The History program at Westminster University is designed to teach you how to read and create true stories about human past through hands-on research experience. History is a vital part of understanding the present and participating fully in the world.

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Get Involved

Phi Alpha Theta

The Phi-Eta Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society, hosts a variety of on-campus events pertaining to American and world history. Past events have included a common read and discussion of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun, Dr. Carolyn Ball's address on the history of American Sign Language, and a field trip to the Leonardo Museum.

All students are welcome to join the organization and help organize events during the academic year. For information on internships, research conferences, and other events, visit the Phi-Eta Chapter website. If you are interested in the chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, email Jeff Nichols (jnichols@westminsteru.edu).

American Historical Association

The American Historical Association is the nation’s premier organization of professional historians. You may consider joining the organization as a student, or as you begin your professional career, to gain access to publications, resources, discounts, and a network of other historians.

Utah State Historical Society

Students have the opportunity to obtain a membership with the Utah State Historical Society, a thriving, diverse group of academics and amateurs who publish the Utah Historical Quarterly.

Student Resources

Research Guide

If you need help with research for any of your courses, Giovale Library has a research guide for the History program. There, you will find information that will assist you in finding primary sources, articles, books, and films, as well as resources that will help you cite your sources.

VIEW THE RESEARCH GUIDE

Humanities and Social Sciences Online (H-Net)

H-Net connects you with hundreds of discussion networks where professional historians share research and reviews and post their queries.

Thesis Showcase

You will spend your senior year writing a thesis based on original research in primary sources, with the opportunity to present your work at the Westminster Student Showcase as well as at other events such as the Utah regional Phi Alpha Theta conference or the Western History Association.

Recent thesis subjects include:

  • Student resistance to the Nazi regime
  • International influences on Japan’s Meiji constitution
  • Sustainable vs. extractive development on the Colorado Plateau
  • Witchcraft and Magic in 19th-century Utah

Alumni Success

Warren Cook

Warren Cook

Warren Cook (’17) completed the History program at Westminster along with staying involved on campus by participating in the Honors College, working as the Writing Center assistant director, and serving as the Division II Men's Soccer Team captain. After graduating from Westminster, Warren obtained a master’s degree in rhetoric and culture at the University of Colorado Boulder and has now moved on to pursue CU Boulder’s PhD in communication (with a rhetoric and culture emphasis) while working as a part-time graduate instructor for the Program for Writing and Rhetoric.

Warren also works as a trip coordinator and history instructor for a travel company during summers, participating in global trips. In 2019, Warren received first place for Academic Nonfiction in the Center of the American West’s Thompson Writing Awards contest for the paper, “‘It was the source of everything we had:’ Listening to Oral Histories of Water and Identities in Place in the Snake Valley”.

Westminster Thesis Project: An Oral History of Water in Snake Valley

Meet the Faculty

Jeff Nichols, Ph.D

Jeff Nichols, Ph.D


Professor

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