ABSTRACT
According to public historian Mary Rizzo, the concept of civic engagement is at the core of the public humanities. She wrote: When the American Academy of Arts and Sciences makes the case for federal support for the public humanities in its Heart of the Matter report, it relies on arguments about the potential for civic engagement. In a 2014 National Council on Public History's (NCPH) working group entitled 'Toward a History of Civic Engagement and the Progressive Impulse in Public History', Denise Meringolo and Daniel Kerr questioned how public historians could more effectively use historical work to foster change. The move from civic engagement to social justice and activism has become central in public history debates. The Oral History of Homelessness Project has collected hundreds of stories from people across the state of Minnesota. Historians also participate in present-day civic engagement through education programs that address discrimination, torture, political violence, and human rights.
