History major

Find out how spending your first-year abroad with FSU can change your college experience — and your life.

Sam Kelso wrote about the history of Nicaragua during the Cold War in his senior seminar paper. Kelso encountered two main challenges: first getting started with the project and then condensing his essay to stay within the page limit given. "I tried to use as many physical books as possible and relied on online sources only when there was no printed alternative. When I was done with the project, I took a big bag of books over to the library and dropped them all in the book bin. That was an amazing feeling."

Find out more about researching a historical topic as part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program! In this interview, Justice and Ryley discuss working on a UROP project that investigated the discrepancies between visual and written evidence regarding the level of resources available to Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War.

Harper used her time studying abroad in London to begin the research for her senior seminar class. Using the archives and libraries of London allowed her to access a broad range of materials for her work on "Poor Law and Sanitary Practices in Victorian England."

For Elizabeth, the senior seminar class renewed her love for history. Having an entire semester to work on one paper allowed her to fully explore the topic and read everything that had been written about it: "It was the best academic experience that I had in college."

One person behind the efforts to bring resources to Florida State students— specifically those with an interest in the humanities— is the History Career Liaison, Cheyenne Egstad.

Further Noumena came to FSU because of its strong History program. As a History major with a museum studies minor, he is preparing to work in museums. "Presenting history to the public that is my absolute dream." In this interview, Noumena discusses his senior seminar experience.

In Fall 2025, Professor Upchurch offered FSU students the opportunity to do a History-Intensive semester at FSU’s London Study Center. In this interview, Andy and Nathaniel share their experiences of taking History classes in London.

In her senior seminar paper, Jane Cohen investigated soldier recreation programs during World War II in training camps in north Florida: Dale Mabry Field in Leon County, Camp Gordon Johnston in Franklin County, and Camp Blanding in Clay County. the U.S. Army had widespread programs to provide recreational opportunities that helped build morale for soldiers.

Find out more about researching a historical topic as part of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program! In this interview, Isabelle and Berto discuss their work on the 1943 Rosenstrasse Protest in Berlin, Germany, in which non-Jewish women married to Jewish men defied Hitler’s regime to protest the imprisonment of their husbands, leading to the men’s release.