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 spring 2025 are due October 18, 2024.
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
Spring 2025 Opportunities
Tempe/Online
Political Philosophy Research Experience
Professor Matt Schuler, Philosophy
The principal objective of this project is to offer research support for an ongoing project within a narrow corner of political philosophy. Specifically, it concerns John Rawls' use of the concept of reflective equilibrium in his seminal work, "A Theory of Justice." I have developed an argument that although something quite like his theory may be the correct theory of justice -- and although reflective equilibrium is indispensable to normative theory more broadly -- certain structural features of Rawls' framework leave no role whatsoever for reflective equilibrium to play within it. The project's goal is primarily to conduct a literature review on the use of reflective equilibrium within Rawls' theory of justice and to correctly cite sources that the student identifies as relevant (following discussion of these sources together).
Consuming Columbus in the Caribbean: Tourism, Colonial Nostalgia, and Pleasure in 20th Century Santo Domingo Research Experience
Professor Mónica Espaillat Lizardo, History
My work in progress examines how the promotion of Santo Domingo’s colonial city as a tourist destination relied on the use of Christopher Columbus, the rhetoric of discovery and exoticism, and an appeal to pleasure, each rooted in gendered and racialized desires. Selling Columbus has been a cornerstone of the Dominican Republic’s national tourism strategy, pivotal to its post-dictatorship rehabilitation and modernization efforts beginning in 1966. The promotion of the Dominican Republic as a tourist destination also relied on the allure of pleasure, encompassing both the explicit marketing of its exotic landscapes and the implicit commodification of the sensuous bodies of Dominicans.
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.
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.
Tempe
Artificial Intelligence in Philosophy Teaching & Research Experience
Professor Jeffrey Watson, Philosophy
The goal of this project is to experiment with the use of Artificial Intelligence tools for the purpose of improving the accessibility of philosophical research and teaching. Possible experimental uses include: (1) using AI to organize and improve existing resources in introductory logic, (2) developing effective AI prompts to develop pedagogical tools or experiences in introductory logic, introductory philosophy, and history of philosophy courses, (3) using AI as a tool for doing background research in recent literature, and (4) evaluating the usefulness or non-usefulness of AI at various stages in the essay writing process. The project focuses on potential benefits rather than risks to philosophy teaching and research.
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 skills and interests as much as possible.