Independent Research
History majors and minors undertake independent research in a number of different ways: through the Summer Fellows program, the Honors program, or independent study (History-400W).
Here is a list of independent research projects completed by History students between 2009 and 2018.
2017 - 2018
”Academia’s Past Boundaries in the Present Future”
Elijah Sloat, Class of 2018
2016 - 2017
“Pearl of Africa: British Colonialism’s Role in Ugandan Education and Modern Repercussions for Nonprofits.”
Marcella McGill, Class of 2017
2014 - 2015
“A Battle for Hearts and Minds: U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Cold War Middle East”
Christopher Goss, Class of 2015
2013-2014
“Radical vs. Rational: Examining Western Media Portrayal of Islamist Terror”
Kelsey Bullington-Hodge, Class of 2014
“Not So Different After All: Accounting for Male Witches”
Kathleen Bralla, Class of 2016
“Slavery Debates in Norristown, PA”
Lindsay Doyle, Class of 2015
“White Flight 2.0”
Gerald Gares, Class of 2014
2012-2013
“The Creation and Proliferation of Siege Weapons from the Assyrians the Romans: 800 BCE – 376 CE”
Jean-Pasquale Infanti, Class of 2013
“Land, Legions, and Slaves in the Roman Republic, 200-70 BCE”
Nicholas Roberts, Class of 2013
“The Komnenian Empire and the Latin East: Continuity and Innovation in Byzantine Policy and Ideology”
Andrew Williams, Class of 2013
“When the Pen Becomes the Sword: Louisa May Alcott and Elizabeth Keckley Claiming Agency and Identity through Civil War Writing”
Katherine Pierpont, Class of 2013
“الله، الوطن، الملك : A Study of Moroccan Islamism”
Stephanie Breitsman, Class of 2013
“Resisting the Master Class: A Comparative Perspective on Slave Religion”
Anna Domestico, Class of 2013 (American Studies/History concentration)
“Examining the West’s Relationship with the Middle East: Why is 9/11 American?”
Kelsey Bullington-Hodge, Class of 2014
“Genghis Khan: What Was He Thinking?”
Matthew Ruby, Class of 2014
“The Resurrection of the “Dead” Second Amendment in Heller v. District of Columbia (2008)”
Anthony Sierzega, Class of 2015
2011-2012
“God’s Cartography: Religious Morality and Mercantile Forces in Medieval Islamic Maps and Texts”
Lindsay Hogan, Class of 2012
“German Children and German Memory of the Third Reich”
Sarah Hood-Betts, Class of 2012
“From Rivke to Rachel: Jewish Women and Assimilation in America, 1900-2012”
Arielle Ross, Class of 2012
“The Polemic of the Investiture Controversy: The Desire for Unity as a Cause of Conflict”
Nathan Schmalhofer, Class of 2012
“The “Arab Spring”: Examining the Cases of Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia from Historical and Contemporary Perspectives”
Jason Mullins, Class of 2012
“Comparative Analysis of Medieval Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Proofs for the Existence of God”
Kevin Kozlowski, Class of 2012
“The Historiography of the Hiroshima Controversy”
Vincent Chiaro, Class of 2012
“Slavery’s Impact on Current Interracial Friendships in America”
James Shelton, Class of 2012
2010-2011
“The Perfectibility of Man: Manufacturing the Aryan Race”
Jeffrey Centafont, Class of 2011
“The Love of Gods and Heaven’s Harmony: Exploring the Concepts of Human Nature and Morality in Ancient China and Ancient Greece”
Bridget Resetco, Class of 2011
“Interfaith Relations in al-Andalus: An Interdisciplinary Perspective”
Colleen Vineer, Class of 2011
“The Persistence of Legend: The Evolution of the Arthurian Myth from 600-1500 C.E.”
Erik Derr, Class of 2011
“Dead or Coed: Coeducational Trends in Men’s and Women’s Colleges between 1970-2000”
Tara Kreider, Class of 2011
“Sephardic Life Experiences and Social Conflict in Israel”
Thomas Nucatola, Class of 2011
“All in the Family: Understanding Filial Piety as Debt, Duty, or Desire”
Karen Levandoski, Class of 2012
“Indecent Conduct: The Creation of a Queer Subculture in Interwar Philadelphia, 1918-1945”
Arielle Ross, Class of 2012
2009-2010
“A Great Tree: The Consequences of Empire Building During the Seven Years War”
Nicholas Bendas, Class of 2010
“’I Wish There Would Come A Time’: Liberty, Rhetoric, and Antislavery Reality Across Revolutionary America”
Matthew Nixon, Class of 2010
“Luther’s Pedagogy and the Christian Vocation”
Jeffrey Centafont, Class of 2011
“Jewish Persecution Experiences: 1933-1990”
Thomas Nucatola, Class of 2011
“Adoration and Revulsion: The Italian Obsession with Byzantium”
Naomi Sapiro, Class of 2010
“The Crossroads of Ideology: Islamic Feminism and Its Evolution through Secularism and Muslim Tradition”
Lindsay Hogan, Class of 2011
“Surviving Hitler: The Story of the Stumpfs”
Samuel Kessler, Class of 2011
“Prague: Urban Change and Continuity”
Abigail Lewis, Class of 2011
“The Poet President: The Role of Writers in Argentine Politics / El presidente poeta: el rol de los escritores en la política argentina”
Calla Mattox, Class of 2011
2008-2009
“Race and the Founding Fathers: A Look at How Color Shaped Independence”
Matthew Nixon, Class of 2010
“Why the American Prison System is Ineffective in Issuing Treatment for Inmates”
Michael Thomas, Class of 2010