The National History Day - San Diego Competition provides 4th through 12th grade students with a unique experiential learning opportunity that fosters historical research, critical thinking skills, and empowers young people to explore the past, engage with the present, and shape the future. 

Beginning each fall, students choose a topic related to the annual theme and conducts primary and secondary research. After analyzing and interpreting their sources and drawing conclusions about their topics' significance in history, students present their work in original papers, exhibits, posters, performances, documentaries, websites, or podcasts.

Each year, National History Day - San Diego uses a theme to provide a lens through which students can examine history. The theme for 2027, Innovation in History: Impact, Influence, Change frames the research for students and is intentionally broad to allow students to select topics from any place (local, national, or world) and any period in history.

Breaking Down the Theme

The 2027 theme encourages students to investigate a wide array of historical innovations - from industrial inventions and medical breakthroughs to artistic movements and political systems.  To develop a strong project, research should focus on three main pillars:

• Impact: What was the immediate result of this innovation? Who benefited, and who was negatively affected?
• Influence: How did this new idea spread or inspire future generations and other fields of study?
• Change: How did the innovation permanently after the course of history or everyday life?