The History Club: a place for students to collaborate and get to know their professors

BY: COPELAND WELCH / Managing Editor

Whether you are a history major, minor, or enthusiast, there is a club at Tarleton State University designed just for you: The History Club. 

Aaron George, head of the Phi Alpha Theta Chapter, facilitates the history club. The organization was established by George in Fall 2022. 

George created the organization in hopes it would offer students a feeling of cohesiveness and an opportunity to get to know their professors outside of the classroom setting. 

“I think sometimes with history it’s very easy to kind of like, everybody go and do their own separate things, and I wanted the students to feel like there is a way for them to meet and talk about things outside of the classroom,” George said. 

The meetings are casual, conversational and a way for students to have conversations about topics they are discussing in their history classes or get clarification on things they may have questions about.

“I think that it’s really important that students get to know their department, including majors in their department, and also get to know the professors in a way that is not just simply from a teacher lecturing to student kind of way,” George said. 

The inspiration for the club came to George while he was completing his undergraduate degree at Western Washington University (WWU). He was a dual major in history and philosophy, and during his time at the university, he took note of the philosophy club. 

The philosophy club and department at WWU were George’s inspiration for creating his very own version of a History Club at Tarleton. He noticed the cohesiveness and collaboration the club offered WWU students and wanted to provide the same experience for Tarleton students.  

“I think [The History Club] benefits everybody, students get to know what it’s like to be a historian because they get to meet these people and listen to what kinds of things they do,” George said. “It also helps create relationships that lead to letters of recommendation later or the ability for professors to be able to help these students with other history projects and classes.”

George believes there is a direct correlation between being a part of on-campus organizations and personal success. 

“The more organizations you are involved in and the more you have a community, the more successful you are going to be,” George said. 

George sees a lot of importance in joining on-campus organizations and surrounding yourself with people who can help you grow. 

“In many ways, college is a microcosm of democracy at large and I think democracy as a concept or ideal only works if you have a community of people who are working together to build something more, who are making connections with people who aren’t like them, so they are discovering new people and new ways of thinking about things,” George said. “In a lot of ways college does those same things, it teaches you how to make connections with other students and how to join and learn from different communities and I think that college organizations are important for all of that.” 

The History Club meetings are bi-weekly at Caam’s Pizza in Stephenville, Texas, on Thursdays at 5 p.m. For more information, or if you are interested in becoming a member of the club contact Aaron George at [email protected].