AMERICA FROM THE GROUND UP: INTERDISCIPLINARY SCHOLARSHIP, FILM, AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Abstract

The fields of public history and public archaeology both deal with questions related to interactions between academics and the wider public. Over the last four decades, debate among researchers and practitioners has focused on just what is meant by “public history” and “public archaeology” The authors present a case for active engagement with the public by scholars and argue that film, and important mass communication media, can be effectively leveraged by academics to speak directly to a general audience. Moreover, using the example of their public television series America from the Ground Up, which over three seasons presents a comparative analysis of colonialism in America, we argue that film is a tool for public engagement that is also appropriate for the presentation of scholarly research, and that the use of one approach does not preclude the use of the other.