Asian American Communities Research Program

Summer 2024 applications are OPEN!

Program Description

The Hunter College AANAPISI Project (HCAP) is currently seeking undergraduate research assistants (URAs) to participate in our Asian American Communities Research Program. URAs will conduct research with Asian American communities for the Summer 2024 session (June to August). The project must be supervised by a faculty mentor. Both the mentor and the URA will receive a $500 stipend.

Through the Asian American Communities Research Program, HCAP hopes to expand research opportunities for underserved Asian Americans and other students who often cannot take advantage of unpaid academic/professional work. The program seeks to increase URA’s sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and institutional belonging as they build relationships with mentors.

Student Eligibility

Students must be current Hunter undergraduates planning to graduate in Fall 2024 or later in order to be eligible to apply and participate. To receive the stipend, students must also be eligible to work in the U.S.

Student Commitments and Compensation

Eligible students will receive a $500 stipend when they complete the program. Students will be required to:

• • Complete at least one writing class and one Asian American Studies class prior to starting the program.
  • Complete the Hunter CITI IRB Training if they will conduct research with human subjects. Take the “CITI HSR-Social and Behavioral Course” for undergraduates before any data collection. If accepted, students can consult with their faculty mentor on whether this applies to their research project.
  • Attend a 1-hour URA program orientation. 
  • Have at least 1 check-in meeting per month with their faculty mentor.
  • Attend 1 mid-way check-in meeting with HCAP staff.
  • Work 2-3 hours per week on research activities during the summer session (June, July, August).
  • Produce a final project for HCAP’s website that distills their learnings from the research experience. The project is due mid-September. Format can range from scholarly research to creative works (e.g., policy briefs, PSA campaign, conference poster, research proposal, contribution to a journal article) to a reflection blog post (written or video). 
  • Present their work. Options include speaking at a HCAP Asian American Studies Symposium event or presenting at an HCAP-enhanced Asian American Studies class.

Project Criteria

URAs must focus their projects on Asian American community research topics. The project can fall into two tracks: faculty-led or student-led projects. 

▶︎Track 1: Faculty-Led Project
URA will assist in activities related to the faculty mentor’s existing research project with Asian American communities.

▶︎Track 2: Student-Led Project
URA will propose their own research project with Asian American communities to HCAP and faculty mentor.

Faculty Mentor Criteria

All research projects must be supervised by a faculty member. On the application form, please let us know if you:

1. Have already found a faculty mentor who has agreed to supervise you.
2. Have a faculty mentor in mind, but have not reached out to them yet.
3. Need HCAP’s help in identifying a faculty mentor.

Applicants may also request to be matched with a current HCAP faculty member. Faculty may have existing projects or can supervise student-led projects. See full list of faculty and details in the application form.

Tips for identifying a mentor:

• • Does the faculty conduct research in an area that interests you? 
  • Have you taken a class with the professor before? Do you have good rapport with this individual?
  • Contact the faculty early. You may want to share the program description for mentors with them, so they understand the commitment level.

For more tips/examples on emailing professors about research opportunities, see below:
Duke
University of California, Santa Cruz
Michigan Tech

Student Application Process

Submit an online application by May 15, 2024 at 5pm. Please contact Dr. Linh An if you have any questions (La1092[at]hunter.cuny.edu).

To learn more about our past URA student projects visit our cohort page.
To learn more about our general Research Skills Program, visit our program page.