The Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP) program helps match UC Berkeley faculty, visiting lecturers, visiting scholars, and staff curators with undergraduate research assistants. In exchange for academic credit, apprentices can work with URAP to develop and hone their skills with digital tools, databases, and archives. Projects do not require extensive knowledge of the subject matter, and students at all academic levels are encouraged to apply. The undergraduate Fall 2015 URAP application opens on August 19th, and the deadline to apply is September 1st. Faculty and curators interested in participating in the program can consult our URAP resource guide for advice on writing learning contracts and mentoring undergraduates.
Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology, Database and Archive
Classics: Kim Shelton
The Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology is a research unit in the Department of Classics for our excavation and research program at the Sanctuary of Zeus in Nemea, Greece. The Center archive houses a photographic and text archive that is in the process of being re-organized and digitized. The apprentice would assist in the organization of the archive, the digital database management of slides and photographs as well as in other archival projects such as web site production. Assistance in research and reports on various topics connected to the conservation and publication of materials from the archaeological site is also a possibility. Knowledge of programs like Filemaker, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop would be very useful. Experience with image scanning would also be a bonus but not a requirement. Overall organizational skills and initiative are the most desired skills. Knowledge of ancient and/or modern Greek is not required, but would be helpful. Interests in archaeology, art history, conservation, ancient Greece, photographic documentation and computer archives are welcomed.
Petsas House: archaeological excavation and research in Mycenae, Greece
Classics: Kim Shelton
Mycenae, largest and wealthiest of the palatial citadels of the Late Bronze Age, has been under investigation for more than 130 years. The site "Petsas House" is a large building complex in the largely unexplored main settlement area. I would like to find an apprentice that would assist in the organization of archival material from recent excavation seasons, help create a digital database of images and especially digitally "ink" artifact drawings using Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. Assistance in research and reports on various topics connected to the conservation and publication of materials from the archaeological excavation is also a possibility. Knowledge of programs like Filemaker, Excel, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop would be very useful. Experience with image scanning would also be a bonus but not a requirement. Overall organizational skills and initiative are the most desired skills. Knowledge of ancient and/or modern Greek is not required, but would be helpful. Interests in archaeology, conservation, ceramics, ancient Greece, photographic documentation and computer archives are welcomed.
Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition
Linguistics: Ronelle Alexander
Originally conceived of as a complex digital object comprising audio clips from field dialect recordings made in Bulgarian villages over a 15-year period, the Bulgarian Dialectology as Living Tradition project is now being prepared as an interactive database. The audio clip texts are currently being transcribed, translated, and annotated in preparation for entry into the database. It is projected that the unique design of this project, developed using open-source software, can be exported to other similar endeavors. At this point the goal is to develop and refine the several taxonomies, and to move ahead with data entry. Students will learn about dialectology as a discipline, learn about (and possibly help develop) methods of comparing related linguistic systems, gain experience in digital humanities, and become more familiar with Bulgarian traditional culture. Knowledge of a Slavic language is desirable but not mandatory. Basic knowledge of language structure / linguistics is highly desirable.
Data science - ethnography, infrastructure, and prospects
Berkeley Institute for Data Science: Cathryn Carson
"Data science" is an exciting new field drawing together computer science, statistics, information management, and concrete needs for data analysis in a huge range of domains. UC Berkeley is building up a platform for a variety of research and educational programs for data science. Options for students include ethnographically studying practitioners of data science, analyzing current data science offerings and enrollments at Berkeley and elsewhere, and developing strategies for assessing perspectives on data science curricular offerings from students, faculty, and potential employers. Students will gain hands-on experience in ethnography, interviewing, or basic quantitative social science methods. Students should have experience in either social scientific / educational research design (either ethnographic or quantitative methods) or in data science (computer science, statistics, information management, or applications in industry, civil-society organizations, and university-based research).
Palatine East Pottery Project
Classics: J. Theodore Peña
This project is concerned with the analysis and publication of the ca. 20 tons of ancient Roman pottery recovered in the American Academy in Rome Palatine East Excavations in downtown Rome. The elements of the project being carried out on the UC Berkeley campus with which undergraduate research apprentices would assist include the photographing and description of thick sections and thin sections, the updating of databases, the preparation of digital profile drawings from pencil drawings and digital stratigraphic matrices from print matrices, the calculation of vessel capacity values from profile drawings, the editing of specimen descriptions, and the development of the project website. Interested students should have strong interests in the ancient world and archaeological ceramics are essential. Good computer skills, including the use of Access, Excel, Illustrator, Photoshop, and/or AutoCAD would be helpful, and some knowledge of website management would be highly useful. Interest in/knowledge of microscopy and/or geology would be welcome, though are not essential.
Res Romanae - website of the UC Berkeley Roman Material Culture Laboratory
Classics: J. Theodore Peña
This project involves the construction and expansion of the website for the UC Berkeley Roman Material Culture Laboratory, which will present the results of various research projects concerning ancient Roman artifacts being carried out by UC Berkeley faculty. The construction of the site (using Drupal) is fairly far advanced, and we intend to go live during the Fall 2015 semester. One or more student apprentices are required to assist with the expansion of the website beyond its basic form. This will involve the construction of pages for various research projects that will entail the presentation of various kinds of material, including text files, images, and databases. Students will develop experience in web design using Drupal and an understanding of the challenges currently being faced by archaeology and related fields in the on-line presentation of material. Interested students should have good computer skills and experience in the building of websites.
A Database and Grammar of Moro
Linguistics: Peter Jenks
Moro is a Kordofanian language spoken in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Professor Jenks will spend next year finishing a grammar of the Moro language (a book describing the grammatical properties of Moro) as well as assembling a digital database of Moro texts collected with the help of a Moro speaker which will be posted to an online database. The undergraduate researcher might only engage in one or two of the following tasks depending on their specific qualifications: Formatting word documents into a different format (LaTeX) which will be usable by our publisher and checking for consistency throughout the document, reviewing and formatting texts that will be posted to the online database for grammaticality and consistency, working with a Moro-speaking colleague when he visits in October to help him transcribe and record data, and helping to assemble an index for the grammar of Moro. A strong background in linguistics and/or a strong background in computer science is desired. Familiarity with LaTeX, Python, MySQL and/or HTML and XHTML is desirable but not essential.
The Jewish World and the #DigitalHumanities
The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life: Francesco Spagnolo
The Undergraduate Research Apprentice will conduct in-house and online research about the holdings of The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life; assist with research on collection items, catalog and accession records; fact-check existing information in museum catalogs, books, and online resources; and proof-read exhibition labels and web pages. The apprenticeship offers a unique chance to learn about collection research, exhibition preparation, and print and online publication work, operating in a collaborative environment and with cutting-edge digital humanities tools and perspectives. We seek students with good collaborative and communication skills, and with strong interest and research skills in European, Near Eastern and American history, art history, anthropology, and, of course, Jewish studies. We welcome students with language skills that may include Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Arabic and Malayalam. Students who are familiar with digital tools (digitization, image processing, HTML, QR coding, WordPress and Drupal) are also welcome to apply, regardless of their language or culturally-specific skills.
Ancient Egyptian Urban Archaeology: Data Processing and Publishing of Material from Two First Millennium BCE Towns Excavated in Egypt
Near Eastern Studies: Carol Redmount
Archaeological excavation produces huge quantities of different types of data that must be recorded, organized, archived and eventually published, typically in the form of articles and monographs and websites. I have text, database, and photographic records from two town site excavations in Egypt (Tell Muqdam and El Hibeh) that need proper review, processing, organization, additional research and ultimately publication, both in print and on the web. Students will assist with data organization, analysis and computer inputting and manipulation, and researching particular items or topics as these arise. Learning outcomes include experience with digital humanities; processing and organizing raw archaeological data; creating/updating websites for excavations; learning about Egyptian field archaeology, ancient Egyptian urbanism, and the history and excavations of the two sites from which the data come, Muqdam and Hibeh. Experience with database management programs and procedures as well as with website creation/maintenance is desirable.
More curatorial and lab apprenticeships offered in Zoology and Paleontology:
Slave-owning Women Database
History: Stephanie Jones-Rogers
This project involves the collection of data pertaining to slave-owning women who appear in the Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy Database, which contains over 50,000 entries or identifying slave-owning women in Schedules 1 and 2 of the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Federal Census. This work will involve accessing the internet or Ancestry.com, which is provided free of charge to UCB faculty, students, and staff, via the UCB library website. Students who are majoring in history might find this project especially exciting because of the nature of the data.
Apprentices will be tasked with compiling this data for women who lived in/near 13 southern cities and towns that were known for having major slave markets. Apprentices will assist in the collection of census data which documents slave-owning women's slaveholdings. Apprentices will be asked to document names, marital status (when available), number of slaves owned, along with the gender, age, and "color" of each slave. This data will be entered into a standardized Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for analysis, thus basic proficiency in Microsoft Excel is required.
Curatorial URAP Projects: Cataloging, Archiving, Data
“Bear Bones” Zooarchaeology Research Lab Website Design
Anthropology: Jun Sunseri
The Bear Bones Lab is looking for a team member to learn all about our ongoing projects and work with us to increase our web presence. We have digital resources from a variety of sources, including video of ethnoarchaeological butchery demonstrations by Native American community partners, 3D models of archaeological sites and landscapes captured by photogrammetry and LiDAR, and CT scan images of archaeological samples, among other files. One or more student apprentices are needed to assist with the construction and expansion of the website that will be hosted by the Archaeological Research Facility domain to make these resources available. This will involve the construction of pages for our various research projects and affiliated researchers that will entail the presentation of various kinds of material, including text files, images, video, 3D interactive models, and databases. Students will develop experience in web design using Drupal or other relevant platforms and an understanding of the challenges currently being faced by archaeology and related fields in the on-line presentation of material. Preference given to students with previous knowledge of website design and maintenance.
Archaeological Analysis of Construction Patterns in Abiquiú, NM
Anthropology: Jun Sunseri
This project involves archaeological materials from a site located at the Pueblo de Abiquiú, the center of a network of Genízaro communities in Northern New Mexico. The position involves analyzing construction materials from a pilot excavation in Abiquiú. The purpose of this project is to determine the construction sequence of a room block located within the historic plaza. By working closely with other members of the team who excavated the materials in New Mexico, the student researcher will learn to process artifacts, analyze them, and enter them into databases. The student researcher will be expected to write an archaeological report based on their findings. Applicants must have completed Anthro 2AC or an archaeological field school. The successful candidate will be self-motivated, pay close attention to detail, and have the research skills necessary to identity and date to the variety of artifacts related to construction. Preference given to students with previous knowledge of material culture related to construction techniques in rural areas.
The Afterlives of an Archaeological Project: adventures in the Remediation of the Berkeley Archaeologists @ Çatalhöyük (BACH) Project
Anthropology: Ruth Tringham
The BACH project of excavation and analysis at the 9000-year old (Neolithic) settlement mound of Çatalhöyük (in Turkey) that a team from UC Berkeley carried out was completed in 2005, and was published as a printed monograph in 2012. My interest is to keep projects like this alive and growing after their publication by using the technologies of digital publication to “milk” the original archaeological data and their media representatives in creative ways, so that our data and ideas can be disseminated to a broader public. The apprentices who work with me on this project will be helping to design and create a series of iBooks using Apple’s iBook Author. The most successful of project afterlives are those which draw directly on the project database (Last House on the Hill), but also incorporate an informed imagination. We will work on the construction of a couple of microhistorical iBooks together, but the apprentice(s) will have authorship responsibility. Apprentices can expect to master iBooks Author and participate in the development of linking iBooks Author to an archaeological database. Apprentices should have existing experience of or a willingness to learn the iBooks Author application. Intro to archaeology is a plus but not a requirement. Additional experience in using and searching databases and natural investigative curiosity would also be valuable.
Archival Apprenticeship at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Christina Fidler
The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) is seeking someone to help build connections between our Archives and our collection management system, Arctos. By using the Library of Congress Name Authority Files (LCNAF), the undergraduate will research names of researchers who have contributed to the MVZ's specimen collections. These names will be updated in Arctos based on the LCNAF. By standardizing our names, the undergraduate will assist the MVZ in connecting digitized content to Arctos. The student will also help to improve or develop relationships between our Archives and specimen data. Undergraduates will gain experience in using Arctos, name authorities, and basic best practices in cataloging. Students will learn the basic structure of Arctos and how information is related in this complex system. Students will learn to query and update data as well as how to research name authorities and the descriptive rules behind how name authorities are created. Student apprentices are expected to write and share their experiences on the MVZ Archives blog.
AmphibiaWeb: An Informatics System for Amphibian Conservation Biology
Biology/Zoology: David Wake
Since 2000, we have been developing AmphibiaWeb, an interactive, web-based communication and database system covering the status of all of the amphibians in the world (over 7000 species). Apprentices for this project work directly on a bioinformatics project in a major natural history museum that combines amphibian biology and biodiversity conservation with a worldwide user base. They will receive close supervision, but will be given considerable independence in producing accounts and in working on other aspects of systems development depending on interests (for example, georeferencing specimens, scanning photos and maps, searching the web to develop new links, etc.). Student apprentices are given full credit as authors and/or editors when published to the website. They will be introduced to specimens, curatorial methods and techniques, literature research techniques, GIS, online mapping tools, etc. Preference given to students with some biological background or a strong passion for natural history and conservation; all majors are welcomed. Writing or HTML coding skills are needed. Students who can read Spanish, Portuguese, French, German or Chinese are sought for translating amphibian species information.