Hello everyone, my name is Rosie Cain and I am in the second semester of my first year in the Public History Master’s Program. I am originally from Boulder, Colorado. I attended American University for a semester and a half in undergrad, before transferring to the University of Colorado Boulder, where I received my BA in History.
I am interested in public history because of the focus on connecting history to people outside of academia. As a first generation college student, I found access to conversations around history in the academic world somewhat difficult to navigate and found myself turning elsewhere to learn, be it a museum, book, or even historically set television shows. I hope to one day work in a museum doing curatorial work, or in another capacity in which I can engage in interpretive historical work. I currently work at Tudor Place Historic House and Garden in Georgetown in the visitor services department. My research interests span a variety of topics and time periods, including LGBTQ+ history, women’s history, Mexican American history, and Soviet Union history (I know it’s quite the mixed bag).
I am very excited to be taking History and New Media this semester. I do not have much experience with digital platforms and am eager to learn about how to utilize them to help a wider audience access and engage with historical information. I am very curious about the relationship between place based experiences in museums or at historical sights, which initially sparked my interest in history as a child, and how that can (or can not) translate to a digital platform. I also am interested in learning about digital exhibitions, especially since as a part of my Public History Practicum course this semester I will be working with a group to assist the DC History Center in creating a new digital exhibition on the history of the Carnegie Library on Mount Vernon Square.