Contribute to a Faculty Research Project

This program allows undergraduates invaluable opportunities to learn research methods in a one-on-one collaboration with a faculty member. Each fall, faculty members apply for the opportunity to bring undergraduate research fellows into their research projects. The Humanities Institute advertises research opportunities on this page, and students are invited to apply directly to faculty mentors starting in early September. Faculty make nominations to the Humanities Institute, and successful nominees are appointed as Student Research Fellows. Each fellowship involves work on a faculty research project, often leading to publication. Projects involve different types of research and unfold over different time-periods with flexibility to accommodate the schedules of the student and the needs of the faculty member. At the end of the academic year, student fellows who complete the program successfully receive $450.
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Students interested in serving as research apprentices should check this page frequently during the fall. Scroll down to see current opportunities.

Faculty members interested in the program should visit the faculty Research Fellows Program page for instructions on how to apply.
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If you are interested in past research student-faculty collaborations please visit our archival page.
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Professor Erik Jenson and a student sit at a table ogether discussing a research project

2026-2027 Apprenticeship Projects

If you are interested in applying for one of the apprenticeships below, please email the relevant professor and write "Research Apprenticeship Application" in the subject line of your email. For additional questions please write to humanitiesinstitute@miamioh.edu.

An Everyday Jihad

Nathan French

frenchns@miamioh.edu

An Everyday Jihad is a faculty-led research apprenticeship centered on a rare archive of nearly 2,000 Islamic legal opinions produced by a major Jihadi-Salafi website between 2009 and 2015. Student researchers will learn how scholars work with large textual archives by exploring a searchable English-language database of translated fatwas, developing analytical categories, evaluating patterns of legal reasoning, and investigating questions about law, ethics, violence, and everyday life—from war and politics to marriage, mortgages, music, clothing, and prayer. The apprenticeship offers sustained experience in research design, textual analysis, and the study of contemporary Islam. Ideal participants are high-achieving, independent students interested in Middle Eastern, Islamic, international, or religious studies. Arabic is helpful but not required.

Outcast: Irishfacing and Blackface Performance in Twentieth-Century Theatre

Katie Johnson

johnso33@miamioh.edu

I seek an undergraduate Research Apprentice to assist with my current book project, Outcast: Irishfacing and Blackface Performance in Twentieth-Century Theatre. “Outcast” actors were perceived as ethnic and racial outsiders in real life, but they also had a role in “casting out” nefarious casting practices in productions from The Emperor Jones (1920) to Hamilton (2015).

The ideal candidate will have an interest in performance, theatre, or literary studies, history, and enjoy finding answers to unknown information. S/he needs to be able to conduct research (including archival research), write clearly and compellingly, have a keen editorial eye, and be organized and self-driven.

Women in Leadership and Feminist Coaching

M. Cristina Alcalde

alcaldmc@miamioh.edu

The student research apprentice will assist with one or more of the following: identification, analysis, and coding of selected coaching and feminist leadership websites; identification and coding of representations of women in leadership, feminist leadership, and feminist coaching in social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram; annotations of peer-reviewed sources; assistance with coding of de-identified interview transcripts; and/or data entry to organize research materials. The student can be from any major, and should have strong analytical and writing skills. Interest in women’s and gender studies, leadership studies, and interdisciplinary qualitative research is a plus.