Two Undergraduate Research Assistant Positions (Work Study)
The AMP Lab and the (Re)Media Infrastructure seek to recruit a student to assist in the development of the Introduction to Feminist Oral History Badge. This project is a collaboration among research projects including SpokenWeb, Nuevo/Antiguo, and Modernist Remediations. The resulting training badge will be part of the larger cluster of open-source, plug-and-play training resources for these and other oral history research and teaching in the humanities, both within and beyond university applications. The AMP Lab at UBCO has developed the use of badges for key research training and community-building; the Introduction to Feminist Oral History Badge will contribute to this suite of micro-credentials, drawing on the feminist and queer oral history research and methodologies developed over the past 7 years by Karis Shearer, Deanna Fong, Mathieu Aubin, Judith Burr, and Atmaza Chattopadhyay.
Students will have the opportunity to: work with existing archival and oral-history projects on broad topics like literary audio, dance history in Canada, and remediation of historical technologies; assist in the design, implementation, and testing of an open-source badging system; and develop an impactful training resource for researchers and teachers within and beyond the university. Students will be closely co-mentored by AMP Lab Director and oral history expert Dr. Karis Shearer and (Re)Media Infrastructure director Dr. Emily Murphy. The student will be embedded in the interdisciplinary SpokenWeb research team to learn from undergraduate and graduate peers and join a vibrant community of researchers and students working across the AMP Lab and (Re)Media Infrastructure.
Student responsibilities include:
- RESEARCH: The student will do hands-on research, familiarizing themselves with: existing SpokenWeb oral history protocols and ethics; best practices in training resource design; existing badges in UBCO AMP Lab badge infrastructure; and community and open-source training principles.
- PROJECT DEVELOPMENT: The student will be included in meetings pertaining to digital-tool development, interface development, and digital pedagogy, and will be invited to provide input based on their intimate knowledge of the oral history protocols and best practices for resource design (see duty #1). They will work closely with the other assistants on related projects to identify areas of future research based on the materials.
- CREATING A DIGITAL TRAINING RESOURCE:The student will be responsible for assisting Drs. Shearer and Murphy in implementing a well-paced, well-scoped, and informative training resource in oral history protocols.
- TESTING AND ITERATION: Students will assist in organizing testing events, gathering and analyzing feedback, and iteratively developing the training module.
- SOCIAL MEDIA AND SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATIONS: AMP Lab and (Re)Media plan to publicize this necessary and impactful research and training tool. In collaboration with the Project Director, the work-study student will be responsible for implementing the strategic development of the badge through existing lab social media platforms, including Twitter and research lab blogs. The student will also have an opportunity to disseminate research findings on tool development in local and national scholarly venues.
Qualifications: The candidate must be an upper-level undergraduate or graduate student. Given that the position will provide a unique opportunity to assist in the development of training resources for humanities research, teaching, and community building, students should have a demonstrated background or interest in literature, cultural studies, history, education, and/or digital humanities. The student must have proficiency in MS Office and a general technical aptitude with light-weight digital tools. Some familiarity with quiz and polling technologies like Qualtrics or design technologies like Adobe Creative Suite would be an asset but are not essential. The student should be able to balance collaboration and team work with independence and individual responsibility. Excellent written communication, planning skills, reliability, problem solving, and receptiveness to feedback are essential. Applicants must not already hold a Work Study position.
Remuneration: $21/hr inclusive of benefits, 12 hrs/wk, January 1st to April 31st, 2023.
How to Apply: Please send a short cover letter detailing your experience and qualifications, along with a CV to karis[dot]shearer@ubc[dot]ca by December 1st, 2022.