Topic ideas
How to find a good topic:
Ask everyone! Ask your parents, teachers, friends, family members.
Consider a local topic; California has played an important role in domestic and global diplomacy.
Think about the medium (doc, website, paper, etc.) – which topics would be enhanced by being shown in the format you’ve picked?
When you find a good topic, get a second, even a third, opinion. Ask the opinions of former History Day participants.
Do a quick Library Database search (high school students can try Google, too) for primary sources on the topic. Even if the topic sounds great, if you can’t find sources to support it, you’ll have a difficult year of research!
Check out the resources below for more topic suggestions.
NHDSD 2023 Topic List
Topic list developed by San Diego area educators
Download Topic List
NHD-CA Topics
NHD-CA has general information on selecting a topic. In addition, NHD-CA's US History Topic List (Google Sheets) describes over 150 possible topics with links to potential research sources.
National Archives DocsSearch
Described as a page for teachers to help students prepare for NHD 2023, students will also find this site useful for its abundant primary source links.
NHD MN Topic Generator
While not specific for the Frontiers in History theme, this web-based topic generating tool allows students to filter possible topics by subjects of interest.
NHD Utah
Extensive topic list plus well-organized resources for both teachers and students makes this site move beyond a list of state-only resources.
Additional topic lists may be found at state NHD sites. While they tend to be state-centric, tudents may still find some ideas of interest to them or use the lists for additional primary/secondary resources.
Example state sites: