Public history is history in the public sphere, whether in museums and galleries, heritage sites and historic houses, radio and television broadcasting, film, popular history books, or public policy within government. In the UK, it is a new and burgeoning area of academic interest and debate. The central challenge and task of public history is making history relevant and accessible to its audience of people outside academia, whilst adhering to an academically credible historical method. This module explores the theory and practice of public history in heritage, broadcasting and publication. The first half of the module considers the principles of visitor interpretation, museology and curatorship, asking questions such as, how is the past used? What is authenticity? What decisions are made in the presentation and interpretation of museums and historic houses? Must public ' or popular ' history mean `dumbing down', or can we satisfy the public's curiosity about the past in a way that also satisfies us as historians? The second half of the module seriously engages with the challenge of how to represent history in television documentaries, radio broadcasts, mainstream cinema, in the making of public policy, and as popular history or historical fiction. Outside speakers ' chosen from curators, interpreters, producers, and popular historians and broadcasters ' will lecture as part of this course. The course will also involve a field trip to Hampton Court Palace.