A new initiative spearheaded by Assistant Professor Lucy Kaufman allows undergraduates to earn credit for their research efforts with a professor in their field of interest.
“Our students have huge amounts of curiosity and energy,” Dr. Kaufman said. “I think of [them] as historians” and we want to give them “the ability to make history their own; to train them in essential skills that it takes to be a researcher, not just in history, but also more broadly.”
After putting an interest form in a general email, Dr. Kaufman expected to receive about a dozen interested students. Instead, the fall semester concluded with over forty students placed with professors.
Students are involved in all types of research, from paleography to digital history to public engagement. “The vast majority of people who major in history go on to do different things. It’s a really flexible major in that regard,” Dr. Kaufman said. “What we wanted to do was develop the kind of research skills that would serve them in whatever job they’re looking for, but also allow them to take history into their own hands.”