Situation:

Currently, students within the Public History Track of the University of Massachusetts, Boston History Graduate Program are required to attend an event or program that exposes the students to professionals already working within their intended field once every Fall and Spring semester. This is known as the “Professional Development” requirement. There exists no official list of events or programs presented by the Public History Program Director, Public History Program Graduate Internship Coordinator, or (History Department) Graduate Program Director to students in order to select the events that are deemed acceptable for credit. The New England Museum Association (NEMA) conference, Mass. Roadshow, and National History Day are several of the events verbally encouraged by the aforementioned staff. Conferences like NEMA are often expensive to attend as they can be held out of the state of Massachusetts.

Proposed Solution:

In order to broaden Professional Development opportunities available, attendance and/or presenting at “History Camp” should be accepted as an official credit toward the Professional Development requirement. Starting in 2014 in Cambridge as an opportunity for history lovers of all kinds to connect, “History Camp” is an informal conference held in Boston, Iowa, Pioneer Valley, and Colorado that allows anyone, including those with an inability to pay, to attend an academic conference discussing history. Many public history professionals, as well as museum officials and board members, attend this “unconference” in order to network with other professionals. These individuals and institutional representatives use this time to share ideas, present their work, and offer job, volunteer, and internship opportunities. This event is highly economical and accessible for UMass Boston students that reside in or around the greater Boston area. For detailed information about History Camp and History Camp Boston, visit their official website here: http://historycamp.org/boston/boston-2016.

Steps Involved:

1. Produce an official list of accepted Professional Development events acceptable for credit by the Public History Program Director, Public History Program Graduate Internship Coordinator, and the (History Department) Graduate Program Director.
2. Public History Program Director, Public History Program Graduate Internship Coordinator, and the (History Department) Graduate Program Director include “History Camp” on the official list of accepted Professional Development event options.
3. Publish official list of accepted Professional Development event options in the “History MA Handbook” for accessibility to graduate student body.
4. Allow for additional proposals for alternative options of accepted Professional Development events or programs.

Benefits:

1. Diversified options for fulfilling the Professional Development requirement.
2. Students have economically sound options.
3. Exposure to professionals already working within the Public History field.
4. Easy access to central conference location.
5. Opportunity to have exposure to original research as well as same-day practical application in real world situations.
6. Diverse range of institutional representation of both academic and practicing professionals at all levels of career accomplishments.

Potential Obstacles:

1. Not considered a “formal” or commercially sponsored history conference event.
2. Sessions are not guaranteed to follow a particular theme.
3. Event is not guaranteed to offer career-oriented sessions.
4. Sessions are dependent upon the individual interests of the submitters.
5. Sessions and opportunities to present are open to all who apply.