The history major at Catholic University mentors students in how to do research: how to find and evaluate sources, how to assess the current state of historiography on any given topic, how to formulate a research proposal and plan the stages of a research project, and how to express the results in analytical long-form writing.  This learning process informs all undergraduate courses, and for history majors culminates in original research in their junior seminars and senior thesis sections.

The department is proud of the quality of research that our undergraduates produce; several senior theses (and even junior research papers) have been subsequently published. There are a number of venues where our undergraduates offer their research to the public or compete for prizes.

In addition, the department strongly encourages its majors to undertake internships for course credit, which entail a component of research writing as appropriate to the internship placement, and to consider research apprenticeship.

Research Apprenticeships

The Department of History’s Research Apprenticeship program enables a student to work individually with a professor, learning hands-on how research is conducted and contributing to publications, while developing a one-on-one mentoring relationship and earning course credit.  A minimum 3.0 GPA is required to apply: interested students should consult the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUGS), Dr. Árpád von Klimó, to discuss.  The application form is available here.

Research Day

Every spring CUA hosts a Research Day, in which students can present posters or give TED talks about their research.  For more information, contact Dr. Julia Young.

Phi Alpha Theta

Every spring the Department of History takes undergraduate and graduate students to the Mid-Atlantic Phi Alpha Theta Conference, which features original student research.  Students give talks based on their research and compete for prizes. For more information, contact our chapter's faculty adviser, Dr. Árpád von Klimó.

Zeender Prize

Every April the History department nominates some of its best senior theses for the Zeender Prize.  Nominees give a brief talk based on their research before the prize is awarded.

Inventio

Inventio is a journal that features the best undergraduate research at Catholic University in theology, philosophy, the humanities, and the social sciences.  In 2016, two of the five main articles published were by History majors.  For more information, contact Dr. Caroline Sherman.

History Matters

University undergraduates are also eligible to submit their History research papers to History Matters, a journal that features undergraduate work.  

The Georgetown Journal of History

The Georgetown Journal of History publishes undergraduate research in all areas of history.