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Steven Lubar's blog
Teaching through projects
The public humanities program has two required courses, one theory and one method Projects count for about 50 percent of the grade in the project course. For several years, large class projects that built an exhibition. We built some shows that I am proud of, but there’s not really enough time in a one semester […]
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Edward Tufte’s course on Presenting Data and Information, Storified
March 26, 2013
You can see my notes from the course, storified, here.
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Authenticity, and bears
February 19, 2013
The scene: Roger Williams Natural History Museum, Providence, Rhode Island. A group of twenty third-graders has just arrived. The docent settles them down, tells them to use their inside voices and their walking shoes. But one boy can’t wait. His hand shoots up as soon as the docent asks for questions. Is it real? He’s […]
Posted in: Collections, Exhibits
Tomorrow’s the first day of class
January 23, 2013
Tomorrow’s the first day of AMST1550, Methods in Public Humanities. I’ve finished the third version of the syllabus today – I’ve claimed I was done back in November, and then again about two weeks ago. Until the course seems real – until I see the list of students signed up – it’s hard for me […]
A really quick definition of public history
January 18, 2013
My reply to Mary Rizzo’s Jon Stewart, public historian?, and especially Erik Greenberg’s comment: Let’s think about a “big tent” definition of public historian. Limiting it to “someone grounded in the arguments, practices, and habits of mind of an academically trained historian” leaves out some of the best and most interesting work – and makes for […]
Posted in: Education, Public humanities
Creative Providence: Past, Present and Future. An NEH Grant Proposal.
January 4, 2013
We’re submitting a planning grant to the NEH for a new program that will link Providence’s creative past with its creative future. Here’s a summary: The Brown Center for Public Humanities seeks $34,100 to cover the costs of planning and testing a series of pop-up installations and events that tie Providence’s past as a locus […]
Should you get a Ph.D to work in a history museum? – Part 3: How might we make it useful?
January 1, 2013
Part 3: How might we make it useful? How might we fix the Ph.D. so that it is more useful for work in museums, or alt-acc work more generally? What models are there? Before getting into this, though, it’s best to take notice of the ongoing conversation on new uses for the history degree. Anthony […]
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About me
I'm Steven Lubar, professor of American studies, history, and the history of art and architecture at Brown University. I'm also director of the public humanities program (on leave, Fall 2012). This blog is for miscellaneous writings. You can reach me at lubar@brown.edu. I'm active on twitter, @lubar.
May 9, 2013
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