I’ll take historical periods that start with the letter “Q,” Alex

Earlier this fall, history majors from two rival universities came together — virtually, of course — to see which side held bragging rights to a knowledge of history. Via Zoom, they answered a series of questions put together by Lindsay O’Neill, associate professor (teaching) of history at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, who hosted the event. The questions were divided into categories, similar to those on the popular television show Jeopardy!

The quiz night for history majors has been held for the past three or four years, but this year it could not be held in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but rather than cancel it, O’Neill got to thinking.

“It’s always been a popular event. And when COVID hit, I was wondering what we could do in Zoom or online that we can’t do in person,” O’Neill said.

Last spring, O’Neill arranged an online trivia matchup between USC and UCLA, and the event was a success. This year, she reached out to a friend, the director of undergraduate studies at Notre Dame, to see if the school might be amenable to a trivia competition. The schools’ football rivalry made it more enjoyable, O’Neill said, with the teams even developing taunting team names for each other: “Notre Lame” vs. “Four-in-a-Row,” a jape predicting that USC Trojan football will lose to Notre Dame for the fourth time in a row in their next matchup.

For gameplay, teams of four or five students were put in breakout rooms and given a link to the quiz questions. After they submitted their answers, O’Neill scored them.

The first round comprised general knowledge questions, and the next few were in categories, such as “Hail Mary! Images of Famous Women Named Mary” or “Last Words” (like those of King Henry VIII, which were “All is lost. Monks, monks, monks.”). Some of the categories involved wordplay, such as one in which all of the answers were also the names of famous ships. One category contained questions about each of the schools playing.

O’Neill said the event was a good way for the students to interact virtually in a slightly different format.

“I was interested in how Zoom is a tool that allows us to reach out and connect. I wanted to make the trivia event connect us with people we don’t normally see,” she said.

Rachel Bernstein, a junior history major with a minor in narrative studies, said the format lent itself to camaraderie as well as friendly competition, and all of the students were happy to get to talk to one another.

“I think most students would agree that this has been quite a lonely year, despite all of the wonderful efforts by USC. During some of the breaks we got to talk with students at USC as well as Notre Dame students about what COVID has been like for them at school. It was just wonderful to get to talk to people besides regular friends and the people that we are quarantining with,” she said.

O’Neill hopes to hold another trivia night next semester, although its nature will depend on the trajectory of the pandemic. The next game might be with students from Yale or Georgetown, she added.

But the final score for this match? 110 USC to 100 Notre Dame. No Four-in-a-Row this year, Notre Dame.