The City and Public History

Abstract

Focusing on a course titled “History, Communities and Memory,” this article examines the course content, undergraduate and graduate student learning outcomes, and the pedagogical approaches employed throughout the semester. Using Akron’s engaging history and the portrayal of the city in public sites as a case study, the class serves as both an introduction to public history and to the interplay between history and memory. Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson’s seven principles for best practice inform the teaching methodologies discussed here, combined with a focus on critical thinking and civic engagement. The course content emphasizes how communities and historic sites present their history (or histories) and (following the work of Maurice Halbwachs) how memory operates simultaneously on both the individual level and the social one. The students employ Akron—especially its industrial past—to understand how the concepts and theories presented in the readings can be applied.