Sophomores Cap First Year of Student Historian Project With Research Presentations

Six sophomores this month gave presentations to cap the first year of Regis’s Student Historian Project. Similar to the Science Research Project, SHP is an optional for-credit class available to sophomores on top of their existing academic curriculum. As part of SHP, students research a history topic of their choosing under the guidance of a faculty member. After completing their final research presentation, these students can choose to continue their research as juniors and seniors. 

The six sophomores met regularly with the creators and moderators of SHP, Ms. Kaitlin Landrein and Ms. Kara Papp, to develop advanced research skills, formulate a topic of their choosing, and receive guidance on their capstone presentations.

“We want them to replicate what real historians do,” says Ms. Papp. “They’re going to publications. They’re going to libraries. They’re using a variety of different articles, interviews, books, and of course a lot of primary sources if they were encouraged to look for them. This is something a bit more than what you would see in the traditional research paper like the ones we offer in sophomore and junior year.”

This year’s projects included “The Impact of U.S.-U.K. Intervention on the 1953 Iranian Coup,” by Lionel Augustine ‘25; “The Causes of the Russian Revolution,” by John Bianco ‘25; “The Impact of the 1848 Hungarian Revolution,” by Sebastian Garcia ‘25; “The Decline of Manichaeism in the Uyghurs,” by Peter Grande ‘25; “The Japanese Occupation of Korea,” by Holden Nelson ‘25; and “The Decline of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth,” by Matthew Kushner ‘25.