Zguta's research has focused on the medieval and early modern cultural history of the East Slavs,[1] including the Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians.
In 1979, Choice magazine included his book Russian Minstrels: A History of the Skomorokhi (1978) in its Outstanding Academic Books list for that year. His other publications include "Witchcraft Trials in Seventeenth-Century Russia" in The American Historical Review (1977); "The One-Day Votive Church: A Religious Response to the Black Death in Early Russia" in Slavic Review (1981); and the "Monastic Medicine in Kievan Rus' and Early Muscovy" chapter in Medieval Russian Culture (1984).[1][2]
While at the University of Missouri, Zguta chaired multiple departments: History (1989-1991 and 2010-2013), Economics (1991-1995), and Romance Literature (2005-2008).[1] In 1990, he received the university's Purple Chalk Award (where the winner is chosen by a student vote) "for exemplary teaching and advising".[3]
In October 2016, the Central Slavic Conference, a regional affiliate of ASEEES, presented Zguta with its presidential award for "his lifetime of support of the Central Slavic Conference and untiring promotion of Slavic studies".[4]