Public History, Certificate

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The graduate certificate in Public History offers advanced graduate training for professionals in the public history profession. The program is practical and career-focused in its design, featuring courses in historical museum management, museology, local history, and archival administration taught by academic specialists in these topics and by expert practitioners in the field of public history/historical museum management. The program of study is capped by an internship experience to give students actual hands-on experience in the field.

Admission Requirements

Applicants admitted to the graduate certificate program in Public for Professionals and Educators must meet at least one of the following requirements:

Be enrolled in an appropriate graduate program at BGSU (History, ACS, or other related field) with a current graduate GPA of 3.0 or better.

For the stand-alone certificate:

hold a bachelor degree in an appropriate field of study (History, American Studies, or other related field) with a 3.0 minimum grade point average
have already completed a graduate degree in an appropriate area of study

Additional documents required:

GRE scores are not necessary for the stand-alone certificate
One Letter of Recommendation

Valid Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), Pearson English Language Test (PTE), International English Language Testing System (IELTS), English Language Services (ELS), or Duolingo English Test (DET) scores obtained within the last two years are required of all applying for admission whose first language is not English. Official TOEFL, PTE, IELTS, ELS, or DET score report recommended minimums are: 80 TOEFL iBT (old scale) or 4.0 (new scale); 53 PTE; 6.5 IELTS; 112 ELS; 110 DET.

Applicants are exempt from providing standardized language proficiency test scores if they are: US citizens; from a country whose population speaks English as its first language; or have a previous degree (associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate) from a US college/university or from a country in which instruction was delivered in English. A complete list of qualifying countries can be found here.

Application Requirements

Admissions Categories and Grade Point Average Requirements

International Application Information

Degree Requirements

Curriculum Requirements

Required Courses (3 credits)

HIST 6510 - Introduction to Public History

Electives (9 credits)

Select from: HIST 6100 , HIST 6540 or ACS 6540 , HIST 6560 , HIST 6570 , HIST 6760 or ACS 6760
Other courses may be substitute with approval of Graduate Program Coordinator

Culminating Experience (2 credits)

Capstone internship to be arranged with Graduate Program Coordinators of History or American Culture Studies programs at an approved historical museum, historical society, or other professionally appropriate worksite.

Select from: ACCT 6890 , ACS 7890 , or HIST 6880

Minimum Total Credits (14 credits)

Additional Requirements

Minimum 3.0 graduate cumulative grade point average
All requirements must be completed within six years from the end of the earliest course used to fulfill certificate requirements.