Andrew Maginn

awmaginn@mtsu.edu

Andrew Polk

History

Discipline specific equipment

Peck Hall 243.

N/A

N/A

Middle Tennessee State University’s History Department offers one of the nation’s leading graduate programs in Public History and has expanded this strength through its Digital History curriculum. To remain competitive, public history graduate students must gain hands-on experience with cutting-edge spatial technologies. This proposal seeks to support 91 graduate students annually—59 MA and 32 PhD students (AY 2025–2026)—enrolled in courses HIST 6104, 6450, 6460, 6490, 7104, 7450, 7460, and 7490. The requested equipment will enhance instruction and collaboration with community and institutional partners, including the Center for Historic Preservation. This grant requests the following equipment with supporting software: two DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise drones, a UTILITYSCAN/RNLT/3 ground-penetrating radar (GPR) unit, and four Apple iPad Pros with LiDAR scanners. The drones will collect high-resolution aerial imagery for mapping and 3D terrain modeling. The GPR will enable subsurface documentation of buried features. The iPad Pros will integrate aerial and subsurface data in the field to create place-based visualizations using augmented reality (AR). The TAF Grant’s support is essential because the department currently lacks access to discipline-specific drones. Likewise, the University’s sole GPR, housed in Geospatial Sciences, is not designed for the uneven terrain encountered at partner historic sites. With manufacturer support and faculty oversight, this equipment will enable the production of historic maps, interpretive reconstructions, and digital exhibits. Experience in these digital tools will ensure the program continues to graduate highly skilled public historians prepared for careers in education, cultural resource management, historic preservation, museums, government, and non-profit.