Phi Alpha Theta
History Honor Society

The UL Lafayette Phi Alpha Theta chapter, Epsilon Xi, recently earned the society's 2008 Best Chapter Award for Division V, a national distinction that we have now won three consecutive times. Epsilon Xi is among the most active chapters in the nation. We hold social gatherings (including monthly “Dinners with a Professor,” winter holiday parties, and spring cook-outs), produce a journal entitled Clio’s Quill and the History Department’s annual newsletter, and sponsor guest lectures. We also engage in service projects and frequently host the Louisiana Regional Phi Alpha Theta conference.

Epsilon Xi members regularly earn individual awards and recognition. Within the last few years, our students have received
Phi Alpha Theta’s national Nels Andrew Cleven Founder's Paper Prize Award

  • the Louisiana Historical Association’s Hugh F. Rankin Prize for Best Graduate Paper
  • the Louisiana Historical Association's Kimberly S. Hanger Award for Best Undergraduate Paper
  • UL Lafayette’s Caffery Research Award
  • UL Lafayette's Neiheisel Phi Beta Kappa Endowed Scholarship
  • the UL Lafayette History Department’s Theresa Allen Award
  • the UL Lafayette History Department’s PSG Charles Allen Award
  • the UL Lafayette History Department’s W. Magruder Drake Award
  • the UL Lafayette History Department’s Amos Simpson Award
  • the Sas-Jaworsky Endowed Scholarship in History.

To meet the Phi Alpha Theta membership requirements, undergraduate students must have completed four or more history courses with at least a 3.1 GPA and must have an overall GPA of at least 3.0. Similarly, graduate students must have completed four or more graduate-level history courses with at least a 3.5 GPA. You do not have to be a history major to be a member of Phi Alpha Theta, but you should be keenly interested in history and markedly successful in history courses.

For more information about the Epsilon Xi chapter, please contact faculty advisor Dr. Mary Farmer-Kaiser at kaiser@louisiana.edu or visit our Phi Alpha Theta moodle site. To learn more about Phi Alpha Theta's national organization, visit its website (www.phialphatheta.org).