the methods and frameworks of public history.”

Read the full story on the College of Arts & Sciences website.