Phi Alpha Theta History

Phi Alpha Theta logo

Phi Alpha Theta was established at the University of Arkansas on March 1, 1921. It has grown to encompass 700 chapters in 50 states, more chapters than any other accredited honor society. P.A.T. is a professional society whose mission is "to promote the study of history through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication and the exchange of learning and ideas among historians." They seek to "bring students, teachers and writers of history together for intellectual and social exchanges, which promote and assist historical research and publication by members in a variety of ways."

The National Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society sponsors a variety of benefits for its members. There are biennial conventions for undergraduate, graduate and faculty members; members at all levels are welcome to present papers. P.A.T. also sponsors special programs at the annual meetings of a number of the larger historical organization conferences such as the American Historical Association conference and the Organization of American Historians conference. P.A.T. publishes The Historian, a distinguished historical quarterly in which all members are invited to publish scholarly works, and The News Letter which covers the activities of and provides information about P.A.T.

The National organization also sponsors six annual paper prize awards. The Lynn W. Turner and Founders' Awards are open to undergraduate members. There are also various scholarship awards, almost all of them for students entering into or already engaged in graduate study in history. Students interested in either the paper prizes or scholarship awards should contact the National Society at:

National Society

Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society
University of South Florida
4202 East Fowler Avenue, Soc 107
Tampa, Florida 33620
Email: phialpha@phialphatheta.org
Website: www.phialphatheta.org
Phone: 1-800-394-8195/(813) 974-8212
Fax: (813) 974-8215

You might want to ask for a copy of their booklet "This is Phi Alpha Theta" which details the benefits available to members.

Advisor & Officers

Advisor:
Dr. Jennifer Cullison
Email: jcullison@csustan.edu

President:
Sophia Rivera

Vice President/Event Coordinator:
Anthony Sauceda

Secretary/Treasurer:
Isaiah Siordia

The requirements for Phi Alpha Theta membership are:

For Undergraduate Students:

  • must have better than a 3.0 overall grade point average
  • must have completed at least 12 units of history, a minimum of 9 of which must have been completed at Stanislaus State, with a grade in all history courses averaging 3.1 or better

For Graduate Students:

  • must have better than a 3.5 overall grade point average
  • must have completed a minimum of 12 semester hours towards their Master’s Degree in History

Download, complete and submit a membership application for one of the two types of membership, and include the payment specified in the form:

For further information, or to join Phi Alpha Theta, stop by the Department of History Office:
Department of History
Dorothy & Bill Bizzini Hall, Room # C 118 
Phone: 209-667-3238

Award-Winning Student Papers at the Annual Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Conference for Northern California

First, second, and third-place prizes are awarded for both the graduate and undergraduate student divisions. Stanislaus State students, in competition with all the major colleges and universities in northern California, have maintained an outstanding record of prize-winning papers. These are listed below, beginning with the most recent awards.

Katie Jaycox, "The New Eden: The Story of Isaac Adams," Second-place prize, Graduate division, 2017.

Lorie Webb, “Judy Chicago’s Feminist Art: A Path to Popular Feminism,” First-place prize, Undergraduate division, 2015.

Teri Kelly, “Clash of Clans: Passage of Chinese Conflicts to American Soil—the Tuolumne Chinese Tong War of 1856,” Third-place prize, Undergraduate division, 2015.

Eric Nystrom, “Wilderness and Desolation: Nature, Union Soldiers, and Grant’s 1964 Overland Campaign,” Third-place prize, Graduate division, 2015.

Brandon Guzman, “Cattle and Power: The Origin of California’s Cattle Industry and the Political Power It Came with in the Nineteenth Century,” Third-place prize, Graduate division, 2014.

Alexandra K. Vicknair, “Mindsets, Motivations, Mickey Mouse and the Mountains: The Political and Social Factors Involved in the Mineral King Controversy, 1965–1978,” Second-place prize, Graduate division, 2013.

Samantha M. Williams, “’Establishing a Permanent Peace:’ Extinction, Expansion, and the Contradictions of Indian Reform in 1860s America,” Third-place prize, Graduate Division, 2013.

Marisa Hultgren, “Before the War was Cold: A Case Study of Soviet Infiltration of the OSS,” Second-place prize, Undergraduate division, 2013.

Andrew C. Gittings, “The Parasitic Free Market: The Rise and Fall of Drawbridge,” Third-place prize, Undergraduate division, 2013.

Samantha Williams, “Race, Politics, and Military Filibusters: Southern Attempts at Expansion in Antebellum America,” First-place prize, Graduate Division, 2012.

Joel Virgen, “Responsibility and Identity: Vaclav Havel and Totalitarian Morality,” Third-place prize, Graduate Division, 2012.

Isaac Farhadian, “Galileo’s Copernicanism: An Examination of the Evolution of Galileo’s Personal Copernican Thought from 1610 to 1615,” Second-place prize, Graduate Division, 2011.

Jeremy Cornish, “Detroit Calling: The Question of 1970s U.K. Punk as a Revivalist Movement,” Third-place prize, Graduate Division, 2011.

Hans Hauselmann, “Queering the Family: Expanding the Definition of Families in the United States,” Second-place prize, Graduate division, 2009. 

Tori Gottlieb, “Society Reflected: Women, Abortion, and Roe v. Wade,” Third-place prize, Graduate division, 2009.

Jeremy Cornish, “Industry and Poverty: The Recipe for Heavy Metal,” Third-place prize, Undergraduate division, 2009.

Aerynn Dighton, “Portraiture as Propaganda: Color and Elizabethan Iconography,” First-place prize, Graduate division, 2008.

Grant Ashley, “Charley Bates: One of Stockton, California’s Slaves,” Second-place prize, Graduate division, 2008.

Teri Lunt, “International Collusion: The Creation of Stateless People in the Japanese Internment Camps” Third-place prize, Graduate division, 2008.

Updated: February 08, 2024