Student Involvement

The mission of The History Club is to promote interest in global, regional and local history through lectures, discussions, debates and other extra-curricular activities. The History Club is a place for students to share their passion for history with their peers and exercise their historically curious minds. In the past, The History Club has organized outings into the community, roundtable discussions, game and movie nights… and a whole lot more.

Founded in 1921, Phi Alpha Theta (PAT) is the national honor society for history students. The organization boasts over 350,000 members across the country. PAT is a professional society with the mission to promote the study of history through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication, and the exchange of learning and ideas among historians. PAT seeks to bring students and teachers together for intellectual and social exchanges, which promote and assist historical research and publication by its members in a variety of ways. Each spring semester, CSUN’s chapter of PAT (Theta Tau, established in 1962) recruits new members.

Benefits of Membership

Membership in Phi Alpha Theta...

• is an honor and an important addition to your résumé.
• allows you to compete for a wide range of PAT-sponsored scholarships and prizes.
• gives you opportunities to participate in PAT conferences.
• connects you to other students and scholars who love history.

Eligibility

If you are an undergraduate student, you are eligible if you have:

• completed 12 units (4 courses) in history; and
• an overall GPA of 3.0 or better, and a GPA in history of 3.1 or better.

If you are a graduate student, you are eligible if you have:

• completed at least 12 units towards a master's degree in history; and
• a GPA of 3.5 or better.

Becoming a Member

Membership applications are available in the spring semester. Please monitor your CSUN email as well as the department’s website at the beginning of spring semester for application forms and deadlines.

Memberships are processed once a year, usually in late April, with an induction ceremony and party that follows in mid-May.

If you have additional questions, you may reach the Phi Alpha Theta Advisor, Dr. Miriam Neirick at miriam.neirick@csun.edu.

History students have opportunities to travel and take classes abroad. Biennially, our faculty members take a group of our students to a foreign region to experience the history and culture of cities they have studied in their coursework. Countries we have visited recently include Argentina, France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. For information about upcoming trips, please contact the department office.

Throughout the year, the Department welcomes our students to join us for workshops, seminars and lectures of topical interest. A few events offered for the 2018-2019 academic year included:

• Lecture: “Food Frontiers: Native Landscapes to Subjects of the British Empire,” presented by Natale Zappia (Whitsett Lecture Series)
• Career Day: Meet Graduates of the History Program and Transform your Degree Into a Career
• Graduate Student Research Symposium: presentation of research
• Workshop: “An Insider’s Guide to Spring/Fall Registration”: learn how to select classes, organize your schedule, what to expect from different classes, which faculty teach what and how, and how to find resources in the History department
• Lecture: “The Civil War in History and Memory,” presented by Professor Joan Waugh
• New student “Welcome Workshop,” including presentations to support your success with critical thinking, comprehension, research, and Chicago style citations
• Annual Scholarship and Awards Presentation and Graduate Celebration