May 6th, 2015
By Brad Allen

For some students, taking history classes is a requirement for graduation, whereas for others, history is a way of life.

The UW-Whitewater History Honors Society is an honors organization dedicated to studying history and taking part in extracurricular research and engagement in historical discussions and events.

Six members of the UW-W History Honors Society attended the Phi Alpha Theta Midwestern Regional Conference at Carthage College last weekend. Three of these students won awards and prizes for their work which they presented at the conference. The three award-winners were students and HHS members Jozef Pisula, Amanda Dick and John Piazza.

There are a number of these conferences every year, according to Karl Brown, the faculty advisor for the History Honor Society.

“I definitely recommend attending this conference to all History majors considering careers as future historians,” Pisula said.

The conference winners were awarded with free books, which have topics that are relevant to the winners’ research papers, Brown said.

Pisula presented a paper titled The Press as Propaganda: Cuban Newspapers and the Youthful Movements of 1968. Pisula said his paper examined differences in the propaganda functions of the Cuban Communists’ two main organizations as they covered youthful unrest around the globe.

“The papers were presented well, students were able to present to judges and get a higher level of critique than they would in classes,” Brown said. “This is really good for them when they’re applying for grad school. It’s sort of a long-term investment.”

Anybody interested can become a member of the History Honors Society, Brown said.

There were 30 students in attendance, who came from all over the Midwest, Brown said.

“The most interesting thing about the conference was learning about other students’ research,” Pisula said. “My favorite paper was about a shift in President Carter’s foreign policy written by a graduate student at Rockford University.”

The History Honors Society will “absolutely attend” the conference next year, and it was a great experience, Brown said.

“If I wasn’t graduating, I would definitely go again next year,” Pisula said. “I gained valuable feedback on my paper, practiced my public speaking skills and learned about other students’ research.”