Please carefully review each of the project descriptions below. Following your review, please indicate in your CSI application your two (2) top-choice projects, indicating in your essay how you are prepared to contribute to these projects as an undergraduate researcher and why they are of interest to you academically. If you have a third preference, you may indicate that as well. Note: many of the projects below will benefit from multiple CSI research scholars on each project. Please prioritize projects based on your interests and capacities for success as a CSI undergraduate researcher.
Projects still accepting applications for the 2024 CSI:
Project #12: "Smart to the Core" Exhibition research: This Curatorial research appointment provides early research and thinking for the next iteration of the “Smart to the Core” exhibition series, which will be inspired by “Power, Identity, and Resistance” Social Sciences Core sequence. This research experience will provide an in-depth experience in the exhibition conceptualization and building process. Working with this exhibition’s curator, the CSI research scholar will be a thought-partner in identifying key themes, proposing works of art for the checklist, and offering early research into artworks and artists, and outlining connection points between course readings and the exhibition’s checklist. Responsibilities include: building overviews of the PIR syllabus texts, particularly for fall and winter quarters; identifying and researching potential artworks connected to such themes in the Smart Museum’s collection and beyond; actively participating in brainstorming sessions connected to the project; maintaining an organized working checklist for the exhibition; drafting justification statements for the inclusion of certain artworks; and contributing to early public programming discussions for the exhibition. CSI scholar must be a University of Chicago undergraduate student who has previously taken “Power, Identity, and Resistance”. Research Mentor: Berit Ness, Associate Director and Curator of Academic Engagement, Smart Museum and Feitler Center for Academic Inquiry. Apply now.
Project #3: “War, Archaeology, and Cultural Memory: A Remote Sensing Study of the Iran-Iraq War Landscape (1980-1988)” [up to 2 research appointments]: In 1980, Iraq, with the support of US and several European allies, invaded Iran. The war, which was expected to quickly overthrow the Iranian revolutionary regime, became one of the longest and most deadly conflicts of the century, lasting from 1980 to 1988. While scholarly and public attention has focused on the tactical and political dimensions of the Iran-Iraq War, the material and sociocultural impacts of the war on the landscapes of western Iran remains surprisingly understudied. This research seeks to address this gap by utilizing historical and modern satellite imagery to document and categorize the relict war remains in the invaded regions of southwestern Iran. The CSI researchers will work on documenting the war landscapes from the satellite imagery, assessing the zones of destruction and preservation of this historic landscape, and examining the relationship between the battlefield remains and the major battles of the 1980s. The latter aspect lays the groundwork for a future ambition of this project: to combine landscape research with an oral history initiative, capturing the personal stories of individuals directly involved in the war, those who experienced displacement, or faced the loss of family members. CSI undergraduate research scholars must have either 1) knowledge of ESRI ArcGIS or QGIS software and (preferred) familiarity with basic image processing and remote sensing concepts, or 2) reading proficiency in modern Persian. Research Mentor: Professor Mehrnoush Soroush, Associate Professor of Landscape Archaeology, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. Apply now.
[NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS] Project #1: “Postwar Forms: Munich ’72” [up to 3 research appointments]: This project explores the vast complex of architecture, landscape, art, and design known as Olympiapark that was constructed for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Built over an immense hill of war rubble, the complex was designed to represent a “new Germany”—a reformed nation flush with the success of its postwar “Economic Miracle.” Infamously, such aspirations were ruptured by a terrorist attack on the Israeli delegation, which exposed the deep historical tensions behind the games’ seemingly benign surfaces. By analyzing the material manifestations of these tensions, we present Olympiapark as a key site in the formation of postwar culture, drawing together a network of themes: the dilemmas of national representation after World War II, the challenge presented by the material remains of the war, the problem of monumentality, the formation of an international art world, and the emergence of computational design methods. The co-authors of a forthcoming Yale University Press book are tracing the work by architects Günter Behnisch, Frei Otto, and Günther Grzimek, and by international artists including Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Mathias Goeritz, Michael Heizer, Jörg Immendorff, Gerhard Richter, Wolf Vostell, Andy Warhol, and others. You will assist in the research of individuals and issues noted above, with possible additional topics including: postwar urban reconstruction, Land Art, Olympic history, and archaeological practices. German reading skills preferred but not required. Some familiarity with modern European history or with postwar Western art and architectural history desired. Depending on skillsets, student researchers may conduct a week of funded archival research in Germany and/or New York and/or Pittsburgh. Research mentors: Prof. Christine Mehring, Mary L. Block Professor of Art History and Visual Arts; Prof. Sean Keller, Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture.
[NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS] Project #2: Reading Rage! Exploring Lesewut, Materiality, and Meaning in the Library’s Taschenbuch Collection [up to 3 research appointments]: Popular in the late 18th- and 19th-centuries, German Taschenbücher, or “pocket books,” are publications that occupy an intriguing and flexible space in the history of the book. Part almanac, part fashion, music and literary magazine, part portable diary and practical advice guide, these books contributed to the so-called Lesewut(reading rage) and even Leseseuche (reading plague) that swept through Germany in this period – a trend that some critics argued was dangerous to the reader’s well-being. What made these books so appealing? CSI undergraduate research scholars working on the Reading Rage! project will continue surveying the Library’s collection of nearly 1,700 Taschenbücher, noting details such as marks of readership and ownership, unusual bindings, illustrations (including fashion-plate engravings) and paratextual oddities, such as the presence of hidden pockets, mirrors, pen holders and other physical aspects of these books that make them unique. Students will also conduct research into the editorial, printing and distribution processes of the German Taschenbücher, gathering data on authors, artists, and other contributors, and, along with data on material traces, using this information to enhance the Library’s catalog descriptions to make the collections more findable and accessible. Final research products can include (but are not limited to) a digital and/or physical exhibition; a conference paper; a collections video; a series of social media posts; a podcast; a journal article; presentations at various venues on campus. Three fellowship positions are available. German reading knowledge is helpful, but not required for this project. Research mentors: Elizabeth Frengel, Curator of Rare Books, The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, The University of Chicago Library; Catriona MacLeod, Frank Curtis Springer and Gertrude Melcher Springer Professor in the Department of Germanic Studies and the College; Christopher J. Wild, Peter B. Ritzma Professor in the Department of Germanic Studies and the College.
[NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS] Project #4: "The Rhetoric of Free Speech Controversies on US Campuses: Rhetors, Audiences and Genres" [up to 3 research appointments]: In 2015, the University of Chicago Committee on Freedom of Expression issued an influential report, the so-called “Chicago Principles,” expressing a commitment to uphold ideals of free and open inquiry and safeguard the ability of university members to explore and contest ideas regardless of how uncomfortable or offensive they may be. The Chicago Principles were endorsed or emulated by a wide variety of other colleges and universities across the United States. Yet, since that time, we have been observing an unending stream of controversies that involve appeals to principles of free expression or challenge the distinctions between contestation of ideas and harmful, or hateful, speech and conduct. This project aims to compile a collection of three to five recent case studies on free speech controversies that involve students and apply rhetorical and discourse analysis to map the rhetors involved in each situation, their respective audiences, types of texts and discursive strategies that rhetors employ to advance their goals, as well as opportunities and obstacles to channeling the conflict into productive civic discussion. Research tasks will involve collecting mass media and social media coverage of selected cases, identifying and interviewing stakeholders, and thematic analysis of textual data using qualitative data analysis software. Final research products can include (but are not limited to) digital case presentations to be featured on the webpage of the Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse, a conference paper, a student-led panel at various venues on campus or conferences. Research mentor: Ekaterina Lukianova, Senior Instructional Professor and Associate Director, Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse.
[NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS] Project #5: "Affective Landscapes of Artificial Intelligence" [up to 2 research appointments]: Affective Landscapes of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is part of a multi-year digital humanities research project that examines the aesthetic paradigms underlying public knowledge of Artificial Intelligence. The project’s backbone is a comprehensive database of literary and audiovisual artifacts that has been prepared for a critical discourse analysis encompassing discourse-historical, social actors, and socio-cognitive perspectives. The College Summer Institute is recruiting an undergraduate researcher to assist with transforming the database into an interactive map that visualizes major trends, patterns, and conflicts in the way AI is publicly perceived and imagined. The CSI research scholar will learn to identify and deploy machine learning tools to streamline and categorize datasets, and employ both machine learning and natural language processing techniques to discern patterns, thematic correlations, and contradictions within them. With this, the student’s experience will not be restricted to the backend, as they will be instrumental in working in tandem with our small team to directly influence and enhance the design and user experience facets of the interactive map. As the project navigates its lifecycle, the student will be responsible for refining and adapting the analysis algorithms, pivoting based on feedback, and ensuring the end product remains both insightful and engaging. The ideal candidate for this position will be a visual thinker interested in exploring computational humanistic research methods. Research Mentor: Dr. Andre Uhl, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Rank of Instructor, The Institute for the Formation of Knowledge
[NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS] Project #6: "The AI Literacy Project" [up to 2 research appointments]: With the emergence of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), the production of computer-generated content has been made accessible to a wide range of users and use cases. Academic institutions are especially challenged to find adequate responses to changing notions of authorship, as the mainstreaming of ‘artificial' texts, audio-visual artifacts, and code is transforming our paradigms of research and learning in real-time. The College Summer Institute is recruiting an undergraduate researcher to assist with an in-depth analysis of generative AI as a pedagogical tool with the aim to develop a protocol for responsible AI co-creation practices in the classroom. The CSI research scholar will learn to carry out and analyze interviews for an in-depth survey of emerging algorithmic co-creation practices on campus, and to conduct applied research-creation experiments aimed at documenting and evaluating new methods of AI-augmented content creation across text, image, sound, and code. The ideal candidate for this position will be a good communicator interested in exploring computational humanistic research methods. Research Mentor: Dr. Andre Uhl, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Rank of Instructor, The Institute for the Formation of Knowledge
[NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS] Project #7: “A New Era of Environmental Justice” [1 research appointment]: In a September 2023 breakthrough event, community and City of Chicago leaders released the first Cumulative Impact Assessment, a citywide project to provide data on how environmental burdens and other public health stressors have differential spatial and social impacts across the urban region. A centerpiece of the assessment was a roll call of neighborhoods experiencing the greatest cumulative impacts. A key purpose of the assessment was to reinforce and support a collateral legal process whereby the City entered into a voluntary compliance agreement (VCA) with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that centered on enforcing civil rights protections of equal treatment under the law. The VCA is intended to provide strategies and actionable policy recommendations to guide decision-making on issues such as land use/zoning, permitting, enforcement, and transportation planning. The significance of this assessment and associated VCA arises from its promise to address in a proactive manner, the central mission of the environmental justice (EJ) movement, namely insuring that socially and economically disadvantaged populations not be further disadvantaged by land use decision making that threatens human health and well being. Up to this point, the EJ movement largely has confronted environmental hazards in a rearguard, after-the-fact fashion when harm already had happened and required remediation. The VCA has created new space for the EJ movement to define the terms of what is and not permitted to enter neighborhoods already impacted by accumulated past hazardous land use decisions. The CSI research scholar for this project will work with the professor in gathering data related to the 15 month long process during which the Cumulative Impact Assessment and VCA were developed. The goal is documenting the process and, through analysis and publication, make the case that this Chicago experience can be a bellwether for environmental justice in other US urban regions. Research Mentor: Dr. Mary Beth Pudup, Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization (CEGU)
[NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS] Project #10: "Oak Woods Cemetery: a South Side historical archive" [4-6 research appointments]: Oak Woods Cemetery, located in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago about one mile directly to the south of the University of Chicago campus, was founded in 1854 and remains active to this day. A fascinating document or archive of the history of the South Side of Chicago, this cemetery is the final place of rest of local and nationally known African American figures (such as Ida B. Wells, Jesse Owens, Roebuck “Pop” Staples, and Harold Washington), as well as important figures in the history of the University of Chicago (such as William Rainey Harper, Enrico Fermi, and Mircea Eliade). The cemetery has several different Jewish sections, that reflect the evolution of Jewish communities on the South Side, one of which houses a small Holocaust memorial. The cemetery is home to a mass grave and a monument to the thousands of Confederate soldiers who died at Camp Douglas and were reburied in the cemetery after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Concurrently, hundreds – if not thousands – of Black Civil War veterans are buried in Oak Woods. CSI research scholars participating in this project will contribute to an ongoing collaborative project that aims to study the cemetery and make knowledge about it available to the broader public. They may also contribute to the ongoing documentation of the cemetery on the Hyde Park Historical Society website, engage with the cemetery through creative projects (involving creative writing, photography, podcasts etc.), or contribute to CPS-targeted programing about the cemetery. Research Mentor: Professor Na'ama Rokem, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature & NELC
Project #11: 50th Anniversary Curatorial Research at the Smart Museum [3 research appointments]: In September 2024 the Smart Museum of Art will celebrate its 50th anniversary with the opening of a museum-wide exhibition that highlights the Museum’s collection and engages with pressing themes of our collective past, present, and future. For 50 years the Smart Museum has utilized interdisciplinary study and community-based programs to become a site for engagement with the arts–believing that art can open new worlds and perspectives that serve as a critical aspect of an enriched life-long education. Three CSI research scholars will collaborate in developing interpretive materials and public programs for this exhibition, that engage diverse histories and interdisciplinary perspectives with the collection. The Scholar’s roles will be two-fold; to uncover and share the histories of art objects in the exhibition from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and to make these stories accessible to the public through written exhibition labels, blog posts, social media campaigns, and public programs throughout the year-long exhibition. Curatorial researchers will learn the best practices of developing an exhibition interpretation strategy, be mentored in safely handling art, and be trained to use the museum’s collections database. We seek undergraduates interested in history, art and artifacts, archives, and institutional retellings of museums and their communities. Specialized interest in social practice art, the Southside of Chicago, identity, and community building through the arts are a plus. These positions will allow students to contribute to collections research and interpretation at a self-reflective moment in the Smart’s history while learning how the institution operates daily. We hope that the cohort will not only gain valuable analytical and communication skills and learn about working in a museum environment but also that we can support them as they develop further insight into their academic and professional interests. Research Mentors: Select curators and Aneesah Ettress Veatch, M.Div., Academic Engagement Coordinator, Feitler Center for Academic Inquiry