Scholarships and Awards

Louis A. R. Yates Scholarship

On behalf of the Gamma-Beta Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national honor society in history, the Department of History awards the Yates History Scholarship annually on the basis of merit to an outstanding first-year history major. This scholarship was created in recognition of Louis A. R. Yates, founder and first faculty advisor to our local chapter of Phi Alpha Theta in 1949, who also served as department chair from 1952-1967. All current first-year history majors are considered for this award on the basis of GPA and finalists are invited to submit a writing sample.

Scholarships Awarded in Support of History Students

These scholarships—endowed by the generous support of former faculty, with the contributions of family and friends in the names of Bill and Millie Bowers, Les H. Brune, Charles Hosking, Max and Myrna Kele—are designed to help deserving students have an opportunity to succeed in their university studies and, perhaps in their turn, to support future generations.

Vita Activa Award for Exemplary Student Accomplishment in Public History and Service

Vita activa means the ideal of an engaged life. In the Renaissance, it was understood that virtuous citizens should be public-spirited and that the cultivation of knowledge would inspire participation in worldly affairs rather than withdrawal into a cloistered life of study, the vita contemplativa. Other notions of duty to the public good—the self-evident propriety of community-minded action by informed, humane, and conscientious selves, and the significance of recognizing and honoring such behavior—can be found in many societies around the world. A quick survey of the meaning of other overlapping terms (for example, agape, altruisme, praxis, ren, sadaqah, and ubuntu), reveals this widespread attention to the value of public service.

The Vita Activa Award is designed to recognize an outstanding senior History major at Bradley University who has not only achieved a high standard in the classroom but has a record of accomplishments in public history and extracurricular activities. The nature of these accomplishments will be varied and might include participation and office holding in student groups, volunteer activities, internships, public speaking, and presentations of research.

Each academic year the History Department will consider all history majors for this award and will solicit resumes and other appropriate materials. The award will not necessarily be granted every year. The award may be accompanied by a gift, but it is the recognition offered by the considered opinion of the faculty of history that constitutes the most significant honor we can bestow.

History Honor Student Award

The History Honor Student Award is the annual recognition of our most distinguished senior on the basis of excellence in academic achievement by the History Department faculty. All current history majors are considered for this award on the basis of GPA and finalists are invited to submit a writing sample, usually a research paper from an upper-division course or research seminar. Honor Students from all programs are customarily recognized at a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reception.