International Public History Working Group

At the TICCIH conference in Freiberg, Germany, I met Anna Adamek, Curator of Natural Resources and Industrial Design at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. She's active in the National Council on Public History, which focuses primarily on North America. After our return, she shared this call for participation in a working group at NCPH's 2010 meeting in Portland, Oregon which will explore the ways in which public history discussions could be considered worldwide--hoping that I could help connect her to colleagues in Ukraine and elsewhere. So below, the call for participation.

This International Public History working group is part of an initiative by the NCPH International Task Force to provide a forum for a dialogue among public historians worldwide. Over the last three decades public history has been proliferating in North America. The Task Force would like to explore the state of public history around the world, and opportunities for greater international cooperation in the field. Is there a need for an international organization in public history, for universal standards, and a strong global lobby? How can the NCPH and the Public Historian serve the international community?

The facilitators invite the participation of public history professionals from around the world in the working group on internationalization of public history. Through a moderated discussion, the contributors will explore the need for and benefits of formal international cooperation in the field. Each participant will be asked to outline the state of public history in their country, and present examples of the best practices or model institutions from their home countries. Next, the participant will be asked to present their views on bringing public history professionals across the globe together. The working group will then put forward a list of non-binding recommendations for the International Task Force.

If you're interested in participating in Portland, or from afar, please contact me and I'll put you in touch with Anna. Our session at TICCIH discussed the need to expand our global perspectives in industrial history--and I'm looking forward to the ways in which NCPH might consider global perspectives as well.