Joshua D. Koenig is an Assistant Professor of History in the Department of History and Political Science at Worcester State University. Additionally, he is the Chair of the Environmental and Sustainability Studies Program. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in American History, Public History, Museum Studies,, History of the American West, American Environmental History, American Art and Architectural History, and Native American History.
Dr. Koenig’s work examines public perceptions, preservation and representation of American history; specifically, within the history of the American West. As a public historian, he focuses on how museums and other historical institutions and sites present their stories to the public. Koenig is particularly interested in what each institution presents as history; what stories they include and exclude. His research centers on public engagement with American history, specifically examining public perceptions, preservation, and representation of American history. His forthcoming monograph, “Our Shared Vision: Public Depictions of the Trans-Mississippi American West,” explores how four of the largest western heritage museums depict and portray the history of the American West to the public.
Dr. Koenig and his co-authors have created several digital media history projects with PBS. The series America From the Ground Up,explores archaeological and public history sites along America’s ever shifting frontier and uses these sites as touch points to tell America’s history. The series incorporates aspects of archeology, historic preservation, STEM, and history to provide an ethnohistorical examination of the American American story. Most recently, Dr. Koenig and his colleagues created and produced DIGADOHI: Lands, Cherokee and the Trail of Tears. The work centers on the Snelson-Brinker house located near Steelville, Missouri. Built in 1834, the house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. In 2017 the historic resource fell victim to arson, and the Missouri Humanities Council, along with the Cherokee Nation used this event as an opportunity to excavate, study, and preserve the site.
