Attention undergraduate students: What is the HSA? Should you join?
The 2018-2019 HSA Executive Team provides some insight into their community, who should join, and what the benefits are to joining the association with this 8 question Q&A!
1. What does the HSA do?
The History Students Association represents UBC’s history majors, minors, and all those passionate about history.
We organize events throughout the year, connect students with the History Department, and support students in pursuing history. Furthermore, through The Atlas Undergraduate Journal of World History, we provide a platform for students to share their scholarly research and to participate in the peer-editing process to fine tune their historical thinking skills.
Lastly, the HSA organizes graduation photos for UBC History Majors and Minors.
2. Do you need to be a History Major to join HSA?
No, anyone who is interested in history is welcome (and encouraged) to join.
3. What kind of benefits would you gain from joining the HSA?
Membership only costs $2, so the value is unbeatable. For your $2 membership fee, you get unlimited access to our HSA events, such as monthly trivia nights.
4. Describe the HSA community- what types of activities do you do?
The HSA community is a supportive and fun-loving group of people who share a passion for history.
We organize regular events such as our signature trivia nights at Koerner’s Pub. We also organize more academically focused events such as our essay editing sessions, which occur during the midterm and final papers season.
Our special annual events include our HSA Tea Party in September and our Halloween Party in October. We have been known to do history movie nights and pub nights as well.
5. What type of person would be ideal for joining the HSA?
Anyone who has a curiosity about the world and asks questions about why the world is the way it is would be ideal for joining the HSA. Also, an eagerness to be social and spend time with others in the History Students Lounge would be appreciated. Bonus if you love to drink tea and have rich conversations!
6. What is the time commitment approximately per month?
For an executive, the time commitment varies based on the time of year and the position, but approximately five hours a month is required for meetings and attending and organizing our events.
For a member, no commitment is required, although we offer one or two events per month for our members to enjoy.
7. What are some skills/or knowledge that can be gained from being part of HSA?
The HSA offers the opportunity to build soft skills such as teamwork, communication, goal-oriented planning, and the successful execution of events.
Depending on your position, you will learn skills related to social media marketing, event planning and promotion, newsletter management, peer-review essay-editing, financial management.
There is also an opportunity to gain an inside view into how the History Department and Arts Undergraduate Society work.
8. How can I find out more info about HSA?
The best way to hear about what we are up to is through our regular newsletter. Send us a message at hsaubc@gmail.com and we would be happy to add your email to our mailing list. Feel free to reach out to this email with any questions also.
You can also find updates on what we are up to on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/7546187115/
Note: there have been changes to the HSA Executive team (effective March 21, 2019.) If you would like information on the 2019-2020 executives, please contact the HSA email above or hist.comms@ubc.ca
