Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Through our Undergraduate Research Assistant program, the Program in Jewish Studies provides University of Colorado Boulder undergraduate students with opportunities to collaborate with faculty on cutting-edgeresearch projects by asking new questions, producing new knowledge, and sharing their findings with diverse audiences.

Spring 2024Research Assistant Projects

Applications are now open for the Spring 2024semester. 鶹Ժ will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with a faculty member on one of the following projects, receiving a salary of up to $600 and presenting their work at a research showcase in April 2024.

Please send a one-page letter describing your interest in one of the three projects below, as well as any relevant background, to cujewishstudies@colorado.edu by December 22, 2023, at 5pm MT. undergraduate studentsfrom the University of Colorado Boulder, from all backgrounds and majors, are eligible to participate in the program.

  • Are you interested in learning about the history of the modern Middle East?Would you like tolearn more about why standardizedtesting became important? Why standardized tests can withstand natural disasters and wars, and even outlast governments and countries?If so, come work withDr. Hilary Falb Kalisman, Assistant Professor of History and Endowed Professor of Israel/PalestineStudies, on research relating to the history of standardized testing in the Middle East. Youwill conduct independent research, read through documents, write summaries and reports as well as create spreadsheets organizing the documents. Knowledge of English is sufficient. Reading knowledge of Arabicor Hebrew is preferred;coursework relating to education, history or the MiddleEast is helpful but not required.

  • Are youinterested in early modern history and Inquisition archives? Investigate theexperiences of Sephardic Jews and conversos under theSpanish and PortugueseInquisitions.Learn more about how we can gain access to the voices,lives, and challenges of marginalized people in the early modern period. If this piques your interest,come work withDr. Rebecca Wartell, Teaching Assistant Professor in the Program in Jewish Studies, as we explore and chart the persecution of Iberian men andwomenby the Inquisition in thesixteenth century. You will be part of an ongoing project toanalyze, organize, and transform summaries of Inquisition records into an accessible database for historians and genealogists, with an eye toward the persecution of women of Jewish ancestry. Knowledge of English issufficient, although reading knowledge of Portuguese would be extra advantage.


These projects have been made possible by the generous support of donors to the Program in Jewish Studies.