Successful Phi Alpha Theta Event Draws Student Historians from Around the Region
History major Silvia Guzman '11 mingles with Dr. Greg Rohlf, center, during the reception at the Haggin Museum.
Pacific partnered with nearby Haggin Museum to host the 2011 Northern California Conference of Phi Alpha Theta (PAT), the National History Honor Society, which took place March 18-19, 2011.
The Haggin offered an elegant setting for the opening reception on Friday, March 18, and the conference was held the following day on the Stockton campus. About a dozen universities participated. Nine Pacific students presented their research, and new PAT chapter member Aman Bhangal won 3rd place for best undergraduate paper. Her paper was titled "Gender as a Topic of the Holocaust."
Dr. Arturo Giraldez, a professor in the Modern Languages & Literature Department who also teaches History courses, gave the keynote address titled "Silver and the Integration of Eurasia."
Students do not need to be history majors to participate in the PAT conference. Participants can present on any historical topic or period, including art history and music history. In fact, there was an entire panel of speakers (all from Pacific) who presented papers about Ludwig van Beethoven.
"The Phi Alpha Theta conference is a superb learning opportunity for Pacific students," said Dr. Greg Rohlf, Chair of the History Department and PAT Chapter Advisor. "They are getting the professional experience of presenting their research before their peers and faculty from across Northern California."
History majors and PAT chapter officers Elena McDonald-Martyn, Amy Delgado, Elizabeth Youngberg and Crystal Smith were actively involved in the preparations. Faculty members from the History Department moderated the speaker panels, which were grouped by theme.
"Kudos to our PAT chapter officers and members who worked so hard putting the conference together," said Dr. Rohlf. "Many people told me how impressed they were with the entire event, saying it was really professional and well organized."
Following is the list of presentations by Pacific students:
Discombobulated: An Examination of Pre-Prohibition Drinking using Thomas Bullock's The Ideal Bartender
Crystal E. Smith, University of the Pacific
History of Cattle Ranching: An American Institution Overlooked by Society
Brianna Valensin, University of the Pacific
Beethoven the Hero
Sharon Su, University of the Pacific
The Legendary Image of Beethoven and his Blackness
Andrea Strickland, University of the Pacific
Beethoven and Contemporaries Save a Community in Crisis
Bryce McLaughlin, University of the Pacific
Beethoven: Why His Esteemed December 22, 1808 Concert Was Not a Success
Chris Hewitt, University of the Pacific
Nuclear War: Stand-offs and the Threats in the East
Amy Delgado, University of the Pacific
Gender as a Topic of the Holocaust
Amanjot Bhangal, University of the Pacific
Japan's Changing Perception of Itself in Relation to the Mainland
Kelly Gerhold, University of the Pacific