Faculty Undergraduate Research Fellowship Seminar FAQ

No. All full-time faculty in LAS are eligible to apply. The teaching team, however, must include at least one tenure-line faculty member.

You may apply, but to be considered, you will need to demonstrate that you have experience teaching research methods in the humanities.

Yes. Co-faculty will begin to plan and prepare their course, in collaboration with the faculty directors of the STRC, during Spring Quarter. This is necessary in order to make arrangements in advance for potential field trips and guest speakers in the course.

Also in Spring Quarter, co-faculty will participate in the process of selecting the undergraduate fellows who will take the course.

The SURF course is a regular Summer I course, which means it will have two 3-hour meetings per week, for 5 weeks. The two co-faculty may agree among themselves to take the lead for particular class sessions, but both faculty are expected to be present for every class session and should take direct responsibility for at least 50% of the instruction time and evaluation of student work.

Class time may include field trips to familiarize students with relevant research institutions in the city (archives, research libraries, museums, etc.). Faculty will have the opportunity to determine the modality for the course (either entirely in-person or hybrid in- person/online synchronous).

After the course is over, faculty are also expected to meet with each of their 3 student fellows once in late July or early August to monitor their progress on their individual research projects. In the fall, faculty will meet with students at certain points to provide feedback on drafts, and ensure both that students are prepared to share their presentations at the STRC symposium and will complete their final research papers by December.

The SURF course will only admit 6 student fellows. The course will be co-taught, and there will be no teaching assistants. Each faculty member will also serve as the mentor for 3 of the students once the course is over.

Yes, as long as the two courses do not overlap. Please also bear in mind that according to university rules, no faculty may earn more than two units of summer salary, in total.

Yes. Faculty chosen for these roles will be compensated with one unit of summer salary as well as a $1500 stipend over the Autumn Quarter. (Please be advised that no faculty member can earn more than two units of summer salary, in total.)

A commitment to mentorship is an essential component of this program. Co-faculty who teach the course will be making a commitment to support 3 students in their research projects throughout the rest of the summer and Autumn Quarter. If you are not able to meet with students once in late July/early August, and at various points throughout AQ, to check on their progress, read drafts, and provide feedback and support, you should not apply.

The course is not expected to cover all research methods in the humanities. We are particularly interested, however, in a curriculum that will prepare students to do humanities research in interdisciplinary fields such as African/Black Diaspora Studies, Latinx and Latin American Studies, Global Asian Studies, and Critical Ethnic Studies.

Co-faculty will also participate in the selection of student fellows, so faculty should structure the course in ways that will directly benefit the research projects of the students in the course.

Since the course is co-taught, we hope each member of the teaching team will emphasize different methods and fields in their teaching. Funds are also available for faculty to invite guest speakers from a variety of disciplines to visit the course to discuss specific research methods in their fields.

The SURF program is actually a six-month long program, which includes both the summer course and a subsequent research and writing period that concludes in December.

By the end of the course, students should have:

• developed a viable research question;
• built a bibliography of secondary and primary sources;
• developed a plan of work for the remainder of the summer;
• written an abstract;
• drafted a 3-5 page prospectus for a 10-12 page research paper (which will be due in December).

In late July/early August, students will meet once with their mentor to check on their progress. By the end of August, students will turn in a draft of their research paper. Each faculty member will comment on 3 of the student drafts.

In October, students will do a poster presentation of their work at the STRC Symposium.

In December, students will turn in a revised, 10-12 page research paper.