About

SHPRS’ Undergraduate Research Experience places undergraduate students into research assistant opportunities working with individual faculty members on their research projects. Students will enroll in HST/ PHI/ REL 494: Undergraduate Research Experience* and may earn up to 9 hours of elective credits (and in some cases, apply them towards their major). All students in good academic standing are invited to apply (minimum GPA 2.0). 

Undergraduate research opportunities will be added as they become available. Please check back regularly for new opportunities.

* As with any course at ASU that earns credit, regular tuition charges apply. 

**Undergraduate Research Experience can only count as elective credit within the major and cannot substitute for required courses. If you have already fulfilled all of your major electives, the course will only count as general elective credit. If your major is not in SHPRS, please consult with your major advisor.

Applications for fall 2024 are due March 27, 2024.

Apply now

Benefits of the program 
  • First-hand experience of professional research
  • Learn applicable research skills
  • Invest invaluable relationships with faculty  
Program highlights 

As a research assistant, you will:

  • Work with SHPRS faculty supporting his or her research
  • Earn credit commensurate with the number of hours of work (determined in advance and detailed in the URE contract)
  • Learn applicable research skills
  • Strengthen your resume and grad school application 
Steps to apply

1. Review the URE opportunities available and determine which one(s) interest you. 

2. Submit your application. You can apply to one research opportunity. Faculty leading the project may request a follow-up interview. 

3. Receive an email announcing selected applicants and next steps. Once you’re in the door make the best of the opportunity…learn what you came to learn, get your questions answered, make a connection that lasts a lifetime.

Questions? Email Marissa.R.Timmerman@asu.edu

Opportunities

Fall 2024 Opportunities 

Tempe/Online

Searching for Common Ground
Professor Nathan Ballantyne, Philosophy 

Finding a common ground is often regarded as a solution for today’s polarization of civic, religious and political discourse. By combining analytical tools from philosophy and experimental methods from social psychology, this project empirically examines how people respond to invitations to seek common ground as well as lay thinking about the nature of the common ground. The goal of this project is to run experiments in which subjects will be prompted with scenarios that depict disagreements on polarizing topics, such as abortion for disabled fetuses, law and religious liberties and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Ancient Philosophy Research Experience
Professor Sandra Woien, Philosophy

The primary aim of this project is to offer research support for a book project centered on Ancient Philosophy. Assistance is desired across various phases of book development and launch including curating quotes, doing literature reviews on related themes, aiding in the citation and curation of sources, and creating blog posts, X threads or Instagram photos on related topics. Within these given parameters, the exact nature of this project can be customized to align with the student's particular interests and strengths.

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Public History Research Experience
Erin Craft, History

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.

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Philosophy in Spanish
Professor Michelle Saint, Philosophy

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 Dr. Saint, who knows very little Spanish and is thus limited to communicating in English.

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Tempe

Local Museums: Archives & Collections Research Experience
Erin Craft, History

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 Senior Program Coordinator Erin 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 skill and interests as much as possible.

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