Come Friday, Feb. 26, the College of Liberal Arts and MTSU’s history department will once again co-sponsor the annual Middle Tennessee District History Day Competition on the MTSU campus.
The daylong event is one of four district competitions in Tennessee that lead to a statewide competition in April and culminate in a national competition each June at the University of Maryland in College Park.
Dr. Rebecca Conard, MTSU history professor, said the purpose of the National History Day educational program is to engage middle and high school students in historical thinking through research projects that result in exhibits, documentaries, dramatic performances, research papers and Web-based interpretation.
“At the state level, we partner with the Tennessee Historical Society, which began hosting the statewide competition in 2009,” Conard said. “At the campus level, we partner with MTSU’s Holocaust Studies and Middle East Studies programs, both of which sponsor special awards.
“We also have a wide network of partner organizations and agencies, such as the Tennessee State Library and Archives, American Association for State and Local History, and Rutherford County Archives, who send staff each year to serve as competition judges,” she noted.
This year’s MTSU-based event is expected to attract more than 200 middle- and high-school participants.
“They come from various schools in Rutherford, Davidson, Williamson, Wilson, Sumner, Warren and Dekalb counties, primarily, but our district includes roughly 30 middle Tennessee counties,” Conard said.
Judging for the area contest will be conducted 10 a.m. to noon in the James Union Building, Keathley University Center and the Tom Jackson Building’s Cantrell Hall, with a 2:30 p.m. awards ceremony for students set for the KUC Theater. Exhibits will be open to the public for viewing in the JUB until 1 p.m.
For more information about the Middle Tennessee District History Day Competition at MTSU, e-mail the History Day office at histday@mtsu.edu. Or, e-mail event co-coordinators Conard (rconard@mtsu.edu) or Dr. Janice M. Leone (jmleone@mtsu.edu).
