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 2023 are due March 17, 2023.
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 2023 Opportunities
Tempe/Online
Ancient Philosophy Research Assistant
Professor Sandra Woien, Philosophy
The focus of this project is to provide research assistance in finding quotes, citations, and other information for a book that covers thinkers in the Western Philosophical Tradition, starting in the Ancient Period and forward.
Editorial Assistant
Professor Sandra Woien, Philosophy
The focus of this project is to gain an understanding of how to get a submitted manuscript ready for publication. For this research project, students will work with the editor on a series of critical responses. This series focuses on scholars who have a popular online following or public presence. While most of the contributors are scholars or academics themselves, the books are aimed primarily at general readers interested in the thinker in question.
Arizona Historical Society Archives and Collections Research Experience
Erin Craft, History
The collections at the Arizona Historical Society (AHS) 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 the Arizona Heritage Center, to engage in hands on work and research surrounding digital and physical collections and archive management. Research tasks might include item evaluation, collection management, or exhibit design and will be designed to meet student’s skill and interests as much as possible.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Arizona
Erin Craft, History
In this collaboration between ASU Libraries, SHPRS Public History Program and SILC,
students will research and assist in the design of a physical and virtual exhibit highlighting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s visit to ASU in 1964 as well as the controversy surrounding the MLK holiday in Arizona. The exhibit will be on display at Durham Hall in time for the 60th anniversary of Dr. King’s visit. Students will work with Program Coordinator Erin Craft, Dr. Mark Tebeau and other History Faculty, as well as ASU Libraries’ Community Driven Archives Team to conduct research and design the exhibit.
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. These projects will change throughout the semester and will vary depending on if the student is in person or online. Students will participate in at least different two projects, but likely more. Projects might include archive work, transcription, creating a digital collection, oral history, exhibition planning, community research, writing for the public or conducting collecting events. One hour per week will be spent in a Zoom or in-person meeting.
Salt River Stories Research Experience
Erin Craft, History
Through Salt River Stories, Arizona State University students and faculty curate the region’s history in collaboration with a variety of community partners that include historic preservationists, archivists, and community activists. Partners have included the Arizona Historical Society and the Tempe Historical Society, as well as to the members of the historic preservation community. With more than 250 digital interpretive stories, Salt River Stories receives more than 20,000 unique visitors per year. Student research and writing connections visitors to a more sophisticated view of the region’s history—that introduces them to sophisticated historiography, original research, and engaging historical writing. If you have a passion for research and writing, including exploring hidden history, this project is for you. Students will work with Senior Program Coordinator, Erin Craft, and Professor Mark Tebeau, and other faculty as relevant. Students will be expected to attend weekly 1-hour check-ins with Craft and Tebeau, which will be held on Zoom.
Law, Algorithms and Probability
Professor Marcello Di Bello, Philosophy
The focus of this project is to help develop a podcast series on the main controversies about the use of probabilistic, quantitative and algorithmic methods in the law. The plan is to create a few short podcast episodes, each on a different question, such as: How do you weigh evidence with probability? How probable is a reasonable doubt? Is DNA evidence infallible? Does cross-examination help to find out the truth? Are trials nothing other than gambles with people’s lives? Can machine learning algorithms follow legal precedent? Will machine judges be more accurate than humans? Etc. Each episode should begin with a story or court case and then raises the relevant philosophical questions, while also containing excerpts of interviews with select experts. Each podcast should summarize -- in a balanced, accessible and compelling manner -- the state of the literature. The target audience are undergraduate students and the general public.
Online
Analysis of Sexual Assault
Professor Joan McGregor, Philosophy
What constitutes consent and its moral implications is a major philosophical question. In the sexual context is it even more challenging. This project is to research the current theories of sexual consent in order to update an Encyclopedia entry on the topic.