Annual Student History Conference

The Annual History Conference is always a special event in the calendar in the history department as we gather together to share in the accomplishments of our students.

View Conference Brochure

The Annual History Conference is always a special event in the calendar in the history department as we gather together to share in the accomplishments of our students.

 View Conference Brochure

While on-campus activities have been suspended due to COVID-19, the History Department remains committed to recognizing and celebrating our students' work. Although we will not be able to meet together on campus, all submitted papers will still be reviewed, and those meeting the conference acceptance criteria will be recognized. Eligible papers are those written for any DePaul class from spring quarter 2019 through winter quarter 2020.

We also will be awarding three prizes:

• Best History 299 paper
• Best Upper-Division (300-level) History paper
• Best Graduate History Paper

The Annual History Conference is always a special event in the calendar in the history department, and we are all sorry that we are not going to have a chance to gather together to share in the accomplishments of our students. Nevertheless, we still want to celebrate your work, every bit as well earned as if we could meet on-campus.

The 15th Annual Student History Conference was held on April 26, 2019. Thirty-two students presented throughout the day. Jakobi Williams, Professor in history at Indiana University in Bloomington, delivered the Daniel Goffman Keynote Address, “Chairman Fred Hampton and the Transnational Impact of the Black Panther Party.”

Congratulations to our conference paper award winners:
Kathryn DeGraff Award for the Best History Department Undergraduate Methods Course Paper
Alec Beaird, “A Code of Silence: Child Sex Abuse and Bishop Obstruction of the National Review Board”

James P. Krokar Award for the Best Paper in an Advanced Undergraduate Course
Sydney O’ Hare, “”Wilful” Women: Representations of Female Murderers in The London Times from 1805-1880”

Best Graduate Student Paper
Natalie Myrwold, “The Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793 Through the Personal Diary of Elizabeth Sandwith Drinker”

And congratulations to John Eckenstein, winner of the Albert Erlebacher-Cornelius Sippel Award, presented to the graduating major with the highest history department major GPA and to Paige Schuck the recipient of our award for graduating minor with the highest history department minor GPA.

The 14th Annual Student History Conference was held on May 4, 2018. Thirty-one students presented throughout the day. Karen L. Cox, Professor in history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, delivered the Daniel Goffman Keynote Address, “Confederate Monuments in the Jim Crow South.”

Congratulations to our conference paper award winners:
Kathryn DeGraff Award for the Best History Department Undergraduate Methods Course Paper
Kathy Bean, “Native American Portraiture by E. A. Burbank at the Turn of the Twentieth Century”

James P. Krokar Award for the Best Paper in an Advanced Undergraduate Course
Catrien Egbert, “”Directly Feminine Work:” Female Advocacy and the Emergence of Professional Home Decorators in England, 1860-1900”

Best Graduate Student Paper
Joshua Stern, “United States Propaganda Operations During the Contra War, 1980-1988”

And congratulations to Robert Rosenbaugh, winner of the Albert Erlebacher-Cornelius Sippel Award, presented to the graduating major with the highest history department major GPA and to Amy Hildebrand the recipient of our inaugural award for graduating minor with the highest history department minor GPA.

The 13th Annual Student History Conference was held on May 5, 2017. Twenty-five students presented throughout the day. Merry E. Wiesner Hanks, Professor in history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, delivered the Daniel Goffman Keynote Address, “To the Ends of the Earth: Religious Transformations in the Age of the Reformation.”

Congratulations to our conference paper award winners:
Kathryn DeGraff Award for the Best History Department Undergraduate Methods Course Paper
Lane Beckstrom, “Imperfect Democracy: Fourth of July Articles in Japanese Internment Camp Newspapers”

James P. Krokar Award for the Best Paper in an Advanced Undergraduate Course
Kira Light, “The Parental State: A Study of the Wisconsin Child Welfare System during the Progressive Era”

Best Graduate Student Paper
Mitchell Lohr, “Knights of the Guilded Circle?: How the Knights of the Golden Circle Exploited Popular Culture to Attempt to Secure a Slave-Holding Empire”

And congratulations to Steven Reese, winner of the Albert Erlebacher-Cornelius Sippel Award, presented to the graduating major with the highest history department major GPA and to Yasmin Zacaria Mitchel the recipient of our inaugural award for graduating minor with the highest history department minor GPA.

Photos of the conference are available on our Facebook page.

The 12th Annual Student History Conference was held on April 29, 2016. Twenty-three students presented throughout the day. Marnie Hay, lecturer in history at the St. Patrick’s Campus of Dublin City University in Ireland, delivered the Daniel Goffman Keynote Address, “Living and Dying for Ireland: Youth and the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin.”

Congratulations to our conference paper award winners:
Kathryn DeGraff Award for the Best History Department Undergraduate Methods Course Paper
Jack DeHaven —"Left in the Orchards: Straggling in the Maryland Campaign of 1862"

Student History Conference James P. Krokar Award for the Best Paper in an Advanced Undergraduate Course
Chas Sirridge —"The Chicago Plan Commission and the Vision for Postwar Chicago”

Best Graduate Student Paper
Mitchell Lohr —"Edward the Caresser: The Unlikely King Who Saved the British Monarch”

And congratulations to Tyler Stone, winner of the Albert Erlebacher-Cornelius Sippel Award, presented to the graduating senior with the highest history department major GPA!

Photos of the conference are available on our Facebook page.

The 11th  Annual Student History Conference was held on May 1, 2015. Thirty-one students presented throughout the day. Peter Kuznick, professor of history and director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, delivered the Daniel Goffman Keynote Address.

The 10th Annual Student History Conference was held on May 2, 2014.  Thirty students presented throughout the day. Jason Crouthamel, associate professor of history at Grand Valley State University, delivered the Daniel Goffman Keynote Address. 

The 9th Annual Student History Conference was held on April 26, 2013. Thirty-three student presented and 24 students were inducted into the Phi Alpha Theta honor society. Delivering the Daniel Goffman Keynote Lecture this year was  Thavolia Glymph, associate professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University. Professor Glymph gave a talk related to the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation entitled "Emancipation and the Meaning of Freedom."