ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part helps to see the big picture of historical research through brief discussions of its key stages. It approaches the discipline of history as a grand conversation, with historical research a means of participating in that dialogue. The part helps to disperse the smoke and shatter the mirrors that so often hide the process of historical research. The Undergraduate Research Movement is also playing a role in this clarification process. In some ways, of course, research is nothing new to undergraduate education in history. Many schools have a long history of engaging undergraduate students in research. In the past few decades, undergraduate research has evolved beyond a kind of cottage industry and into a broad-based and institutionalized movement.
