Jan 7, 2018 - Dr. Stephen Carls, chair of Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society’s national advisory board, and Seth Reid, president of Union University’s Delta-Psi chapter, represented Union at the 2018 Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 3-6. Dr. Alice-Catherine Carls of the University of Tennessee at Martin accompanied them. More than 350 students presented papers at the convention as did 18 faculty members.
Carls attended two business meetings during the convention in his role as a national officer and member of the society’s executive committee, and he was also a faculty panel presenter. At the first meeting –a gathering of the organization’s national council – Executive Director Graydon Tunstall revealed that he would retire soon and Phi Alpha Theta President Jochen Burgtorf announced that the society had rejoined the Association of College Honor Societies. During the society’s general business session, delegates heard reports from the society’s executive committee members about their Phi Alpha Theta activities since the last convention, received financial and investment reports, and voted in a new group of national officers. Carls’s faculty panel was titled “How to Panel: Planning a Successful Regional Conference”; he provided insights into organizing a conference based on his experience as the coordinator of three regional conferences at Union University. Carls was also among a group of 23 people who attended a special dinner to honor Tunstall for his 24 years of service to the society.
Reid presented a paper on “C. S. Lewis’s Pilgrimage of Hope: A Biography” as part of a student panel titled “Literature.” He was also Union University’s official delegate at the society’s business meeting. In addition, he went to several other student panels, enjoyed all the Phi Alpha Theta-sponsored meals, and visited The National World War II Museum.
The Drs. Carls and Reid drove back to Jackson on January 7, following a breakfast of coffee, hot chocolate, and beignets at New Orleans’ world-famous Café du Monde.
Attendees at the Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Convention go through the lunch buffet line at the InterContinental Hotel in New Orleans on January 4, 2018.
Phi Alpha Theta convention attendees enjoy lunch together on January 4, 2018. They are (left to right) Cameron Woo (University of Texas - Austin), Seth Reid (Union University), Dr. Alice-Catherine Carls (University of Tennessee at Martin), and Josue Teniente (University of Texas - Austin).
Phi Alpha Theta faculty members stand together on January 4, 2018, prior to their panel titled "How to Panel: Planning a Successful Regional Conference." They are (left to right) Drs. Stephen Carls (Union University), Christopher Kennedy (Francis Marion University), David Nelson (California Lutheran University), and Robert Kodosky (West Chester University).
Attendees at a dinner in honor of retiring Phi Alpha Theta Executive Director Graydon Tunstall (seated with his wife Wendy in the chairs) gather for a photo at the beginning of the evening on January 5, 2018. Dr. Stephen Carls is in the front row on the right.
National Phi Alpha Theta Vice President Clayton Drees (left), Executive Director Graydon Tunstall, and Tunstall's wife Wendy enjoy the festive atmosphere at the dinner in honor of Dr. Tunstall on January 5, 2018, at the Trenasse Restaurant in New Orleans.
Dr. Alice-Catherine Carls (right) places a Tennessee Great War Commission pin on the coat lapel of Phi Alpha Theta Executive Director Graydon Tunstall in a special ceremony on January 5, 2018, while Dr. Tunstall's wife Wendy (left) looks on.
Members of the student panel "Literature" at the Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Convention in New Orleans stand together prior to their panel presentations on January 6, 2018. They are (left to right) Samuel Miller (Murray State University), Dr. Joe Jackson Frazer (panel chair, Judson College), Elizabeth Niedbala (University of Evansville), and Seth Reid (Union University).
Seth Reid delivers a paper on January 6, 2018, about "C. S. Lewis's Pilgrimage of Hope: A Biography" as part of a student panel titled "Literature" at the Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Convention in New Orleans.
Seth Reid responds to a question from the audience during a question and answer time at the student panel titled "Literature" on January 6, 2018, at the Phi Alpha Theta convention in New Orleans.
Seth Reid (left) and Dr. Stephen Carls stand together shortly after Reid's paper presentation on January 6, 2018, at the Phi Alpha Theta Biennial Convention in New Orleans.
Phi Alpha Theta Executive Director Graydon Tunstall (left) and President Jochen Burgtorf pause for a photo during a plaque presentation ceremony on January 6, 2018, honoring Tunstall's 24 years of service to the organization. The ceremony took place during the society's Presidential Banquet attended by some 200 people.
Members of the executive committee of Phi Alpha Theta at the start of the society's 2018-2020 biennium are (left to right) Drs. Graydon Tunstall (executive director), Clayton Drees (president), Jochen Burgtorf (chair, advisory board), and Jacob Blosser (vice president).
Dr. Stephen Carls stands with his wife Alice-Catherine at the end of the Phi Alpha Theta convention on January 6, 2018.
Seth Reid and Dr. Alice-Catherine Carls enjoy coffee, hot chocolate, and beignets at the Café du Monde in New Orleans on the morning of January 7, 2018.
Dr. Stephen Carls (left) and Seth Reid stand by a sign on January 7, 2018, that celebrates the 300th anniversary of the founding of New Orleans in 1718.