Faculty Advisor: Karen Blair, Department Chair
Language & Literature Building, Room 100-S
Phone: (509) 963-1656
Email: knirckj@cwu.edu

Phi Alpha Theta is a national honor society. CWU has had an affiliated chapter ( the Tao Iota Chapter) since 1972. New members meeting the requirements (3.1 GPA for undergraduates and 3.5 for graduate students) are invited to become members in the spring, and new members are inducted in a department ceremony in May. There is a fee associated with membership, payable to the National Phi Alpha Theta office (not the department). Phi Alpha Theta members are eligible to present original research papers at the annual Northwest Regional Phi Alpha Theta conference held each April.

CWU's chapter of Phi Alpha Theta has sent the department's top students, both graduate and undergraduate, to annual Phi Alpha Theta regional conferences (see Phi Alpha Theta News). There, students sit on scholarly panels and present papers that are evaluated by faculty commentators from throughout the Northwest. In recent years, conferences have been hosted by Gonzaga University, Boise State University, George Fox University, and Idaho State University. Central has a long tradition of success at these conferences, with recent winners including Jennifer Meyers (2003), Patrice Laurent (2006), Rachael Birks (2007), and Ian Stacy (2008)