SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Student Research
History majors who elect to pursue independent studies or embark on original research projects have opportunities to work closely with professors, to develop grant requests and receive funding, to present the results of their work at annual undergraduate research conferences, and to submit papers for publication in a variety of journals.
History faculty offer special classes and options for students who qualify for the University's honors and scholars programs. Successfully completed and reviewed senior theses are bound and catalogued as part of the library's permanent collection. Students also have the opportunity to pursue their research through a wide variety of internships with businesses, historical societies, and museums.
Zampetti Prize for Undergraduate Research in History
Spring 2004, the History Program made its first award of the Jessica Mann Zampetti and N. Michael Zampetti Prize for Undergraduate Research in History. Jessica (Class of 2000) and Michael (Class of 1999) generously funded the award to promote and publicize student research. Four papers were nominated for the prize. Thomas Pietro was awarded the prize for his honors thesis, “The Disparate Effect of the French Revolution on Equal Rights for Women,” advised by Dr. Michael Christofferson.
 |
Jessica Mann Zampetti and |
2006 Winners of the Zampetti Prize for Undergraduate Research
1st Prize Erik Regis, "The Political Philosophy of Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin and the Problem of the Illiberalism of French Republicanism in the Revolution of 1848" (Dr. Christofferson, Honors Thesis) 2nd Prize. Sabina Medilovic, "Nationalism During a Critical Decade: 1980s Yugoslavia" (Dr. Rossi, Hstry 301)
 |
Erik Regis and Sabina Medilovic |
Recent Senior Theses
- Clay Caldwell, The Alaska Gold Rush: Continuation of the American Frontier (an exercise in editing an original diary from a participant in the Gold Rush).
- Jody Crago, Maps of the World: Walter Lippmann, the Press, American Perceptions and the Munich Crisis, 1937-1938 (a study of the Lippmann papers).
- Nadine K. Cross, "These Times Make Women Strong": An Analysis of the Civil War Diary of Mary Greenhow Lee (an examination of an almost 900-page diary kept by a pro-Confederate matron of Winchester, Virginia).
- Laura Gifford, Restriction and Constriction: The Women's Movement, Societal Expectations, and Women's Dress in America from Seneca Fall through Woman Suffrage (a study of clothing reforms suggested by early feminist leaders with evidence from women's magazines).
- Kyle Hannon, The Johnson's Island Civil War Prison Camp (a history of a civil war prison camp located in the Great Lakes, based on original documents and on-site investigation).
- Jessica Leigh Mann, A Critique of Thucydides: The Role of Structural Power in the Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (a reinterpretation of the causes of the Peloponnesian War that employed the political science theory of structural power).
- Thomas R. Pietro, The Disparate Effect of the French Revolution on Equal Rights for Women (an examination of the complex impact of the French Revolution on women’s rights).
- Erik Lee Regis, The Political Philosophy of Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin and the Problem of the Illiberalism of French Republicanism in the Revolution of 1848 (a study of French Republicanism’s difficulty reconciling universal suffrage with pluralism).
- N. Michael Zampetti, The House of Morgan, the Wilson Administration, and American Neutrality during World War I, 1914-1917 (a history of the investment bank, J. P. Morgan & Company's role in American relations with the Allies during the U.S.'s period of neutrality).
Student Publications and Awards
- Erik L. Regis, “The Problem of Universal Suffrage and the French Revolution of 1848,” Runner-Up Oral Presentations, Humanities and Social Sciences Session, Behrend-Sigma Xi Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference, 16 April 2005.
- Jonathan Edwards, “The African American Spiritual; The Musical Product of a Cultural Collision.” Behrend College Junior/Senior Writing Award in the Humanities and Social Sciences, 23 April 2005.
- Jessica Mann, "American Philanthropy, Business, and Community: Samuel P. Black, Jr.," Journal of Erie Studies 29:1 (Spring 2000). A study of an Erie philanthropist.
- Joseph P. Whiteside, A History of the Black and Tautde Family in America (privately printed, 1998). A family history.
- Douglas M. Charles, "'Personal and Confidential': FBI Political Surveillance and the Charles Lindbergh Investigation, 1939-1944." The Historian 59:4 (Summer 1997). A case study of the national security state in operation.
- Robert Markley, "U.S. Presidents Began Usurping Congressional War Power Long Before the Twentieth Century," Behrend College Writing Award for the Humanities and Social Sciences, April 2001.
- Christopher Cairns, "The U.S. and the Chinese Revolution, 1910-1913." Runner-Up to Best Oral Presentation in Business and Humanities, Sigma Xi Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference, Behrend College, March 1999.