Researching Chicago

Source: https://chicagostudies.uchicago.edu/research/research Parent: https://chicagostudies.uchicago.edu/

History and Initiatives

Since its inception in 2007, Chicago Studies has promoted undergraduate research about Chicago under the direction of the University's faculty and researchers. The first volume of the Chicago Studies Annual, a prestigious edited journal of undergraduate research about Chicago, came out in 2008 and continues to be published to this day. We began offering an interdisciplinary Certificate in Chicago Studies (which recognizes long-term academic engagement with the city) in 2017, and our Undergraduate Research Prize in 2018. In Winter 2023, we launched our inaugural research cohort, focused on the history of 55th Street, to help students build skills for historiographical and spatial investigations in the city. In Winter 2024, we began exploring the history of 63rd St, following on the same model, and now branded as the Chicago Centuries Project. In Spring 2025, we are launching two new projects, focusing on the histories and geographies of Chicago's Black Southland and on the shape of Chicago's built environment during the "Roaring 20s" (that is, 1920s Chicago). See below for additional details about these initiatives!

Resources and Project Support

Chicago Studies can provide one-on-one advising on Chicago research, including local data sources and archives, potential collaborators, research mentors, primary/secondary sources, and more. To arrange one-on-one advising about a Chicago research project, schedule an appointment with Chris Skrable, Chicago Studies' Executive Director and Assistant Dean of the College.

Effective Fall 2023, Chicago Studies also began providing micro-grants (usually capped at $1000) for in-person, independent (capstone/BA-level) research in the Chicago region. Micro-grants may be used to provide small honoraria to acknowledge Chicago-based interviewees' time, transportation assistance, purchasing support (e.g. to provide food at community meetings or public presentations), and reimbursement for the costs incurred while doing fieldwork in the city. These grants are intended to be supplemental, and secondary to any funding provided by students' home departments/programs. Students interested in a micro-grant to support their thesis or capstone work may reach out to us via chicagostudies@uchicago.edu.

In addition to advising, promotion, and funding, Chicago Studies also helps students prepare to present their work at the College's Undergraduate Research Symposium in Spring, and curates a collection of undergraduate research about the city on Knowledge@UChicago. These general resources and those that follow are meant to inspire interest in studying the city, and are by no means exhaustive.

Ongoing Research Initiatives

Join one of Chicago Studies' research teams, exploring Chicago history, geography, and culture

This project is a historical, cartographic, and place-based exploration of the growth, development, and (re)structuring of the South Suburbs of Chicago, known colloquially as Chicago Southland. Formally established in the 1980s, this suburban sub-region consists of 60-70 suburban cities, villages, and unincorporated areas that developed in the mid to late 1800s. Led by visiting scholar , the cohort's work will identify and read archival sources “against the grain” to locate, document, and preserve a mostly unrecorded history of Black suburban life in south Chicagoland while raising questions about the conventional racial imaginaries of "(sub)urban" study. RECRUITING NOW. Contact april via for more information/to apply.
This project aims to digitize historic Sanborn fire insurance maps from 1920's-era Chicago to create an historically accurate building footprints layer (with related metadata) for all 75 Chicago community areas. Led by the Center for Digital Scholarship's post-bacc fellow , this cohort's work will empower next-generation historical scholarship on Chicago's built environment. Researchers will learn applied skills in Python and QGIS in a hands-on, project-focused environment that seeks to change the way academics, city officials, and everyday people understand the continuities (and often-dramatic changes) in Chicago’s built environment. RECRUITING NOW. Contact Parker viafor more information ORnow.
The Chicago Centuries Project aims to gain granular insight into ten decades of changes in the South Side neighborhoods that surround UChicago's campus, including changes in transportation patterns, population, patterns of segregation, conservation and "renewal," and civic (dis)investment. Undergraduate researchers -- each of whom receives training in Chicago-specific historical research -- painstakingly document the history of an assigned block, including its buildings, inhabitants, businesses, and land use patterns from 1920 to the present day. Their findings contribute to an open-access dataset, map series, and digital archive. IN PRODUCTION - some data-cleaning support needed. Contact if interested in supporting this project.

Starting Points

Finding information can be overwhelming sometimes—there are so many places competing for your attention that it can be hard to figure out where the information you need lies. That's where these "starting points" come in. While no substitute for talking through your project idea with an informed advisor, each of the following links opens many doors to investigation and can help inspire questions to consider with more targeted research.

Quick Links

Chicago Studies "Thesis Universe"

Explore our dynamic data visualization of every Chicago-focused BA submitted to Chicago Studies since 2018 on topics ranging from Arts, Language, & Culture to Housing and Homelessness to Sex, Gender, and Sexuality. Wondering what to major in to study your favorite topics, what to write your Bachelor's Thesis on, or who to reach out to for mentorship? This is the perfect place to start!\ \ Our Chicago Studies Thesis Universe was designed to help student and faculty scholars access the staggering network of Chicago-focused academic work going on across the College. Between the nearly 100 theses and 50+ faculty members included, we're confident it can help you discover topics you're passionate about and mentors who share that passion. Coming soon: the universe of Chicago-focused classes!

2023 Chicago Studies Prize Winner

Isadora Kron (AB '23) was the recipient of 2023's Chicago Studies Undergraduate Research Prize for her CEGU and Public Policy BA, "A Tale of Two Rivers: Zoning Policy Conflict and the Production of Public Space on the Chicago River." Her project, which was informed by her many years of competitive rowing on the South Branch of the Chicago River, explores the dialectics of resource management and industrial development as differentially applied to the River's North and South Branches. Read Isadora's prize-winning paper here!

Other Recent Prize-Winning Chicago BA's

"Finding Yiddishland in America: Chicago’s Yiddish-Language Press and the Challenges of Americanization, 1918-1932"
"Back Porches in Chicago"
"Starting a Revolution at Church: Religion, Race, and Community Organizing in Chicago’s Puerto Rican Community"
"Is there a Legal Path to Environmental Justice? Movement-Building, Environmental Rights, and a Case Study of Chicago’s General Iron Issue"