Real World History
Bringing History to Life
Combining academic coursework with internships at historic sites
The only credit-bearing course available to all public and public charter school students in Washington, DC, Real World History teaches history through inquiry, equipping students with crucial skills that prepare them to thrive in our complex 21st century world.
Fall Semester: Building the Skills of a Historian
Students build the skills of a historian, including contextualization, corroboration, and sourcing. The class reads and discusses the award winning book The Warmth of Other Suns. The semester culminates with an oral history project in which students interview a local Washingtonian who was part of the Great Migration. Students complete projects involving first-hand documentation that are preserved in DC Public Libraries.
Students complete a 100-hour internship at a historic site or museum. Each site provides students with the opportunity to contribute to ongoing projects in meaningful ways while learning about public history, thereby gaining authentic work experience and exposure to a eld that is rarely introduced to high school students.
Internships sites have included:
Anacostia Community Museum
Charles Sumner Museum and [DCPS] Archives
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Freer|Sackler Museum of Asian Art
Library of Congress
National Air & Space Museum
National Archives and Records Administration
National Museum of American History
National Museum of African-American History & Culture
National Museum of the US Navy
National Portrait Gallery
The Phillips Collection
President Lincoln’s Cottage
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States Capitol Historical Society
White House Historical Association
Woodrow Wilson House
Apply for Real World History
Join students from various DCPS and DC charter high schools for an innovative history course. Real World History focuses on the nature of historical thinking as well as the “doing” of history. During first semester, students will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school (5-7pm) at Cardozo High School with instructor Cosby Hunt of Inspired Teaching; they will focus on practicing the skills of historians as they study the Great Migration; in the second semester, students will practice their emerging skills through internships at a variety of museums, archives, and historic sites and the completion of a National History Day project.
To apply for Real World History now, please contact Cosby Hunt at email@example.com.
Host a Real World History Intern
Real World History students can offer valuable support to an internship site, while gaining new skills and experience. Each internship site should provide a specific project or long-term task that the intern can work on throughout the semester.
Students complete their 100 hour internships in January-May each year.
To inquire about hosting a Real World History student at your organization, email Cosby Hunt, Senior Teaching & Learning Officer at Cosby@inspiredteaching.org
Mr. Hunt is an engaging teacher who makes learning fun for us. You can always access him, and that’s different. The workload really gets us prepared for college because of how critical he is about grading, which is really unique.