Author Archive
22 January 2015 – Kate Preissler 2
Note from the author: I wrote this piece before the conclusion of the investigative journalism podcast Serial dropped on December 18, 2014. I’m leaving it as is, without addressing the ending because it does not change the questions that were raised during its run, nor does it negate the ways we can discuss Serial in relation to public history. Read More
10 March 2014 – Kate Preissler 1
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post as it originally appeared on March 10 was a draft version, posted in error. The correct version appears below. We apologize to the authors and to our readers for the confusion.
Picture, for a moment, children of all ages loose in your museum; free to grab, change, move, and build with whatever their hands happen to come across. Read More
11 October 2013 – Kate Preissler
11 June 2013 – Kate Preissler
In my last post, I talked about some of the trainings and conceptual frameworks that help me to measure the impact of my programs at the Trustees of Reservations. I wanted to expand on the idea of measuring success and highlight some of the tools I have used for various programs and organizations that I have worked with. Read More
08 February 2013 – Kate Preissler 1
We are just passing that time of year when my team at The Trustees of Reservations transitions out of our high season and into the relative quiet of the winter. With a busy program season for our historic homes from around April to October and a budget planning season starting in December, I have about two months in the fall to review all of the data that we have collected. Read More
12 September 2012 – Kate Preissler 9
preservation, methods, public engagement, museums, environment, sustainability, education, new professionals
Around the time that I took on my current position with The Trustees of Reservations, the organization made an internal change: our historic resources department became the cultural landscapes department, our historic resources staff the cultural resources staff. Why was this significant? Read More
22 June 2012 – Kate Preissler
There are many transitions we go through when we leave graduate programs and start working as public historians. A hard one for me was the transition from student to role model and possible mentor to others working in the field of history. Read More
11 May 2012 – Kate Preissler 4
In the two years that I have worked in my current position as Western Region Engagement Manager with The Trustees of Reservations, I get asked one question more than any other: “What is an Engagement Manager?”
Although I have a short response–“I oversee any point of contact between our properties and the public”–the frequency with which I encounter the question motivates me again and again to contemplate the work of “engagement” and what it really means to “manage” it at our sites. Read More