The validation of public history was the focus of a recent “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Dr. Rebecca Conard

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Rebecca Conard, a professor of history and the director of MTSU’s public history program, first aired Nov. 30 on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org ). You can listen to their conversation below.

Conard is the author of “The Pragmatic Roots of Public History Education in the United States,” an article in the February 2015 edition of the academic journal “The Public Historian.”

She chronicles public history’s complicated, pragmatic evolution, including its interaction with museum studies, historic preservation and archival studies. Public history graduates work in archives, museums, historic organizations, historical societies, historic sites, private consulting firms and historical agencies at all levels of government.

Conard also describes MTSU’s cutting-edge embrace of public history as a discipline, which began with the creation of a master’s degree in historic preservation in 1976 and continued with the first doctoral program in the country in public history.

In addition to historic preservation, the MTSU public history program includes concentrations in museum studies, cultural resources management, and archival management and administration.

“This year, we will undertake a search for a digital historian,” said Conard, “so that will be the next thing that we develop in the department, and that person will have a great role to play in the public history program as well.”

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.