2008-09 Contest Theme The Individual in History During the 2008-2009 school year, National History Day invites students to research topics related to the theme The Individual in History. As is the case each year, the theme is broad enough to encourage investigation of topics ranging from local to world history, and from ancient times to the recent past. To understand the historical importance of their topics, students need to ask questions about time, place, and context; cause and effect; change over time; and impact and significance. They ought to consider not only when and where events happened, but also why they occurred, what factors contributed to their development, and what effects they had on broader history. In other words, NHD projects should go beyond mere description to include analysis of information and conclusions about how the topic influenced and was influenced by other people, ideas, and events. For National History Day, students must also tie their topics to the theme. For 2008-2009 NHD projects, this means that students need to define the sense in which their topics relate to conflicts or compromise in history. The most obvious topic choice is to select one individual or a small group of individuals who experienced a conflict and/or compromise, or to pick a specific event in which conflict or compromise took place. A second possibility is to look at a topic invlolving intellectual or ideological issues; to get a grasp on such a topic, a student might find it useful to hone in on how a particular political or social movement or organization expressed and acted on ideas. A third alternative is to consider the strategy and methods used to overcome conflict in a particular situation which then in turn leads to compromise. Click here to read more about the 2008-09 NHD Contest Theme.