History Honors Society

The Â鶹´«Ã½ chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society, is one of the most active honor societies on campus. And each year, the student members set their own agenda.

We take full advantage of our proximity to the Chicago area through field trips to historical conversation starters, special exhibits, various historical museums and ethnic and architectural tours.

Award for Departmental Excellence


Richard Maksa

Alonzo Cardenas, who won the Award for Departmental Excellence and member of Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honor Society. He is seen here with Dr. Dennis Cremin.

Gretchen Jelinek (Patrick) is pictured with Alonzo and Dr. Dennis Cremin. She graduated with a Master's Degree in Education. She worked as the History Center Intern.

Past Â鶹´«Ã½ Speakers at Conferences


Richard Maksa

Richard Maksa

  • Missouri Conference on History & PAT Conference for the Midwest, Springfield, MO
  • Panel: The Rise of Nationalism before World War I
  • “Canadian Soldiers and the Nascent Nationalism of the 1885 North-West Rebellion”
  • 3-23-17

Melissa Churchill

  • Missouri Conference on History & PAT Conference for the Midwest, Springfield, MO
  • Panel: Western Occupation and Eastern Autonomy
  • “Concepts of Power in Iran during the Cold War”
  • 3-23-17

Past Speakers at Â鶹´«Ã½

Â鶹´«Ã½’s Phi Alpha Theta Chapter has sponsored numerous talks on campus. They have brought several speaker to campus:

Kenton Clymer

Kenton Clymer

  • Northern Illinois University
  • “A Delicate Relationship: The United States and Burma/Myanmar since 1945”
  • 9-15-15
Kenton Clymer

Trude Jacobsen

  • Northern Illinois University
  • “Historical Approaches to Imperialism in Southeast Asia”
  • 9-8-15


Elaine Carey

Elaine Carey

  • St. John’s University
  • “Selling is More than a Habit: Women and Drug trafficking in North America, 1900-1970”
  • 11-11-15
Andrae Marak

Andrae Marak

  • Governors State University
  • “From Borderlands to Bordered Lands: the U.S.-Mexico Border, 1910-1920”
  • 10-25-16


Richard Joyce

Richard Joyce

  • Grundy County Board Member
  • “A Community in Turmoil, Spring Valley, Illinois, 1889-1905 Another Look at Workers in the late Nineteenth Century”  
  • 9-20-16
Mark Soderstrom

Mark Soderstrom

  • Aurora University
  • Russia, Ukraine, and the Politics of the Past in Eurasia"
  • 2-2015


Kagan Arik

Kagan Arik

  • University of Chicago
  • “History of Central Asian Music”
  • 11-6-13
Russell Zanca

Russell Zanca

  • Northeastern Illinois University
  • “History and development of Uzbekistan”
  • 9-25-13


Tharapi Than, Catherine Raymond

Catherine Raymond, Tharapi Than,
Thomas Rhoden and Nicole Loring

  • Northern Illinois University
  • “Burma Today: The Challenges of Democracy, A Panel Discussion”
  • 2-8-13
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