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Phi Alpha Theta

History fraternity makes history

Students bring home three prizes from Phi Alpha Theta regional conference

On Saturday, March 27, members of Carthage's national history fraternity traveled to Western Michigan University and came away with three out of five prizes awarded at the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference.

Five Carthage students — Amanda Anthony, ’10; Steve Ideran, ’10; Rachel Johnson, ’10; Amber Richardson, ’10; and Dylan Tate, ’11 — attended the regional competition, guided by their advisor, Eric Pullin, assistant professor of history. Steve, Rachel and Dylan all won awards at the conference, demonstrating the strength and success of Carthage's History Department.

Dylan, a history and classics double major, won the Biographical History Prize for his paper “Lost in Gandhi's Shadow: The Story of B.R. Ambedkar.” His paper was written for Prof. Pullin's History of India course and inspired by a picture of Ambedkar in Pullin's office last year. "[I] had no clue who [Ambedkar] was. I asked Dr. Pullin, and he gave me brief description of the man and his achievements. I was shocked that I heard nothing about him."

Steve, a history major minoring in education and political science, took the Diplomatic History Prize for his paper "The Heart of the Covenant: The Personal, Political and Philosophical of Article X of the League of Nations." The work explores the "Congressional debate over the League of Nations and particularly the debate between the two leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties, Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge," Steve said. The paper was written for Prof. Pullin's Diplomatic History course, and he chose the topic to learn why the seemingly noble League of Nations failed to garner American support.

Rachel won the Religious and Political Ideologies in History Prize with her paper "Women's Awakening: Religion and the Women's Rights Movement in Nineteenth Century America."

Amber, an English and history double major, did not receive an award for her paper "Machismo: The Affect Gender Roles Have on Homosexual Identity in Mexico and Cuba," but she was chosen to represent Carthage at this event. "My project was about the social influences that lead to the development of homosexual identities in homosexual men in Cuba and Mexico," she said. Her greatest challenge was during her research, finding sources and translating them into English.

Other students experienced stress as well. Steve said the most difficult aspect of the conference was "not knowing what to expect. It was the first time I have ever presented a paper at a conference like that, so the nerves didn't have anything to do with the paper, rather the procedure and presentation at the conference."

Carthage's entrants were extremely well prepared and held up against the competition. "Most of the other schools and presenters read their papers aloud instead of doing a presentation," Amber said. "Both were allowed, but I enjoyed presenting because Carthage has prepared me to speak confidently in front of groups of people."

"I think we went into it intending to just relax and have a little fun," said Steve. "We knew our papers were good and could compete with any other submissions, so I think we were far less uptight than the rest of the students."

The students enjoyed the conference and had the opportunity to hear the other presentations. "It was interesting to hear what the other schools are doing in their departments," Amber said.

"It was fun to just enjoy the moment and the experience," Steve said. "Although it was made a ton more enjoyable to clean up the awards like we did!"

Story written by Rachel Youngberg, '10
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