Are you a UBC student majoring in History or a related discipline? Are you looking for employment during the academic year? Are you hoping to gain skills and experience related to your studies? The UBC History Student Research Grants Program invites your application for an
exciting paid position as a research assistant. UBC History Student Research Grants Program
About the position
The Department of History is currently looking for an undergraduate student to fill the position of research assistant during the 2022–2023 academic year for the project Cataloguing ‘Abbāsid Coinage: A Digital Humanities Approach to Islamic History & Heritage under faculty project supervisor Dr. Sara Ann Knutson. The student will have the opportunity to work on the Islamic World, a central region in premodern history as well as to gain experience working with innovative methods in the Digital Humanities. Working in consultation with the faculty supervisor, the undergraduate research will work on:
• Data entry, based on information from published and unpublished historical and archaeological data
• developing a database that supports social network modelling and analysis
• Making interdisciplinary connections from History, Archaeology, Numismatics,
Anthropology and Data Science, including by maintaining a bibliography of the relevant
literature on Islamic coinage
• Documenting the contemporary collecting history of Islamic coinage across the Islamic
World and Europe
• Completing a final report (1 page) on their personal work experiences in the History
Student Research Grants Program
The undergraduate researcher will gain research experience that is immediately transferable across the Humanities and Social Sciences and will develop skills in the Digital Humanities and database management, as well as more specific training in social network analysis (SNA), public history
engagement, and museum studies.
Note: this project does not assume nor require that the undergraduate researcher has any previous experience in Digital Humanities tools and methods or any knowledge of Arabic!
The student researcher will work approximately 12 hours/week from October 2022 through May 2023. Pay rate is $20.82/hour to a maximum of $4500.Applicant Qualifications Applicants must be undergraduate students at UBC studying History. Priority will be given to History majors or honours students, but students who have taken multiple History courses without a declared major are also eligible.
Application process
Send a short cover letter that explains your interest in the position and your History coursework, along with a resumé to Sara Ann Knutson at sa.knutson@ubc.ca and include the name and contact information (preferably email) of two references (including one academic reference like
a current or former instructor). Please ensure that your name is included in the file name and ensure that the subject line of your email refers to the UBC History Student Research Grants Program.
Applications should be received by Monday, October 3, 2022