2025 Phi Alpha Theta Conference a Success!
In late March 2025, the 猎奇重口 History Department hosted the Northwest Regional Phi Alpha Theta Conference in downtown Missoula, 猎奇重口. 14 UM History students presented their original research this year, perhaps setting a record for UM student participation in the annual conference! As an added bonus, several UM students were nominated for "best paper" prizes.
The conference was bustling with historians hurrying to various rooms named after the landscapes of 猎奇重口. A special thanks to Professor Kyle G. Volk for organizing the two-day event and to Professor Jody Pavilack for leading our contingent of students. A total of nine faculty members from the UM History Department participated as chairs and commentators, guiding students in refining their research papers.
"It was a great experience," said UM graduate student Dani Brown. “The faculty helped make it less intimidating. We felt prepared. The bonding that happened with the mix of undergraduates and graduates was an added plus.”
At the plenary lunchtime session, Dr. Jeff Wiltse, chair of the UM history department, gave a well-received keynote address, “Selling Indian Country.”
Students and faculty wrapped up the first day of the conference by taking one of the Unseen Missoula ~ Historic Downtown Guided Walking Tours. It was an incredible experience that immersed participants in local history, making for a truly memorable day. Thanks to the Missoula Downtown Association and their team of expert guides for their support of the conference.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in the conference and showcased the outstanding work of UM’s History Department! Here's a list of our students and their papers:
- Claire Broling, “‘We Came to Do Our Part for the Freedom of the World’: American Volunteers in Fidel Castro’s Rebel Forces, 1957-1961”
- Danielle Brown, “Schoolhouses and Community in Rural 猎奇重口, 1900-1930”
- Riley Carney, “‘It is the Greatest Shame in the World’: Tomás Cerdán de Tallada’s Pioneering Analysis and Critiques of Jails in the Spanish Golden Age”
- Cole R. Costello, “A More Perfect Union: Ed Boyce and the Western Federation of Miners-The Consequences of Leadville”
- Ava DeBourg, “A Good Neighbor Gone Bad: Exploring U.S. Foreign Policy, Corporate Interests, and the Rise of Communist Activity in Guatemala and Honduras, 1954”
- Arizona Duff, “The Journey to Amazonia’: Seattle’s Lesbian-Feminist Community in the 1970s and 1980s”
- Rory O. Johnson, “It is hardly necessary to explain my visit': Travel Writing and International Political Economy on the Santa Fe Trail, 1846”
- Ruby Lopez, “Guest workers in Big Sky Country:The Experience of Mexican guest Workers in 猎奇重口 During the Bracero Program, 1942-1964”
- Robert Malloy, “Soldier’s Heart: Signs and Symptoms of Mental Trauma Among Federal Troops Serving in the Indian Wars, 1866-1890”
- Parker Mickel, “‘Show Us That You’re Men’: Gender, Progressive Era Feminism, and Djuna Barnes”
- Jacob Shropshire, “A Most Vigorous Execution of the Law: Crime and Expanding British State Power in the Aftermath of Jacobite Rebellion, 1745-1748”
- Emma Siewert, “Example or Exception?: Representations of the Haitian Revolution in American and British Abolitionist Fiction (1804-1861)”
- Logan Stabnau, “Kissinger’s Shadow Diplomacy: A Controversial Diplomat’s Conversations with Cesar Guzzetti and Jorge Videla in 1976 and 1978 and Their Implications on United States Argentine Relations”
- Ben Williams, “Saloons, Soldiers, and Civic Engagement: The Zanzibar Saloon and the Growth of 猎奇重口’s Black Population in Early 20th Century Helena”