Phi Alpha Theta History Conference | 2024

The History Department and Phi Alpha Theta, Sigma Zeta Chapter, are pleased to announce the 12th Annual Phi Alpha Theta History Conference to be held on Saturday, October 26, 2024.

The conference will consist of live panel presentations (15 minutes per presenter) moderated by a chair and a commentator. Panelists will be eligible for prizes in the undergraduate and graduate categories. Papers can be on any area of history or history-adjacent subject matter, although we encourage topics related to presidential politics, in keeping with Texas State's theme for Fall 2024.

Presenters should submit a 250-500-word abstract and a brief (3-5 sentence) biographical abstract to our conference portal no later than 5:00 PM on Friday, October 11, 2024. Presenters will be notified of acceptance by Monday, October 14. Full papers will need to be submitted to the portal by Friday, October 18 at 5:00 PM. Papers should be 8-10 pages, in Microsoft Word or PDF format. Presenters should plan for presentations no longer than 15 minutes. 

Graduate and undergraduate students are welcome. Presenters are not required to be members of Phi Alpha Theta or attend Texas State University. Texas State students who do not wish to present may volunteer to serve as chairs. Graduate students may also serve as panel commentators.

The $25 registration fee includes complimentary breakfast, lunch, and coffee on the day of the event. For any questions, or if you require accommodations due to a disability in order to participate, please email Phi Alpha Theta at least 72 hours in advance.

Paper Prizes for 2024 Phi Alpha Theta Student History Conference

Congratulations on a great 12th Annual PAT History Conference. We had 18 panels and 40+ people in attendance, including guests from Baylor, A&M, and St. Edward's. We could not have done it without the hard work of our PAT Officers and PAT Conference Committee, as well as our commentators, chairs, judges, and alumni panelists. A special thank you to Dr. Frank de la Teja, our keynote speaker.

First Place:  
Undergraduate Paper | Abigail Chetelat, Undergraduate Student at Texas State University, “Misrepresentation of the Madam: Sex Worker Rhetoric on the Pornography Wars, 1973-1986”

Graduate Paper | Shelby LaBonte-Torres, Texas State University, MA Candidate, “Tejana Property Rights to 1848”

Second Place:  
Undergraduate Paper | Jacquelyn Burrer, Undergraduate Student at Texas State University, “Applying an Intersectional Lens to Chinese Exclusion as seen in Comparing Cartoons from The San Francisco Wasp and Harper’s Weekly”

Graduate Paper | Gabriel Odom, Texas State University, MA Candidate, “Apaches and Aguinaldo: The Indian Wars and the Philippines”

Third Place: 
Undergraduate Paper | Merisa Lee, Undergraduate Student at St. Edward’s University, “Courting Controversy: Prostitution in Early Modern England”

Graduate Paper | Luiz Osorio, Texas State University, MA Candidate, “'A Fourth Humanity':-Eugenics and Utopian Visions of Citizenship in Brazilian Integralism, 1932-1939”

Fourth Place:  
Undergraduate Paper | Jesse Flecha, Undergraduate Student at Texas A&M University, “Terror on Trial: The South Carolina Ku Klux Klan Trials of 1871-1872”

Graduate Paper | Issac Nelson, Texas State University, MA Candidate, “Caribbean Encounters of a British New World (Jamaica, 1939-45)”

Panel 1A | TMH 105
Session Commentator | Dr. Louis Porter
Session Chair | Katie Frederick
 

• Brianna Coskey, Texas State University Undergraduate Student | Vera Figner & the Russian Revolution
• Shelby LaBonte-Torres, Texas State University Graduate Student | Tejana Property Rights
• Ainsley Williams, Texas State University Graduate Student | Samplers and Hornbooks: Exploring Agency in an Eighteenth-Century Colonial American Girl’s Education

Panel 3A | TMH 105
Session Commentator | Dr. Ellen Tillman
Session Chair | Shelby LaBonte-Torres

• Hunter Ford, Texas State University Graduate Student | Dying to Make a Living: A Labor History Told Through Music
• Tim Langoff, Texas State University Graduate Student | Eisenhower's Televised Presidential News Conference
• Gabriel Odom, Texas State University Graduate Student | Philippine Resistance to US Imperialism in the Early 20th Century
• Maxwell Stewart, Baylor University Undergraduate Student | Redefining Warfare: The Huey Helicopter’s Role in Vietnam

Panel 3B | TMH 104
Session Commentator | Luiz Osorio
Session Chair | Nana Akosua Serwaa Boamah

• Jacqueline Burrer, Texas State University Undergraduate Student | Chinese Immigration in the Late 19th Century
• Matthew Dobbs, Texas State University Graduate Student | El Camino Real de las Tejas: Fire Temples, Green Book Bungalows, and Memorialized Ranch Houses 
• Isaac Nelson, Texas State University Graduate Student | Caribbean Encounters of a British New World (Jamaica, 1939-45)
• Samuel Winberg, Texas State University Undergraduate Student | A Painful Introduction to Freedom: 1930s, the Federal Workers Project