UNLV is now offering a program in public history that will provide students with a background in the practical application of historical research.

The goal of the new program, according to Andrew Kirk, assistant history professor and the director of the program, is to prepare students to work in private and public organizations that bring history to the local and regional community.

Kirk said students will be able to work in such areas as historic preservation; heritage tourism; corporate, local, and oral history; archive and museum management; manuscript preservation; and other community-related historical endeavors.

"The addition of a public history component to the UNLV history department represents an important advance for the university and community," Kirk said. "The program will provide students with a broader background in practical aspects of historical research in the hopes that they may take valuable skills into private and public organizations that bring history to the local and regional community."

He added that some of the more specific goals of the program include providing students with hands-on opportunities in the community so that they may gain experience and build contacts; providing a valuable resource to the community in the form of trained student researchers; and continuing the tradition of innovation and excellence that has garnered the UNLV history department a national reputation.

Kirk said the public history movement in the United States began in the 1970s when colleges and universities around the nation began recognizing the importance of training students to use their skills in public settings.

"Over the past 25 years, public history programs have appeared in major universities all over the country," he said.

For more information, call Kirk at 895-3544.