HST681 Work Placement 2024-25

15 credits, Semester two
Module leader 2024-25: Lucy Brown

Not available to students outside History.

Module summary

This module gives you the opportunity to gain experience working on a history-related project in the local community. This might be at a museum, archive, gallery, heritage site or working on a community project and may include undertaking activities such as historical research, developing an exhibition or organising an event.

You will be supported to choose a placement from those offered at the start of the academic year and will then work with the placement provider to finalise your role.

Wherever you go, you’ll complete a placement of approximately 100 hours, gaining valuable insight into the day-to-day workings of these kinds of organisations.

You’ll develop history-specific vocational skills, the ability to interrogate public history, and you will also reflect on the issues involved in disseminating history outside academia through a reflective essay.

These kinds of skills are valuable whether you’re looking for employment after the MA programme or are planning to continue your studies with a PhD.

Examples of previous placements and projects:

250 Anniversary of the Circus Conference - 'Circus and Beyond' conference: A reflection on the integration of the academy and the wider community
Abbeydale Picturehouse - Oral history and the preservation of Sheffield's cultural heritage: experiences at the Abbeydale Picture House.
ArcHeritage / Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership - Power and Accessibility in the Creation of Heritage: A Historian's Reflection on Working within Community Archaeology
Barnsley Arts, Museums and services - The Dissemination of History in museums: cultural environment or place of learning?
Clerical exile in late Antiquity - Migration in Faith: Clerical Exile in Late Antiquity (325-600)
Doncaster Heritage Services: Doncaster 1914-18 - Public history, private interests? Reflections on Doncaster museum and issues of community representation
Makers Abbeydale Road - 'A Street Through Time': Abbeydale Road Local History Project
Sheffield Manor Lodge - A Reflection on the Boundaries of Public History
Nether Edge History Group - A subject divided? A case study of the role of the historian in Nether Edge History Group
Peak in the Past Community Heritage Project - The Promotion of Public History Through Online Resources
Sheffield Library Archives & Special Collections - A Historian in the Workplace: Reflections from the archive
Sheffield Manor Lodge - The Pursuits of Global Heritage and Developing Audiences in a local Setting
Sheffield Town Trust and the Old Town Hall - 'Encouraging ownership': Reconciling explorations of history outside of the academy
Sheffield University Heritage Office & Alumni Office - A reflection of public History: museums, exhibitions and local history.
The Digital Panopticon - Reflections on the Digital Panopticon
The History of Classics in Sheffield - When the Layman met the Academic: Reflections on Public History
The National Railway Museum - In the Museum: Presenting the Public with the Past
Tinsley Time and Travel - 'The Last Vestige of Rural Beauty': Local heritage and identity in Tinsley, Sheffield.

Please bear in mind that placement providers and projects will vary from year to year.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, you will be able to:

Demonstrate a good understanding of the functioning of a professional working environment
Demonstrate an ability to undertake tasks, under supervision, to a professional standard as part of a team or independently
Demonstrate enhanced practical skills in the use, presentation and/or management of historical evidence
Demonstrate an ability to write a detailed and reflective essay on the work undertaken, and that considers the uses of history in non-academic environments and the nature of the knowledge transfer or knowledge exchange process

Assessment methods

Assessment type - % of final mark

1000 word plan - formative (no mark attached)
3000 word essay - 100%

You will complete

a 1000 word plan detailing the work to be done on the placement, the intended learning outcomes and briefly discussing the historical background to the problem that forms the context for the work.
a 3000 word reflective essay considering the aims and outcomes of the placement, explaining the work done and reflecting on what the student has learned about the dissemination of historical knowledge and understanding in a public context.

Additional learning and teaching information

Teaching plan:

Seminars and tutorials before and after the placement will allow you to compare and contrast your experiences with other students.

After an introductory seminar and an individual tutorial with the module convenor, you will identify your own learning outcomes for the chosen placement. This plan will be subject to approval by both the convenor and the partner organisation. Following completion of the placement, all students will return to the seminar room to compare and discuss your experiences.

You will also have individual tutorial contact with the module tutor in order to discuss your assessment for this module.

Please note that the Department is unable to provide funding to cover the cost of travel to work placement providers. You should bear this in mind when choosing the placements that you would like to apply for.

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