History Comps, 2026-2027

The Comps Proposal is an approximately five-page document double-spaced). The following comps proposal guidelines are designed to help you think through the major elements of your research project in a generative, organized, and integrated way. Each of the research components listed below needs to be engaged mindfully by all researchers if they are to turn their thoughts and ideas about a topic into a research project that is clear and promising. Research is a very organic process so expect to revisit each of these components as you gain greater clarity on your topic. Please include each of these five sections, in this order, in your comps research proposal.

• Working title (Give a working title to your project that clearly reflects the ideas and embedded in your project).
• Introduction (Briefly introduce your reader to time, place, issue, focus, and so forth at a general level).
• Review of related literature (Identify and discuss the major scholarly works you have identified so far and how your proposed topic relates to, builds on, or departs from this scholarship).
• Approach and sources (Building on the review of related literature, state your research question(s), and discuss and describe the primary sources you have identified so far to fulfill your research objectives).
• Concerns (Discuss the concerns you have right now with your project. These could be methodological, sources, scope, or so on).
• Bibliography (Include primary sources and relevant scholarship; not counted in the 5 page limit).
• List of relevant coursework (Not counted in the 5 page limit).
• Proposed class schedule for Winter term (Including the time/day; this information is necessary in creating the 398-seminar groups; not counted in the 5 page limit).

Two Senior Research Proposal examples: Sylvia Dixon ’26 & Riley Gibson ’26

Further Considerations

• Regarding each element, you should be as specific and concrete as possible at this point, even though you will refine your formulation considerably after further research and reflection.
• We will not accept projects for which you do not have sufficient background and coursework. If your project grows out of your research paper in a 300-level seminar, please state explicitly the ways in which the comps paper will differ from that earlier project.
• Any seniors studying off-campus are required to observe the same deadlines for the comps proposal and should consult with the Comps seminar leaders and their content advisor before fall term begins to establish a timeline.
• As stated above in the Calendar, once your proposals have been submitted, the Comps director(s) will review them, and you will be notified as to whether or not your proposal has been accepted. If it has not been accepted, you will be informed by e-mail about what needs to be done so it can be accepted.
• The Comps director(s) will form writing groups and sections (when two seminars are offered) around shared themes, regions, and problems to enhance peer-to-peer conversations. In years when there are two seminars, you will be informed which seminar to register for.
• If your research involves human subjects, and if you think you might want to publish your comps, present your research at conferences outside of Carleton, or do research involving human subjects outside the US, then you should consult the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval well before you begin your research. If your research involves culturally sensitive material, please discuss it with your content advisor.

• Use footnotes and include a bibliography using the reference and stylistic conventions of the most recent edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.
• Cover page with title, name, History Department Comprehensive Exercise, names of the content and seminar advisors.
• Acknowledgments page: optional, should follow the cover page if used.
• Formatting: 12-point font (Times New Roman is fairly standard); 1-inch margins; page numbers on the bottom of each page (save the cover page and the acknowledgments page).

• At the end of winter term, students will have a 30-40 minute comps defense.
• At the defense, the student author will give an introductory statement about their paper (2-3 minutes).  Students often use this statement to discuss how they arrived at their topic and their goals for the essay.  Students may discuss other features of the experience that they would like their interlocutors to bear in mind during the defense.
• Following the student author’s introductory statement, a student commentator will summarize the paper (3-5 minutes), identifying the core argument, major features of the argument or supporting arguments, notable sources, and significance of the contribution.  The student commentator will then raise the first 1-2 questions for discussion.
• Following the student commentator’s summary, the content advisor will be invited to raise questions for discussion, followed by a general opening of the defense to the seminar adviser, reading group, and all of the assembled departmental guests.
• You may invite family and friends to attend your defense, but please let them know that they may not ask questions unless they have read the final draft of your comps paper.