Meet Public History Professor Thomas Cauvin
Meet UL Lafayette history professor Dr. Thomas Cauvin, 
who was recently named the new director of the public history program at UL Lafayette. He has just published the first single-authored textbook in North America about public history and the new digital technology practices that are shaping the field.
小蝌蚪APP淒igital has changed the role of historians,小蝌蚪APP says Dr. Cauvin. 小蝌蚪APP淒igital public history is interactive. People can participate小蝌蚪APP攄igital gives people a way to access and participate in history.小蝌蚪APP
Dr. Cauvin小蝌蚪APP檚 book, 小蝌蚪APP溞◎蝌紸PP is a compilation of resources needed to teach public history at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It小蝌蚪APP檚 divided into three sections: sources, production, and collaboration小蝌蚪APP攖he pillars of public history as a practice. Each section emphasizes the skills students need to conduct public history using traditional and digital methods. The technological components of each section include digital standards, storage, crowdsourcing, environments, range of tools, and more.
Dr. Cauvin says he gets many of his ideas from working with his students. His approach to public history doesn小蝌蚪APP檛 distinguish between his teaching and research, and he小蝌蚪APP檚 looking for ways to expand his research to focus more on international public history. Public history tends to be more localized, but international public history can help contextualize public history at the local level. By using digital tools, local public history can be introduced to a broader, even international, stage by sharing the information online.
小蝌蚪APP淎n advantage of public history is that you小蝌蚪APP檙e always looking for new ways to communicate and to involve the public,小蝌蚪APP he says. 小蝌蚪APP淭he more you share history with the public, the more it becomes public history.小蝌蚪APP
Dr. Cauvin is working with multiple public history initiatives at the 小蝌蚪APP, including spearheading the and contributing to .
Museum on the Move is a refurbished 1954 Airstream Travel Trailer that houses a new student-curated exhibit in it each year. The current exhibit, under the supervision of Dr. John Troutman, titled 小蝌蚪APP淒rill, Baby, Drill: Oil in Louisiana小蝌蚪APP is one that people feel connected to, says Dr. Cauvin. And because it小蝌蚪APP檚 mobile, they can bring the museum to the public, instead of the public seeking out the museum.
小蝌蚪APP淲e want to work for the people, with the people, in the production of public history,小蝌蚪APP he says. 小蝌蚪APP淭hat brings a lot of challenges, but it小蝌蚪APP檚 also a lot of fun.小蝌蚪APP
Dr. Cauvin is spearheading the , a Louisiana French heritage public history project that relies on community involvement. 
By asking people to bring their objects and stories to the annual event, they are taking part in public history. From there, Dr. Cauvin and his students create a catalog of the items and recorded conversations.
小蝌蚪APP淲ithout the public, we couldn小蝌蚪APP檛 do it,小蝌蚪APP Dr. Cauvin says. 小蝌蚪APP淗istorians may have a tendency to be insulated小蝌蚪APP攁s a historian, you have to be an expert in a very specific field, and it can be a challenge to explain your knowledge to a large number of people. There are also few occasions to share their knowledge with everyday people. Public history can help move this critical expertise to a public space.
小蝌蚪APP淲ith public history, we can make history alive, interactive, tangible, and fun,小蝌蚪APP he says. 小蝌蚪APP淚t expands the range of possibilities for history and historians.小蝌蚪APP
The main differences between traditional history and public history are in the communication and collaboration of history. Both traditional and public history rely on research, archives, and sources, but public history involves communicating with large audiences and collaborating with historians and non-historians alike to collect and distribute historical information to the public.
Public historians work in a range of fields, from public policy advising and historic preservation to museum curation and entertainment consulting for historical accuracy. Dr. Cauvin says to be independent and gain the skills they need to work in environments inside and outside academia.
小蝌蚪APP淢y favorite part of teaching public history is being in the field with my students and watching them interacting with people who are bringing the objects,小蝌蚪APP he says. 小蝌蚪APP淵ou can see them struggling at first because they小蝌蚪APP檙e not used to doing this, but it小蝌蚪APP檚 also a lot of fun for them because they小蝌蚪APP檙e out of the classroom小蝌蚪APP攁nd that小蝌蚪APP檚 one of the definitions of public history: doing things outside the classroom. It makes it more fun, more useful, and more connected with real people.小蝌蚪APP