NIAHD Electives
Electives are classes that speak to your particular curiosities about the study of material culture and public history. You may count them for NIAHD credit even if they already fulfill major, minor, or COLL curriculum requirements. Though there is no set formula for satisfying this requirement, some possible considerations in choosing your electives might be as follows:
Time and Place
Deep historical knowledge of a particular era and locale is essential for public historians. An MCPH elective might deepen your understanding of a particular place and period, e.g. “Colonial Virginia”, “19th century United States”, “Geovisualization & Cartography”.
The Public
The study of museums and public history breaks down narrow individual subjectivities and benefits from the consideration of collective and community knowledges in terms of the interests of contemporary diverse publics. Courses of this nature might be found in the study of public memory, oral history, ethnography, political science, and sociology.
Human Culture
Our ability to interpret culture is strengthened by understanding cultural difference. A MCPH elective course might consider human culture in terms of religion, age, social class, political ideology, gender, race, and/or sexuality.
We encourage enrollees to use their electives to sharpen and define their own individual approach to the fields of public history, museology, and material culture.
If you have a question about whether a particular class can count as a MCPH elective, please reach out to NIAHD's Director for confirmation.
NIAHD MCPH students submit a worksheet a few weeks before their graduation that indicates their semester of completion for required courses, and lists their electives.
