Call for Applications: Humanities EXPLORE Research Fellowship with Professor Alan Christy–2025-2026
Oral History Team Lead, Okinawa Memories Initiative (History)
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: May 18, 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 Alan Christy (History)
About the project
The Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) is an international community history and dialogue project focusing on Okinawa and all the ways that its people, culture, and crises are central to understanding the world today. For over a decade, OMI has been driven by a spirited collaboration of college students, researchers, oral historians, and artists based at UC Santa Cruz, with partnerships with Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State East Bay, the University of the Ryukyus, and the Okinawa Association of America.
OMI aims to provide research and experiential learning opportunities to undergraduate students of different backgrounds, and OMI is driven by and centered around undergraduate work and experiences. OMI is divided into five main teams: Oral History, Archives, Exhibits, Media Production, and Communications. These teams meet weekly and are supported further by graduate student and faculty mentors, who help provide professional development to team leads and members. On top of weekly meetings, OMI members often take trips to work with our community partners, both in the Bay Area and the Los Angeles Area. Additionally, OMI also provides some paid opportunities over the summer as well as occasional funded trips to Okinawa.
What You’ll Do - Oral History Team Lead
The Oral History Team Lead internship allows undergraduate students to lead in community-based oral history research. This role involves coordinating interviews, transcription, maintaining ethical standards, managing logistical tasks, and fostering relationships with community partners. The lead also supports a team of students, guiding them through the transcription and archival process and participating in experiential learning trips.
- Community Outreach & Engagement (30%): Act as the primary contact for community members; introduce OMI and build trust to support ethical, collaborative oral history work.
- Ethical Oversight (10%): Ensure oral history practices are non-extractive, community-centered, and aligned with OMI’s ethical commitments.
- Interview Logistics (5%): Plan and schedule interviews, manage interview materials, process co-authorship legal releases, and track transcription workflows.
- Team Supervision & Coordination (35%): Lead weekly oral history team meetings, assign tasks, and take notes to support progress and organization.
- Oral History Processing (10%): Guide the team in reviewing, organizing, and processing an extensive archive of past oral histories for long-term preservation.
- Experiential Learning Participation (5%): Travel with the team to conduct and document interviews with Okinawan community members as part of OMI’s field research.
- 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)
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 Alan Christy
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 EXPLORE 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:
