CRRES launched the Undergraduate Research Program in the Social Sciences and Humanities (URP) in Fall 2016. The URP is designed to allow students the opportunity to experience hands-on work on a research project or other type of scholarly activity under the mentorship of a faculty member. Both the faculty mentor and the student researcher are compensated for their efforts. Students receive up to $1500 per semester and faculty mentors are compensated with research assistance—in the form of both a dedicated research assistant and $500 deposited to their IUB research accounts each semester.
Gain Research Experience with the URP
CRRES provides structure and guidelines for the mentors and student researchers, and the Center’s Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) serves as the CRRES Liaison for the Program, organizing workshops and training for the students. Students learn how to conduct a literature review, about various research methodologies, identify conferences and research journals for publication, create a poster presentation, and craft a polished CV, among other relevant academic skills.
Students who participate in URP have gone on to pursue various academic achievements including working in multiple research labs, obtain summer internships, receive admission into graduate school, and attend national and international conferences.
Jasmine provided crucial work on the project at a pivotal stage, and it has been extremely rewarding seeing her intellectual development as she progresses toward graduate school. And on a personal level, it feels extremely good to be contributing to a solution to pipeline issues for underrepresented students in graduate school.
Professor Matthew Hayes, 2016 Faculty Mentor, Department of Political Science
The pilot semester of the URP was comprised of a wide variety of projects led by faculty mentors from five distinct disciplines: Geography, Religious Studies, Political Science, History, and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. That inaugural semester of the URP was sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs. The current iteration of the Program includes faculty and students from Political Science, the Media School, English, and the School of Education.
Undergraduates like Kia Heryadi (2020-2021 participant) have found that the URP gives students in the Social Sciences and Humanities unique opportunities to develop research skills through hands-on experience. She described how her experience working with Professor Fabio Rojas led to concrete skills, from computer programming to critical thinking that allows her to be a more informed consumer.
I definitely think I can use these skills just as a normal person. Even reading the news – it makes me think about it statistically. Does it check out? Are these studies scientific?
Kia Heryadi, 2021 URP student
Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society
Schuessler Institute for Social Research
1022 E. 3rd St., Room 209,
Bloomington, IN 47405
812-855-8016
Office Hours: Monday - Friday: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
