公共历史学家研究我们记忆和解释过去的方式。他们使用历史方法来与公众观众一起保存，收集，呈现和解释历史。公共历史学家与历史景观，遗址，公园和古迹，博物馆和历史建筑，电影和全球网络以及社区团体和组织，家庭及机构合作。他们还研究公众对过去的意识和意识，以及包括公共知识分子和公共利益团体在内的各种参与者如何寻求“提高”历史意识并培育历史思维。
Public historians study the way we remember and interpret the past. They use historical methodologies to preserve, collect, present, and interpret history with and for public audiences. Public historians work with historic landscapes, sites, parks and monuments, in museums and historic buildings, on film and the worldwide web, and with community groups and organizations, families, and institutions. They also study public awareness and consciousness of the past and how various actors, including public intellectuals and public interest groups, seek to ?raise? historical consciousness and nurture historical thinking.