Phi Alpha Theta

Welcome

We are a professional society whose mission is to promote the study of history through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication and the exchange of learning and ideas among historians. We seek to bring students, teachers and writers of history together for intellectual and social exchanges, which promote and assist historical research and publication by our members in a variety of ways.

For more information about Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society, please visit their website.

Please submit your Phi Alpha Theta Membership Application.

Our Chapter

The Alpha Nu Gamma Chapter at Cal Poly has been active for many years, and we are excited to create opportunities for students interested in history to connect and form a community! 

The PAT Faculty Advisors are Dr. Margaret Bodemer and Dr. Aron Ramirez who can be reached at mbodemer@calpoly.edu and arami412@calpoly.edu with questions. In 2024 - 2025, the PAT Officers are Ben Arias, Emily Cerney, and Paras Kaushal.

Find out more about Cal Poly's Phi Alpha Theta chapter here: https://now.calpoly.edu/organization/pat

Membership

Undergraduate students must complete a minimum of 16 units in History, achieve a minimum GPA of 3.1 in History and a GPA of 3.0 or better overall. A maximum of 4 credit hours of online, transfer, or AP credits may be applied to the membership eligibility requirement. Membership is not limited to History majors. 

Graduate students should have completed a minimum of 16 units towards their Master’s Degree in History, have a GPA of better than 3.5, and shall have completed approximately 30 percent of the residence requirements for the Master’s Degree.

If you apply transfer credits to your GPA, you must submit an official transcript along with your application.

If you have completed the requirements, please fill out the application and then we will contact you after we have reviewed your application. There is a one-time fee of $50 and we will send the link for that after we have reviewed your application. We have updated the application link to a Microsoft form at this link https://forms.office.com/r/QbURhVWkic

The Forum

The Forum is Phi Alpha Theta's national award winning history journal. It is written, designed and produced solely by students and epitomizes Cal Poly's "Learn by Doing" mantra.

The Forum is currently open for submissions. Please direct papers, recommendations, and any questions to its executive editors, Julia Taylor (jtaylo73@calpoly.edu) and Amy Gavello (agavello@calpoly.edu)
 

Student-Produced Journal The Forum Wins Another National Award

We are very pleased to announce that Volume 3 of The Forum, our student-produced historical journal, has won another national award.  It has been awarded 2nd prize (print category) in the 2011 Gerald D. Nash History Journal Award given by the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society national headquarters, which represents 860 chapters nationwide.

Phi Alpha Theta Executive Director, Dr. Graydon A. Tunstall, University of Southern Florida, in the letter of notification to Dr. Tom Trice, co-advisor (with Dr. Molly Loberg) of The Forum, praised the "time and effort your chapter devotes to produce such an outstanding historical journal. The continued high quality of your publication clearly exemplifies the dedication of you and your peers to the study of history."

The History Department is very proud of our students and their excellent work, which is just one example of how the Cal Poly philosophy of "Learn By Doing" works in the study of history.

The contents of The Forum are available at the Digital Commons @ Cal Poly website:
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/forum/

This makes two award-winning volumes in a row for The Forum; in 2010, Volume 2 was awarded 1st prize in the electronic journal category and 3rd prize in the print journal category of the Nash History Journal Award.

Congratulations again to all the students who work so hard on The Forum!

Learn more about The Forum: Journal of History