Undergradute Research Experience

with Program Coordinator Erin Craft — History 

Tempe and Online 

Project information: 

Public History is history that engages the community in building connections to their pasts and each other. For this research experience, students will work with the Public History coordinator and various faculty on a variety of ongoing Public History projects. Projects will include curating Salt River Stories and Global World War II Monuments through editing, research and writing interpretive text. Additional project work may include developing and curating digital archives, such as our past project Journal of a Plague Year: An Archive of Covid-19, conducting “history harvests” with local partners such as the City of Phoenix, or conducting and processing oral histories.

• 9 hours required per week 
• 3 credits anticipated 

Student information: 

Research assistant’s duties:
Duties may include curating or editing digital projects; facilitating work between partner organizations and students; attending in-person collection events (on-ground students); conducting and processing oral histories; research and writing for digital projects. Additionally, student will be required to attend one virtual meeting per week with other public history students to discuss ongoing work as well as theoretical issues within public history.                                                                                                                                                                  
Required skills or qualifications:
Desired qualifications include strong writing and communication skills; research experience; interest in Oral History; time management skills; and basic computing skills.                                                                     
Skills student will acquire:
Students will learn about public history and about working in the Public History realm. This might include planning and executing a project with a partner institution; organizing research; archival research; curating items in a digital exhibit; conducting and processing oral histories; creating educational programming around an exhibit or event; digital resource collection and curation.

with Assistant Teaching Professor Michelle Saint — Philosophy

Tempe and Online 

Project information: 

The goal of this project is to identify philosophical resources that are in Spanish. This includes: Spanish translations of significant texts, introductory / encyclopedic texts about philosophy in Spanish, databases of philosophy articles originally published in Spanish or dual-published in both Spanish and English, etc. The goal is to identify resources and materials that will be useful for Spanish-speaking undergraduate philosophy students. You will be working with Professor Saint, who knows very little Spanish and is thus limited to communicating in English.

• 9 hours required per week 
• 3 credits anticipated 

Student information: 

Research assistant’s duties:
Student duties will include online research, development of a spreadsheet, write descriptions of materials and meet regularly with Professor Saint to discuss progress.                                                                                                                                  
Required skills or qualifications:
Required qualifications include: the ability to read philosophy in Spanish, and the ability to communicate in English is required.                                                                                                                       
Skills student will acquire:
Students will acquire multi-language research, critical reading and writing skills (in both English and Spanish), textual annotation and database management.

with Associate Professor Laurie Manchester — History

Tempe and Online 

Project information: 

Beginning in 1954 roughly 100,000 Russians voluntarily repatriated to the Soviet Union. Most were born and raised in China, and had a parent who was a white army émigrés and another who was from the old settler population. In Harbin, the capital of “Russian” China, emigres were able in the interwar period to build on the pre-existent Russian language infrastructure to create the closest replica of Imperial Russia in the world. They were a homeward bound diaspora, intent on returning to rebuild a Bolshevik free Russia. World War II changed their timeline; most Russians in China fused their Russian nationalism with Soviet patriotism. The first comprehensive study of mass voluntary return to an illiberal, impoverished, historical homeland in the 20th century, this book challenges the dominant theories in migration studies that economic betterment and the desire for liberty motivate migration. Cultural preference and nationalism inspired the majority to repatriate. It also illuminates the encounter between Imperial Russia and the Soviet Union by focusing on how and when repatriates and Soviet Russians have othered one another. By examining the fluctuating strategies of assimilation and integration repatriates have used in their historic homeland, it also contributes to diaspora studies.

• 9 hours required per week 
• 3 credits anticipated 

Student information: 

Research assistant’s duties:
An archive in Germany containing the application files of Russians in China who attempted to migrate Westward in the 1950s instead of repatriating is now entirely online. Students will record information from each family's file and alert Professor Manchester as to when a file contains correspondence with refugee agencies (ie., the file is worth her reading it).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
Required skills or qualifications:
Knowledge of Russian.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Skills student will acquire:
The student assistant will perform research in an archive and will acquire knowledge of global refugee polices in the 1950s and post-colonial diaspora during the Cold War.

with Assistant Teaching Professor Daniele Lauro — History

Tempe and Online 

Project information: 

This research experience is connected to ongoing research on the history of Nikkō city in modern and contemporary Japan. Working closely with Profesor Lauro, the student will engage in guided archival research using English- and Japanese-language newspaper databases to examine how Nikkō has been represented from the late nineteenth century to the present.                                                                                                                                                                                                         
The project introduces the student to core historical research methods, including working with large digital archives, evaluating primary sources, and organizing materials for historical analysis. Over the course of the project, the student will examine the historical contexts in which Nikkō appears in the media, the roles the city plays in modern Japan’s national and international life, and how its premodern, Tokugawa-associated heritage is invoked and reinterpreted over time.                                                                                                                 
Through regular meetings and feedback, the project emphasizes skill development in research design, critical reading and historical interpretation. The experience is designed as a mentored introduction to independent historical research and aims to help the student develop transferable skills in analysis, organization and scholarly inquiry.

• 6 hours required per week 
• 2 credits anticipated 

Student information: 

Research assistant’s duties:
The student assistant will: 1) Conduct supervised archival research using resources such as the Japan Times Digital Archive and/or other relevant English- and Japanese-language newspaper databases; 2) Develop and refine search strategies to identify articles related to Nikkō across different historical periods; 3) Evaluate the relevance and reliability of sources and make informed decisions about inclusion; 4) Create and maintain a structured dataset recording key information such as publication date, source, genre, themes, and historical context; 5) Produce brief summaries of selected articles and categorize them thematically; 6) Meet regularly with the faculty mentor to discuss findings, refine research questions, and receive feedback; and 7) Reflect on the historical contexts in which Nikkō appears in newspaper coverage, the roles the city plays in Japan’s national and international life, and how its Tokugawa-associated heritage is invoked and reinterpreted over time.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
Required skills or qualifications:
Strong reading and writing skills, careful attention to detail, and basic organizational skills are required. Proficiency in modern Japanese is desirable but not essential.                                                                                                                                                                            
Skills student will acquire:
The student assistant will acquire practical training in historical research methods, including locating, evaluating and interpreting primary sources in large digital archives. The student will develop skills in designing and refining search strategies, organizing research materials systematically, and documenting sources accurately.

with Senior Program Coordinator Erin Craft — History

Tempe only

Project information: 

The collections at the Arizona Historical Society (AHS), Tempe History Museum, and the Arizona Jewish Historical Society broadly represent Arizona History and are invaluable to researchers of various disciplines and the public. Students will work with Craft and Professor Mark Tebeau, as well as the archivists, collections manager and librarians at one or more of the three museum locations, to engage in hands-on work surrounding digital and physical collections and archive management. Tasks might include item evaluation, collection management, exhibit design, or research, and will be designed to meet student’s skills and interests as much as possible.

• 9 hours required per week 
• 3 credits anticipated 

Student information: 

Research assistant’s duties:
Student duties will include working with the staff at the Arizona Heritage Center (one of AHS’s museums), the Tempe History Museum, or the Arizona Jewish Historical Museum to process collections; data entry; writing; collection care; evaluation of artifacts; and assisting collections manager and archivists as needed. Student will need to be available for in-person work for 4 hours per week during operating hours at the museums. (M–F, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.). Opportunity is available to local students, whether on-ground or online, and student will be responsible for transportation to the 3 locations (within 15 miles of ASU Tempe campus). Additionally, students will be required to attend one virtual meeting per week with other public history students.                                                                                                                                                                    
Required skills or qualifications:
Desired qualifications include strong writing and communication skills; research experience; time management skills, basic computing skills, and an interest in archives collections, exhibits or museums. Seats are limited each semester, so preference will be given to Upper Division students majoring or minoring in history or similar degree program. Student must live within the greater Phoenix Metro area.                                                                                                                                                                          
Skills student will acquire:
Students will learn various aspects of working in an archive or physical collection and working within the museum field. Tasks may include evaluating items in a collection; organizing materials; archival research; curating items in a digital exhibit or collection; artifact preservation; creating programming around an exhibit or event; and digital resource collection and curation.