Guidelines for selection of research topic and research question

1. Your project must have a historical component to it.
2. Pick something that you are interested in and intrigued by!
3. Play to your groups’ strengths!  If you have a multi-lingual member, or some specialized expertise, think about whether you can take advantage of that.
4. You need to have a “how” or “why” research question that you endeavor to answer.  Writing a good research question is an art, but it will make your life a lot easier.
5. While the project will undoubtedly have a descriptive component to it, you must make an argument in your presentation.  This might be important to keep in mind when keeping a topic.
6. There is an art in picking a topic that is not too narrow, and not too broad.  You want a topic that is broad enough that you are able to get sources that help you answer research question, but you don’t want to pick a topic where there are hundreds of relevant sources.
7. Be modest.  There is a lot to do in a short amount of time.