Students in this joint program will earn both the MAPH and an MLIS degree. Graduates of the program benefit from the joint preparation in public history and library and information science and increase their potential for finding employment in either field. Students are prepared to enter a new workforce with the skills to appraise and describe historical records, create and maintain websites, preserve electronic documents, and communicate with a public audience. Upon successful completion of this program students will be prepared for employment in a wide range of settings, including libraries, archives, museums, state and federal agencies, and the private sector.
Public history is applied history, and the MAPH leads to employment in occupations as diverse as museum work, library and archival research, public policy analysis, documentary filmmaking, state and national parks, and tourism. Public historians provide an essential service by making historical scholarship accessible to a broad public audience. Libraries, archives, and other institutions that hire information management professionals increasingly seek employees who can communicate with broad public audiences about their collections and holdings, and who can create exhibits and public programming. The MAPH/MLIS joint degree program responds to the changing professional expectations for librarians and archivists.
Admission Requirements
Applicants to this program must be admitted to both the School of Information Sciences and Department of History MAPH program.
Admission to this program is contingent upon admission to the Graduate School. Earning a graduate degree is an undertaking which requires a considerable commitment of time and financial resources. The Department of History expects applicants to its graduate program to arrive well-prepared to undertake a rigorous course of study.
The department normally considers only applicants whose undergraduate grade point is at least 3.00 overall and at least 3.25 in a minimum of eighteen semester credits in history and related subjects at the advanced undergraduate level. The department requires that all applicants submit a statement of purpose, a writing sample, two letters of recommendation (at least one should be from a former instructor; the other may be a professional reference from a supervisor for a history-related internship or other employment), a resume or curriculum vitae, and copies of transcripts from each college or university previously attended. Please consult the Department of History graduate handbook for more details on how to prepare application materials.
Application deadlines are October 15 (for Winter admission), January 15 (for Fall admission with funding consideration), and April 15 (for Fall admission without funding consideration).
Students complete a minimum of 55 credits total for both degrees (14 hours are double-counted). For the MAPH degree, students complete 33 hours of MAPH credits, inclusive of 8 hours of INF credits that will also count toward the student's MLIS degree. In SIS, students complete 30 hours of LIS credits and 6 hours of History credits, for a total of 36 credits. The History credits would also count toward the student's MAPH electives.
Requirements: Library and Information Science
The MLIS degree requires 36 credits (including 6 credits of HIS courses).
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| INF 6010 | Foundations of the Information Professions | 3 |
| INF 6080 | Fundamentals of Information Technology | 3 |
| INF 6120 | Access to Information | 3 |
| INF 6210 | Organization of Information | 3 |
| INF 7040 | Management and Leadership | 3 |
| INF 7996 | Research for the Information Professions | 3 |
| 12 |
| 6 |
| Total Credits | 36 |
Requirements: Public History
The MAPH degree requires 33 credits (Including 8 credits of INF courses). The course work includes 15 credits in core coursework, and 18 credits of MAPH Track requirements.
Core courses
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| HIS 7835 | Public History | 3 |
| HIS 7855 | Memory and History | 3 |
| HIS 7998 | Internship in Public History | 3 |
| HIS 7999 | Master's Essay Direction | 3 |
| INF 7710 | Archival Administration | 3 |
| or INF 7740 | Archives and Libraries in the Digital World |
| or INF 7770 | Oral History: A Methodology for Research |
| Total Credits | 15 |
MAPH Track Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Credits |
| 3 |
| 3 |
| 6 |
| 6 |
| Advanced Web Development | |
| Archival Administration | |
| Administration of Audio Visual Collections | |
| Archives and Libraries in the Digital World | |
| Oral History: A Methodology for Research | |
| Description and Access for Archives | |
| Cultural Heritage Institutions: Management and Leadership | |
| Total Credits | 18 |