Recognising research development and training in history and the public humanities through university and museum-led partnerships in Australia

This article explores the value that history-based research training, delivered across institutions, can offer to university, museum and public sectors for institutional transformation and the public good. The value proposition is explored in relation to a collaborative pilot program that was run in 2023 across the Australian National University and the National Museum of Australia. The article locates the pilot program in context of the historical development of museum studies programs in Australia, and the concurrent but often parallel development of interdisciplinary graduate research training programs across a range of humanities fields including history and anthropology. The article positions the field of public humanities as an alternative orientation that may contribute to policy imperatives facing higher education institutions (public engagement and impact) and the museum sector alike. It argues in the final instance that all research training for cultural work should be interdisciplinary, collaborative and cross-institutional.