On March 30, Belmont’s Xi-Alpha Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honor Society, hosted the annual Tennessee Regional Conference. Dr. Cynthia Bisson, faculty advisor to the Xi-Alpha Chapter and conference program coordinator, reported that the conference attracted more than 100 participants from 14 universities. The highlight of the conference was the luncheon keynote address “The Problem with American Freedom: Episodes in Federal Power and White Democracy” given by Dr. Jefferson Cowie, the James G. Stahlman Professor of History at Vanderbilt University.
Five Belmont Xi Alpha members–Caroline Snellman, Liam McDermott, Alyssa Pennington, Angelika Aldredge, and Sarah Bossung–presented papers at the day-long conference. Caroline Snellman won second place in the paper competition for American History. Belmont History Department faculty–Peter Kuryla, Douglas Bisson, Brenda Jackson-Abernathy, Debi Back, Dan Schafer, and Joseph Byrne–also served as panel chairs and commentators for the conference.
