Alfred P. Sloan Foundation - 2024 Student Researcher
The Center for Public History seeks a student researcher to assist with an oral history project, sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
This position is designed for a graduate student or an undergraduate student who is passionate about integrating oral history practices into their research. The successful applicant, per the values of the Sloan Foundation, will also share a strong interest in the history, culture, and development of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics.
The student would begin in Spring 2024.
*The position is limited to students of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the UH-Main campus.*
*While the position will have flexibility for working online and off-campus, the position DOES require the student to be regularly on-campus and in-person for the work. This is NOT an online / remote work position.*
The position lasts from the Spring 2024, through the summer, and through the end of December 2024.
The position will be hourly with a pay rate as follows:
- $15 / hour for undergrads, working 20 hours a week or less during the Spring and next Fall semesters. In the summer, the student will work at LEAST 20 hours a week (with flexibility for more hours worked during certain peak periods and travel)
- $20 / hour for grad students, working 20 hours a week or less during the Spring and next Fall semesters. In the summer, the student will work at LEAST 20 hours a week (with flexibility for more hours worked during certain peak periods and travel)
The deadline for submitting applications is Friday, December 8th, 2023.
The project will involve the collection of oral histories related to the historical development of the United States’ power grid and will focus on how power-grid experts developed particular algorithms that became system standards for controlling and optimizing the grid.
The student researcher will participate in:
- Creating and editing transcriptions of the oral histories;
- Preparing audio and video interview files for deposit into archives at MD Anderson Special Collections (UH) and the IEEE History Center.
- Managing the digital filing system (primarily using Microsoft TEAMS) for all paperwork associated with the oral histories.
- Conducting additional research reading and writing assignments as needed for the project.
- Assisting with oral history collection (interviews) at the 2024 IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) General Meeting (GM) in person in the summer of 2024 (July 21-24, 2024 in Seattle, WA) and on-line throughout the employment period.
- Travel costs will be covered.
In order to prepare for the conference and the oral histories, the successful student candidate will work closely with Dr. Julie Cohn and Dr. Mark Goldberg and receive training, including readings in the relevant history and oral history methodology and best practices.
Application Requirements:
The deadline for submitting applications is Friday, December 8th, 2023.
- Applicants must be current UH, main-campus students with access to UH Sharepoint and Microsoft 365.
- Student must demonstrate strong skills in English language listening, reading, and editing, and ability to engage in a team setting.
- Must be able to attend regular training meetings.
- Public history coursework and/or public history major or minor preferred.
- Student must not be engaged in any other assistantship (TAship / Raship, etc.)
Start date: January2024
Application materials include:
- Online Form
- Letter of Interest
- CV
- List of faculty references
Please direct questions to Dr. Mark Goldberg (magoldbe@Central.UH.EDU) and Dr. Julie Cohn(cohnconnor@gmail.com)