UB Hosts Phi Alpha Theta Conference

Published April 15, 2019

On April 13th, UB’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honors society, hosted the society’s regional conference, with over fifty undergraduate and master’s students from colleges and universities in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ontario presenting papers based on their original research.  One hundred and twenty students and faculty attended, held in recently renovated Hayes Hall, including Dr. Clayton Drees, the national president of Phi Alpha Theta.   Dr. Victoria Wolcott, the chair of UB’s history department, presented an illustrated keynote talk, entitled “Roller Coasters and Race in the Postwar City: Crystal Beach, Canada, and the 1956 Canadiana Riot.”

UB students presenting their original research included Addison Arnold, Kelly Brown, Shannon Cantlon,  Madeline Chiarella , Christine Hickey, Christiana Johnson, Andrew Komula, Jonathan T. Makeley, Marisa Mezzio, Arranne G. Paige, and Jose Romarah Chery.  Four won awards for their papers:

·         Kelly Brown,  “The Throne Trembled”: Reponses to King Edward VIII’s Abdication Crisis, 1936

·         Christine Hickey, “The Paradoxical Nature that Led to Body Snatching in the 19th- Century”

·         Christiana Johnson, “Labors of Love: Black Motherhood and the Convict Lease System, 1877-1905”

·         Jonathan T. Makeley,  “Deciding the 1884 Presidential Election: The Impact of St. John’s Campaign in New York State”

Congratulations to all the attendees and organizers on a successful PAT conference!

 

UB members of Phi Alpha Theta.

UB members of Phi Alpha Theta