Santa Cruz in Color: (Center for Racial Justice)
We encourage work-study and non-work-study students to apply. This internship is only open to undergraduate students with a declared or proposed Humanities major or minor and requires work authorization.
Application Deadline: October 19, 2025
The Humanities Experiential Learning Opportunities in Research (EXPLORE) Program connects undergraduate Humanities majors and minors with faculty-led projects in the division for paid research positions. Fellows gain valuable mentorship and practical experience.
Details
Duration: Academic Year 2025–26
Hours: 10 hours/week
Pay: $20/hour
Mentorship: Regular check-ins and support from Professor Christine Hong (CRES/LIT)
About the project
Santa Cruz in Color is a digital people’s archive and multimedia community storytelling repository that documents local grassroots social movements for justice throughout the Central Coast, with a focus on the greater Santa Cruz area.
As a popular educational initiative that contributes to collective knowledge and resistance, this teachable digital archive catalyzes and deepens understanding of regional struggles against structural violence. Santa Cruz in Color works with community partners to document both historical and ongoing local movements and organizing against racial injustice, dispossession, labor exploitation, deportation, neoliberal trade policy, imperialist wars, regional militarization, police violence and repression, displacement and gentrification, environmental racism, and educational inequity.
Check out what the 2024-2025 Humanities EXPLORE fellows accomplished with Santa Cruz in Color.
What You’ll Do
You will work closely and collaboratively with a research team that includes a faculty lead, three other EXPLORE fellows, and a research specialist, archivist, and website designer. On top of calendaring weekly, consistent independent research hours, EXPLORE fellows must commit to the following in-person meetings: weekly, 90-minute team meetings and be prepared to share their work for collective feedback, once-weekly work sessions with the other student researchers, and once-quarterly in-person retreats where they will present holistically on their progress on their collection and module. Additionally, each fellow will schedule one-on-one check-ins with the faculty lead twice per quarter, the first within the first two weeks of the quarter and the last during the last three weeks (including finals week), and as you make progress on your own collection, you will meet with the archivist/web designer, as well.
- (65%): Independent research into local social movements, particularly struggles by communities of color for justice. “Research” here designates locating, identifying, and curating archival objects, respectfully engaging with local organizers and organizations to better understand their struggles, conducting oral history interviews, and transforming your work and findings into teachable, open-access public education–typically taking the form of contextualizing/curating descriptions, key terms, and discussion questions; short essays; public research presentations; and/or podcasts. At each stage, the faculty lead will review and support your work.
- (30%): Collective meetings where you will learn new skills, share research progress, and receive team feedback
- Humanities EXPLORE Programming (5%): Attend a quarterly meeting when possible and participate in asynchronous Canvas experiential learning reflection.
Eligibility & Qualifications
- You must be a declared or proposed major or minor in a Humanities Division department and have good academic standing. If proposed, declare by June.
- Eligible majors: Applied Linguistics and Multilingualism, Classical Studies, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Feminist Studies, History, Jewish Studies, Language Studies, Linguistics, Literature, Philosophy, Spanish Studies
- Eligible minors: Black Studies, Classical Studies, East Asian Studies, History of Consciousness, History, Italian Studies, Jewish Studies, Language Studies, Linguistics, Literature, Middle Eastern and North African Studies, Philosophy, Spanish Studies
- You have work authorization (required)
- You can work independently and collaboratively (required)
- Grassroots organizing experience [required]
- Strong communication skills and ability to initiate email and phone communication with internal team members and external parties [required]
- Ability to proficiently navigate Google Suite, especially Google Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms [required]
- Strong organizational skills and detail-oriented with the ability to meet and communicate deadlines [required]
- Capacity to undertake autonomous research [required]
- Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team [required]
- Fluency in Spanish [preferred]
- Demonstrated commitment to the work of ethnic studies
- Experience conducting archival research
- Knowledge or willingness to learn social media content creation and management using Instagram and Facebook
- Knowledge or willingness to learn Canva
- Knowledge or desire to navigate WordPress or other website platforms
What You’ll Learn
- Deep community-collaborative and place-based ethnic studies experience
- Experience working with local K-12 teachers and their students
- Community oral history and archival work
- Public presentation and speaking experience
How To Apply
- Updated resume
- 1-page cover letter addressing:
- Why you’re interested in this role
- How your background and skills apply
- What you hope to gain from the experience
- Address your letter to Professor Christine Hong
Review these resume and cover letter resources to ensure you are a strong candidate! For application help, see Humanities Career Engagement.
Questions? Email Kylie Rachwalski at hum-experiential-learning@ucsc.edu.
The Mellon Foundation, The Helen and Will Webster Foundation, The Humanities Institute, the UCSC Humanities Division, and private donors generously support the Humanities EXCEL Program.
Misconduct Disclosure Requirement
As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.
- “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC’s policies addressing some forms of misconduct: