Deep within the halls of Norlin library was the follow up to the UROP Symposium. For those who do not know UROP, it is the Undergraduate AV名湿 Opportunities Program and is part of the Special Undergraduate Enrichment Programs here at CU. Earlier this fall, UROP organized a symposium for undergraduate students to meet professors in various fields to talk about their current research and how to get involved in research within your own major. I was one of the few people with a major in the humanities: history. But I was still able to connect with someone and discuss research in my respective field, from how to get started to how to do it on campus.
At the follow up, I had one-on-one time with Tim O鈥橬eil, whose field of study is similar to my particular field, made the experience so much better. He asked me what my major was, the different areas in history that I like, and how that could pair with a potential double major in journalism. I am interested in gender issues, impact of athletics, American women in the 1920鈥檚, Latin American History, and women of power in Europe. Journalism is mostly politically based and I rather enjoy speaking to people about politics because my parents were political science majors.
When I was talking with Tim, I could not believe that history and journalism can have so many focuses that I could do for research. It was also a way to talk about my next steps to start doing research if I am interested in it. At the moment I have to talk to professors who have an area of history that I find interesting. So far one of the people that I want to talk about is Professor Kent, whose area of specialty is gender issues in Europe with a focus on Queen Victoria. One of my history classes next semester is about Europe post-1914 which I am really excited for. There are more professors that I want to talk to, but I have to keep digging to see what comes up.
Since I declared a history major everyone asks me 鈥淲hat grade do you want to teach?鈥� To which I say, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to teach. I would rather do research.鈥� The UROP Symposium got me excited to meet someone that could help me navigate the world of research in history because I had no idea where to start. But after following up with Tim, I felt invigorated. To have the possibility of working with a professor about their research or creating my own research got me so excited because this is exactly want to do.