Undergraduate Prizes & Scholarships

Application season is March-April of each year. Contact the undergraduate director to learn more.  

Outstanding in History Certificate
Certificate recipients are nominated by faculty as the strongest graduating seniors in the major who are above a 3.6 GPA and have exhibited strong overall performance in the discipline. Selection is made by the Undergraduate Committee.

Distinguished in History Certificate
Certificate recipients are nominated by faculty as the strongest graduating seniors in the major who are above a 3.6 GPA and have completed an honors thesis or an exceptional capstone paper. Selection is made by the Undergraduate Committee.

Distinguished in the Minor Certificate
Certificate recipients are nominated by faculty as the strongest graduating seniors in the minor who are above a 3.6 GPA and have exhibited strong course work. Selection is made by the Undergraduate Committee.

Chair’s Recognition Certificate
Certificate recipients are graduating seniors in the major that deserve special distinction. Reasons to be selected include: civic engagement, seeking co-curricular learning or internships, or strong service in the classroom or community. Selection is made by the chair in consultation with the Undergraduate Committee.

Del Barto Scholarship ($1000)
This scholarship is presented annually to the highest ranking history majors who are juniors or seniors with at least one semester remaining in the program. These individuals are nominated by faculty as the most outstanding students above a 3.6 GPA who have exhibited strong overall performance in the discipline. The selection is made by the Undergraduate Committee.  

Murray Miller Scholarship ($1000) 
This scholarship is presented annually to a history major(s) who has a 3.5 GPA or higher, is in good academic standing, is enrolled in at least 6 hours both semesters in the past year, and writes the best essay on the topic of the year (750 words). The selection is made by the Undergraduate Committee.

Sample Prompt: We are living through historic times—the war in Ukraine, a global pandemic, an ongoing climate crisis, economic uncertainty, and continued culture wars, to name a few concerns. Compare some of these developments over the last few years to one other moment in ancient or modern history. How does an earlier moment in history provide a meaningful perspective on the present?

Research Opportunities

The UH Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards (OURMA) promotes mentored research and fellowship opportunities for all undergraduate students from across the university to support their academic, personal, and professional trajectories through rigorous scholarly inquiry and collaboration. History students have especially succeeded in these experiences.   

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF-UH)
The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship provides funding for rising UH sophomores, juniors and seniors to participate in a focused 10-week research experience under the direction of UH faculty.

Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship (PURS)
The Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship Program provides talented UH juniors and seniors with the opportunity to participate in a research project under the direction of a UH faculty mentor. Scholarship recipients receive a $1,000 scholarship to conduct research for one semester.

Mellon Research Scholars Program
Faculty-mentored opportunity for underrepresented students to conduct research in the humanities. Participants also benefit from lecture series and workshops.

Research for Aspiring Coogs in the Humanities (REACH)
REACH provides a year-long introductory research experience for students in humanities disciplines by connecting a dozen students to existing undergraduate research projects at the University of Houston.

Undergraduate Research Day
This event features the work of UH undergraduate researchers who have participated in independent research and faculty-mentored projects over the past year.

Senior Honors Thesis Program
The Senior Honors Thesis is a six credit-hour capstone research experience that is completed during a student's senior year at UH. Eligible students from the Department of History are welcome to participate, regardless of their affiliation status with the Honors College.   

History undergraduate students presenting their research 
with Dr. Rikki Bettinger (left)
at the 2022 American Historical Association Annual Meeting.