History in Practice

History in Practice is our innovative, creative, and career-focused work-placement module in which students learn the theory and practice of public history and then put their skills into action during an externally-hosted work placement.

In the 10-week autumn term, students are introduced to public history through a combination of workshops with academics, curators, archivists and industry professionals, and field trips to relevant public-history institutions including; the Black Cultural Archives, the Jewish Museum, the London Metropolitan Archives, and a Queer History archive. Concepts and questions explored in the first term include: how the past is constructed in the public sphere; the role and nature of choices about how to represent and catalogue the past; the differences between museums, archives and heritage sites; explorations of audiences and publics; and how the past is curated and presented to the public.

Then, in the 10-week spring term, students embark on their work placement with their chosen partner organisation. The placement is one day per week during which the student completes a particular piece of work that is collaboratively conceived and developed by the student and the placement partner.

Students have the option to research and identify their own placement partner or choose from our list of existing partners which includes: 

• Lewisham Local History Archive
• Wellcome Library and Archive
• London Metropolitan Archives
• Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• St Paul's Cathedral
• Goldsmiths University Library Special Collections
• Ragged School Museum
• Bishopsgate Institute
• Tower Hamlets Local History Archive
• Islington Museum
• Cinema Museum
• Jewish Museum
• Museum of London, Docklands
• National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
• London Transport Museum