Join the History Honor Society!
Our department is home to an active chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, an academic honor society for students of history. It honor students, regardless of major, who have a minimum GPA of 3.1 in at least 12 semester hours of history classes. Students in our Phi Alpha Theta chapter are able to apply to awards through the national organization
Regional & National Conferences
Our students regularly present at regional and national conferences, including at the recent Biennial Convention in Albuquerque, NM in January 2023. Check out the conference program to see the wide range of presentations.
Speaker Series
We also host a vibrant speaker series each semester. These talks introduce students to exciting new research and job opportunities. You’ll find a list of our recent speakers below.
More Information
For more information about Phi Alpha Theta, contact Dr. Whitney Snow (whitney.snow@msutexas.edu). You will find more information about the honor society on the national website.
Phi Alpha Theta Speaker Series
We usually host three to four speakers a semester. Recent speakers can be seen below.
Dr. Kevin Johnson, Assistant Professor (Arkansas State University, Beebe), "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Memphis Sanitation Strike of 1968," April 4, 2023 (Virtual).
Dr. Marcus Nevius, Associate Professor (University of Missouri), "City of Refuge: An Enslaved Community in the Early Years of the Atlantic Age of Revolutions," March 28, 2023 (virtual, co-sponsored by MOSAIC).
Dr. Jonathan Jones, Assistant Professor (Virginia Military Institute), "Drugs and the Civil War," February 23, 2023 (Virtual).
Kasey Mosley, Youth Educator at the Mississippi Arts+Entertainment Experience Museum, "Museums and Public History," February 16, 2023 (Virtual).
Dr. Alyssa Warrick, Tour Guide (U.S. Capitol Building), "Trapped in the Earth: The Floyd Collins Tragedy and the Making of Mammoth Cave National Park," April 21, 2022 (Virtual).
Dr. Cari Casteel, Clinical Assistant Professor (University at Buffalo), "A Better Mousetrap for your Armpit: Deodorant and Technological Development in the United States," April 6, 2022 (Virtual).
Mary Ben Heflin, "William Bradford Huie: A Retrospective by his Stepdaughter," March 31, 2022 (Virtual).
Dr. Andrea Johnson, Associate Professor (California State-Dominguez Hills), "The Montgomery Story: How a Comic Book Shaped Civil Rights Activism," March 1, 2022 (Virtual).
Dr. Jeff Howell, Associate Professor, (East Georgia State College), "Hazel Brannon Smith: The Female Crusading Scalawag," February 15, 2022 (Virtual).
Dr. Sean Halverson, Assistant Professor (Alabama A&M University), "Washington, Smallpox, and How Inoculation Saved the Revolution," February 10, 2022 (Virtual).
Dr. Erinn McComb, Associate Professor (Del Mar College), "Querer es Poder: Lt. Colonel Olga Custodio's Quest to Democratize the Sky," October 13, 2021. (co-sponsoring with the MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center.)
Dr. Leslie B. McLemore, civil rights activist, "The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party: Some Personal Reflections," February 6, 2020. (co-sponsored with the MSU Texas Speakers & Issues Series.)
Towana Spivey, Chickasaw Hall of Fame, "The Battle for Medicine Bluffs," November 13, 2019. (co-sponsored with the MSU Texas Speakers & Issues Series.)
Dr. Nick Timmerman, Assistant Professor (Langston University), "Indian Mounds, Archaeology, and American Nationalism," October 24, 2019.
Carmen Goldthwaite, historian, "Sassy Texas Women: Three Centuries of Ranchers, Spies, Gunrunners, Bankers, Lawyers, and Educators," September 26, 2019. (co-sponsored with the MSU Texas Speakers & Issues Series.)
Dr. Christopher Morris, Professor (University of Texas at Arlington), "Nitrogen: An Elementary History of Southern Agriculture," April 26, 2019.
Frank Siltman, Director of Museums and Military History at Fort Sill, "Frontier Army in North Texas," April 18, 2019
Dr. Eric Lynch, Assistant Professor (Midwestern State University), "Paris, Capital of the 19th Century in Walter Benjamin," March 27, 2019
Dr. Valencia Tamper, Assistant Professor (Midwestern State University), "Women Writers in Golden Age Spain," October 30, 2018
Dr. Sarah Janda, Professor (Cameron University), "Prairie Power: Student Activism, Counterculture, and Backlash in Oklahoma, 1962-1972," September 11, 2018
Dr. Jake Blosser, Professor (Texas Woman's University), "Misbehaving in Church: Parochial Inattention in Colonial Virginia," April 5, 2018
Dr. Kirsten Lodge, Associate Professor (Midwestern State University), "The Western Perception of Animals from Antiquity to the Present," April 2, 2018
Dr. Mikee Delony, Associate Professor (Abilene Christian University), "The Robin Hood Legend at the Movies," November 7, 2017
Dr. Claudia Montoya, Associate Professor (Midwestern State University), "The Day of the Dead," October 25, 2017
Pamela Dixon, Local Historian, "The History of Blacks in Burkburnett, Texas," April 27, 2017
Dr. Mark Stoll, Professor (Texas Tech University), "Inherit the Holy Mountain: Religion and the Rise of American Environmentalism," November 16, 2016
Dr. Sandra Mendiola-Garcia, Assistant Professor (University of North Texas), "Street Vendors, Protest, and the Use of Public Space in Twentieth-Century Mexico," November 20, 2014
Dr. Sterling Evans, Professor (University of Oklahoma), "Nothing New about NAFTA: Connecting the Great Plains and Mexico in Historical Perspective," November 21, 2013