By Center for Public History @ University of Houston
Welcome to “Public Historians at Work,” a podcast series from the Center for Public History at the University of Houston, Texas. Our vision at CPH is to ignite an understanding of our diverse pasts
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The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.
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A historian and two engineers walk into a conference….
Rather than the start to a joke, this is a core component of the project, "Algorithms and Power Systems Architecture: Using Historical Analysis to Envision a Sustainable Future.” Led by Dr. Julie Cohn, a research historian (Center for Public History, University of Houston), and two electrical engineers, Dr. Daniel Molzahn (Assistant Professor in the School of Electorical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech) and Dr. Sairaj Dhople (Oscar A. Schott Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota), this interdisciplinary team is united by a shared vision that building the power grid of the future depends on a thorough understanding of the past and the people and ideas behind the technology. In their conversation recorded in January 2024, Drs. Cohn, Molzahn, and Dhople discuss one portion of the project: collecting oral histories from academic and industry leaders in electrical and power systems engineering. From the inclusiveness of their methodology to the enthusiastic response of the engineering community, it is evident how productive these kinds of partnerships between the humanities and STEM can be.
Check out the project: https://sites.google.com/view/power-systems-history/home
Learn more about the project leads:
Dr. Julie Cohn - The Grid: Biography of an American Technology (MIT Press, 2017)
Dr. Daniel Molzahn - https://molzahn.github.io
Dr. Sairaj Dhople - https://cse.umn.edu/ece/sairaj-dhople
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
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Latino cARTographies is an interactive digital archive and exhibition reimagining Houston through an inclusive vision of Latino art, artists, and community. This project was developed out of the University of Houston’s Center for Mexican American and Latino/a Studies (CMALS) as the brain child of Dr. Pamela Anne Quiroz (Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of Houston). After hosting the 2019 Latino Art Now! - a national visual arts conference - Quiroz joined with Juana Guzman (former vice president of the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago) to preserve this experience, art, and culture for a wide public audience. Using TouchCity™ technology developed by Gibson International, Quiroz, Guzman, and a research team of faculty and students gathered hundreds of hours of data and 2,000 images related to 250 Latino artists, 80 landmarks, 17 arts organizations, and other important sites within Houston’s Latino communities. As mobile digital boards, public audiences can now experience Latino cARTographies throughout the city of Houston, at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby Airports, The Heritage Society, Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA), the Mexican Consulate, and Art Museum, TX.
In Spring 2023, the team took the digital board to a new level with an immersive, cinematic event. A selection of artists and organizations were integrated with music and animations and then projected on walls 20-feet tall for a 270-degree wraparound experience. A few days later, Quiroz and Guzman sat down to talk with Dr. Debbie Harwell in the CMALS office, reflecting on the three-year project, audience reception, and plans for the future.
To learn more about Latino cARTographies, see their official page through the Center for Mexican American and Latino/a Studies: https://www.uh.edu/class/cmals/latino-cartographies/index
On the TouchCity™ platform, see Gibson International's webpage: https://www.gibsoninternational.design/portfolio/latino-cartographies/
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
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In an increasingly digitized world, public historians have new opportunities to reach wider audiences than ever before. However, translating our work online for and with public audiences requires more than simply uploading essays and images.
In this conversation among the directors of SYRIOS (recorded Fall 2023), we learn how a digital exhibit devoted to ancient coins from Syria experiments with new technologies and techniques from data science and digital media. Specifically, SYRIOS draws upon user experience (UX) research to enlist public audiences in the full process of creating an online exhibit. Drs. Kristina Neumann (Associate Professor of History), Peggy Lindner (Assistant Professor of Information and Logistics Technology), and Liz Rodwell (Assistant Professor of Digital Media) discuss how the success of a digital project hinges upon UX, from imagining users through personas, enlisting testers for new concepts, and intentionally making space for even the most surprising feedback from public audiences of all ages.
Check out the prototype digital exhibit for SYRIOS: https://syrios.uh.edu/
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
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Over the course of the 20th century, Houston evolved into a global city as immigrants from across the world came to call the city home. In this special supplement, undergraduate students from the University of Houston explore Houston’s undertold immigrant stories. Together, they reveal a range of experiences that uncover often overlooked textures of the city.
In this episode, students recount the lives of Jewish-Latin Americans who settled in 1960s and 1970s Houston. These immigrants belong to two ethnic groups, and while building a life in their new homes, they created a new community of their own.
How did a meeting between the dictator Fidel Castro and a Houston congressman, Mickey Leland, help a young, Jewish prisoner in a labor camp become a successful doctor in Miami? Listen now for the story of Salomon Imiak.
This episode was written and recorded by Devin Herrera, Nicole Hopkins, Christian Dodd, and Charis Wu as part of HIST 3317: Making of Ethnic America (Spring 2023).
The oral history with Salomon Imiak was recorded by Dr. Mark Goldberg (Associate Professor of History, University of Houston).
Music courtesy of:
freesound.org
por el camino by Connie Mendez. Attribution NonCommercial 4.0.
https://freemusicarchive.org/home
The Devil's Dance by Cuban Cowboys. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.
Come Again by Holizna. CC0 1.0.
le manège pour les Antilles by Jean Toba. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Funk and Flash by Blue Dot Sessions. CC BY-NC 4.0.
Sadness by Gurdonark. CC BY 3.0.
Thoughts by Gurdonark. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Stereo Funk by M33 Project. CC BY-NC 4.0.
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
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Over the course of the 20th century, Houston evolved into a global city as immigrants from across the world came to call the city home. In this special supplement, undergraduate students from the University of Houston explore Houston’s undertold immigrant stories. Together, they reveal a range of experiences that uncover often overlooked textures of the city.
In this episode, students recount the lives of Jewish-Latin Americans who settled in 1960s and 1970s Houston. These immigrants belong to two ethnic groups, and while building a life in their new homes, they created a new community of their own. Listen now for the story of Sara Esquenazi, a Cuban immigrant to Houston.
This episode was written and recorded by Chloe Levy, Jenna Goodrich, Jesus Tobar, and Preston Parkhurst as part of HIST 3317: Making of Ethnic America (Spring 2023).
The oral history with Sara Esquenazi was recorded by Dr. Mark Goldberg (Associate Professor of History, University of Houston).
Music courtesy of:
https://freepd.com/
https://freemusicarchive.org/home
“Sunset Soul” by Ketsa. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Deed.
“Cuban Heat” by John Bartmann. CC0 1.0 Deed.
“La vieja” by Las Sirenas del Son. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Deed.
“Vida” by Lido Pimienta. CC BY-NC 2.0 CL Deed.
“Nyghtlon. Classical Guitar Solo” by M33 Project. CC BY-NC 4.0 Deed.
“Vino Tinto” by Serge Quadrado. CC BY-NC 4.0 Deed.
“Worth Fighting For” by Independent Music Licensing Collective. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Deed.
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
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Over the course of the 20th century, Houston evolved into a global city as immigrants from across the world came to call the city home. In this special supplement, undergraduate students from the University of Houston explore Houston’s undertold immigrant stories. Together, they reveal a range of experiences that uncover often overlooked textures of the city.
In this episode, students recount the lives of Jewish-Latin Americans who settled in 1960s and 1970s Houston. These immigrants belong to two ethnic groups, and while building a life in their new homes, they created a new community of their own. Listen now for the story of Enrique Kuperman, a Chilean immigrant who founded Hebraica Houston to serve the Latino-American Jewish community within the city.
This episode was written and recorded by Sophia Le, Alena Aguilar, and Luis Zuluaga as part of HIST 3317: Making of Ethnic America (Spring 2023).
The oral history with Enrique Kuperman was recorded by Dr. Mark Goldberg (Associate Professor of History, University of Houston).
Music courtesy of:
https://freepd.com/
https://freemusicarchive.org/home
“Dancing in the Fields” by One Man Book. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED
“El Elyon” by Psalters. Public Domain.
“The Father, The Son, and the Harold Rubin” by Ehran Elisha, Harold Rubin and Him Elisha. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DEED
“Zemer Atik” by The Rosen Sisters. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
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In Spring 2022, Dr. Mark Goldberg (Associate Professor of History, University of Houston) decided to try something new with his undergraduate history course. As a way of enriching his students’ engagement with Jewish Latinx culture, Goldberg partnered with Holocaust Museum Houston to guide his class through the recording and archiving of six interviews with members of this community. A year later on November 28, 2023, Goldberg sat down with one of his undergrads, Miranda Ruzinsky, to reflect on the intellectual and personal impact of their participation in the Sephardic Latinx Oral History Project. Their conversation demonstrates how revelatory an experience practicing public history can be for undergraduates - from learning how to actively listen when conducting an oral history to being part of building an archive of a hidden community to collectively presenting these living stories to a public audience.
To access the Sephardic Latinx Oral History Project: https://hmh.org/education/sephardic-latinx-oral-history-project/
To read more about student engagement in this project: https://www.uh.edu/provost/university/qep/sephardic-latinx-oral-history-project/
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/UH-students-worked-in-revolutionary-project-17131856.php
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
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In the practice of public history, how the wider community receives a project is just as important as the intentions behind its creation. As work done for and with public audiences, the exhibits, media, and spaces we cultivate form a dialogue where agency is shared, emotions are welcome, and diverse experiences are honored. As Dr. Stephen Vider comments in Season 2, “I think that we place so much emphasis on the intellectual value of our research, but I think many people engage with history in a much more bodily and affective way - in an emotional way - and I like how public history draws that out.”
In that spirit, join Aracely Lara, a first generation Mexican-American graduate student in public history, as she processes the “100 Years of Stories: Documenting a Century at the University of Houston” exhibit at the M.D. Anderson Library. Learn how she finds radical hope in the perseverance of alumnae before her like Yolanda Black Navarro, Maria Jimenez, and Graciela Saenz.
This episode was researched, recorded, and produced by Aracely Lara for the Center of Public History at the University of Houston.
To learn more:
Oral Histories from the UH Libraries Special Collections:
Saenz, Graciela Guzman; Grevious, Danielle & Bobadilla, Eladio. Oral History Interview with Graciela Guzman Saenz, July 8, 2016, video, July 8, 2016; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth984718/m1/: accessed Dec. 26, 2023), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting TCU Mary Couts Burnett Library.
Music via the Free Music Archive:
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
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In 2027, the University of Houston in Texas will celebrate its centennial anniversary. In honor of that upcoming milestone, the Center for Public History (CPH) partnered with UH Libraries and Houston Public Media to collect, share, and preserve stories related to the university’s legacy across one hundred years. On November 30th, 2023, the three project leaders – Dr. Debbie Harwell (Instructional Assistant Professor of History and Editor of Houston History magazine), Mary Manning (University Archivist in Special Collections, M.D. Anderson Library), and Fujio Watanabe (Manager of Media Production, Houston Public Media) – came together to discuss the collaborative process of training students how to transform archival material and oral histories into magazine articles, television and radio spots, pop-up displays, and ultimately, a public exhibit, "100 Years of Stories: Documenting a Century at the University of Houston." This kind of public history work requires deep research, advanced planning, and flexibility, but the outcome is indispensable in helping a wider community understand the importance and influence of a local institution and its dynamic people.
To learn more about the "100 Years of Stories" project: https://uh.edu/class/ctr-public-history/projects/100-years-of-stories/100-years-home.php
On Houston Public Media's "100 Years of Houston, 1927-2027": https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/100-years-of-houston/
On Houston History magazine: https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/
To support the Center for Public History: https://uh.edu/class/cph
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
Send us a text
In 1977, over 100 people with disabilities and their allies occupied a federal building in San Francisco for almost a month. Part of the national 504 Sit-In, this remarkable protest sought to finally sign into law Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973), which would make it illegal for any federally funded facilities or programs to discriminate against individuals based on their disability. Not only was the protest successful, it paved the way for the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
In this final episode of Season Two (recorded on July 19, 2022), Dr. Wes Jackson speaks with Dr. Cathy Kudlick (Professor of History and Director Emeritus of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability, San Francisco State University) and Fran Osborne (Freelance Designer/Museum Consultant and Lecturer in Museum Studies, San Francisco State University) on their public exhibit about the 504 Sit-in. First launched in 2015, “Patient No More: People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights” not only captures this pivotal historical moment but exemplifies innovative public history practice by making accessibility and community involvement integral to its design.
Check out the amazing virtual exhibit for “Patient No More”: https://longmoreinstitute.sfsu.edu/patient-no-more.
Learn more about the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability: https://longmoreinstitute.sfsu.edu/.
Explore the Global Museum at San Francisco State University: https://museum.sfsu.edu/global-museum.
For more on Dr. Kudlick: https://longmoreinstitute.sfsu.edu/catherine-j-kudlick.
For more on Prof. Osborne: https://art.sfsu.edu/fran-osborne.
The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph
The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.
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