Frontiers in History



Each year, National History Day® frames students’ research within a historical theme. The theme is chosen for broad application to world, national, or state history and its relevance to ancient history or to the more recent past. The 2022-2023 theme is Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas.

2023 Theme Introduction Video

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Need some topic ideas? Visit HistoryNet's new NHD landing page to explore topic ideas in a variety of categories, including exploration, Indigenous communities, ancient history, political history, and more!
Click here to explore new topic ideas



UNUM Ken Burns Check out this Frontiers: People, Places, Ideas playlist by UNUM Ken Burns to explore topic ideas such as scientific frontiers, frontiers in travel and exploration, social frontiers, the Western frontier, and more!
Click here to start watching


2023 Theme Question & Answer Session Video

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Frontiers in History: A Teacher's Introduction with Dr. Kathleen DuVal

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Helpful Links
Partner Resources for Research Creating a Project Student Resources Project Categories
2023 Contest Theme Book

Download the Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas theme book.

2023 Theme Graphic Organizer

This Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas graphic organizer helps students select a topic for their NHD project.

NHD Contest Rule Book

Download the National History Day Contest Rule Book.

NHD Manual de Reglas Para Competencias en Español

Puede descargar el nuevo Manual de Reglas Para Competencias, tan pronto como empiece la competencia del 2020-2021.

Slides from the Theme Q&A Session

Download the slides from the Theme Q&A session to link to resources or explore these topic ideas.