Phi Sigma Iota

Phi Sigma Iota
ΦΣΙ
Founded	1922 (1922) Allegheny College
Type	Honor
Affiliation	ACHS
Status	Active
Emphasis	Foreign languages and literatures
Scope	International
Colors	Purple and   White
Symbol	Chaplet of ivy, Five-pointed star
Publication	The Forum
Chapters	180
Headquarters	520 North Main Street, Box 30 Meadville, Pennsylvania 16335-3902 United States
Website	Official website

Phi Sigma Iota (ΦΣΙ) is an international honor society for students of modern and classical foreign languages and literatures. Its primary objectives are the recognition of ability and attainments in languages and literature, and the promotion of a sentiment of amity between cultures with differing languages.

It was established at Allegheny College in 1922. Phi Sigma Iota was a member of the Association of College Honor Societies, and awards scholarships to undergraduates and grants to graduate students.

History

Phi Sigma Iota was founded in 1922 at Allegheny College by Dr. Henry W. Church, members of his department of languages, and advanced students who were meeting to discuss linguistic and literary matters. The mission of the society is the recognition of outstanding accomplishment in the study or teaching of a foreign language; an appreciation for diverse points of view, derived from the knowledge and use of a foreign language; the encouragement of a lifelong commitment to the study and promotion of foreign languages and cultures, and; the pursuit of research in foreign languages and cultures.

Phi Sigma Iota became a national society when its Beta chapter was established at The Pennsylvania State University in April 1925. Less than a year later, a Gamma chapter at the College of Wooster followed them. With these three chapters as the nucleus of the national organization, the first convention was held in May 1926, at Allegheny College. Since that time expansion has been steady.

In November 1935, Phi Sigma Iota was merged with Alpha Zeta Pi, a similar society west of the Mississippi, at a national convention held at Bloomington, Illinois. Dr. Etienne Renaud and his associates in the Department of Languages organized Alpha Zeta Pi in October 1917 at the University of Denver. In 1949, Phi Sigma Iota was granted membership into the U. S. Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS), the first language society to receive that honor.

In 1978, under the Presidency of Dr. Santiago Vilas, the society expanded into the National Foreign Language Honor Society Phi Sigma Iota to honor outstanding achievements in any foreign language including classics, philology, applied linguistics, comparative literature, and bilingual education. In 1982, the society became the International Foreign Language Honor Society by installing its first chapter in a foreign country (Universidad Regiomontana, Monterrey, Mexico).

The society was a member of the Association of College Honor Societies, and awards scholarships to undergraduates and grants to graduate students.

Symbols

The insignia of the society, adopted in 1935, was designed by Robert E. Dengler, 1893–1973, Professor of Classics at the Pennsylvania State University. The words PHI, SIGMA, and IOTA may be understood, respectively, as Φιλοτης (or Philotès, meaning Friendship), Σπουδη (or Spoudé, meaning Research and also Individuality), and Ιδιωμα (or Idioma, meaning Zeal).

The society's key is dominated by a five-pointed star. The center of this star represents the literary languages of classical antiquity: Greek, Latin, Sanskrit and Hebrew. These tongues live on today in spirit, furnishing the foundation for many modern languages and transmitting to the Western world the basis of much of its culture. Originally a Romance language society, Latin, the foundation of our modern Romance languages, formed the foundation of the insignia and was symbolized by the ivy wreath that surrounds the star on the Phi Sigma Iota key. The key was designed in 1935 by Robert E. Dengler, Professor of Classics at the Pennsylvania State University; since 1935 was the bimillennium of Horace's birth, Dr. Dengler put an ivy wreath in the design to recall the words of Horace, the Roman poet of the height of Augustan literature who wrote: "As for me, I want the ivy, the crown of learned brows, that unites me with the gods above..." The five-point star originally stood for the Romance languages but now is symbolic of the many rays of learning that emanate from all linguistic and literary traditions. The shield of Phi Sigma Iota comprises designs meant to recall various language and literary traditions represented by the Society. Today the Society represents not only the Romance languages but all languages.

The colors of the Society are purple and white. The Forum of Phi Sigma Iota is published annually and includes articles (both scholarly and anecdotal), poetry, art, and humor written by and for Society members.

Activities

Every year, Phi Sigma Iota awards several scholastic grants to its members. The first scholarship was established in 1939 in memory of the founder and first National President, Dr. Church. In 1970, another scholarship was established in memory of Dr. Anthony S. Corbiere, who was the national historian, newsletter editor, and executive secretary of Phi Sigma Iota for nearly thirty years. In 2000, two additional named scholarships were inaugurated. One to honor Dr. Cleon Capsus, professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of South Florida and one to honor the years of devoted work on behalf of the society by Dr. Santiago Vilas. The Dr. Marie-France Hilgar Scholarship was established to honor former President Dr. Hilgar.

Membership

Phi Sigma Iota honors undergraduate students who have chosen to pursue a curriculum with an emphasis in foreign languages (a major or a minor), who have at least a B (3.0 GPA) average in their college course of study as well as in all courses in foreign languages, who rank in the top 35% of their class, and who have completed at least one course in a foreign language at the third-year level or beyond. Membership in the Society is open to qualified candidates including persons with disability, regardless of age, color, gender, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

As a rule, undergraduates are not elected to PSI before junior standing; however, sophomores of exceptional abilities who meet all stated minimal requirements, having completed at least 45 semester hours may be elected to membership. Graduate students studying one or more languages may also be elected to membership after 12 semester hours of graduate residence, provided they have attained a minimum grade point average of 3.5 in graduate studies.

Professional Members. Alumni of collegiate chapters shall be professional members. Others meeting the following criteria may be elected to professional membership: have made a distinctive contribution to the profession and (a) earned one or more degrees in foreign language and ranked within the top 35% of the class as undergraduates or 3.5 as graduate students and not been previously initiated into the Society, (b) earned one or more degrees qualifying them to work in the field and rank in the top 35% as undergraduates or 3.5 as graduate students, or (c) faculty of the university, after one academic year of teaching in that institution and having shown remarkable ability in their field as well as demonstrating support of the ideals of the society.

Honorary members shall be persons outside the field, excluding those employed in the field, who have made distinctive scholarly and research contributions to the study, use, or promotion of foreign languages and the ideals of the Society.

External links

• Homepage of Phi Sigma Iota
• ACHS Psi Sigma Iota entry
• Psi Sigma Iota chapter list at ACHS