"Public history" is now well established in the US, linking universities with private and public organizations, including government. This workshop will be the occasion for reflection and discussion about the development and potential of the field in the US, the UK, and continental Europe. One key focus will be the pioneering historical studies of American urban infrastructure, and their relation to present problems of ageing facilities, pollution risks, and the privatization of the city. For this topic, as for others, how can history best be mobilized for present use?
We have invited an audience of historians and others who are concerned with the public uses of history and with the history of cities, especially Manchester. There will be ample opportunities for discussion – over tea before the paper and over drinks afterwards.
Martin V. Melosi is Distinguished University Professor of History and Director of the Center for Public History at the University of Houston. His research fields include environmental, urban and energy history. The author or editor of fifteen books and more than 80 articles and book chapters, he has been a visiting professor in France, Denmark, Finland, and China. He served as president of the American Society for Environmental History, the Urban History Association, the Public Works Historical Society, and the National Council on Public History.
This event is sponsored by the Centre of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM), University of Manchester; the Dept of History, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the Manchester Histories Festival.
The seminar will be held in the CHSTM seminar room, Rm 2.57, Second floor, Simon Bldg (Brunswick St),
University of Manchester. Please enter the bldg by the door set back from Brunswick St, NOT via Potters café. (take lift to Second floor, ahead through Fire door, and 2.57 is on your right).
