The Marcus Undergraduate Research Assistantship Grant is an initiative aimed at promoting student research in collaboration with a faculty mentor. Applications for 2025-2026 will open in Spring 2025 and are due April 1, 2025.
Requirements and Expectations
All tenured and tenure-track full-time faculty members in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts are eligible to apply. This grant promotes scholarly activity conducted by undergraduate students and a faculty member in a partnership. Projects must involve mentoring across a range of research activities.
Research projects are broadly construed to include all disciplines represented in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts, and in all cases, students must be learning and practicing research/scholarship skills appropriate to the field of inquiry.
Faculty Eligibility
- Must be a tenured/tenure-track full-time faculty member in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts.
- The faculty mentor should commit to meeting weekly or biweekly with the student research assistant(s).
- In an effort to spread resources, faculty who have recently been recipients of the Marcus Assistantship Award will be lower priority.
Student Eligibility
- Must be declared undergraduate majors in the College of Liberal & Creative Arts.
- Must be enrolled during both the fall and spring semesters of the awarded academic year.
- Must not be studying abroad in 2025-2026.
Expectations
- All student recipients will present results of their project at the Spring 2026 LCA Undergraduate Research Showcase.
- The faculty member will present brief remarks about student contributions at the Marcus Grants End of Year Celebration in May 2026 and will also submit a 1,000 word report at that time that reflects on their experiences.
Application Components
To apply for the Marcus Undergraduate Research Assistantship Grant, you will need to include the following:
- General Information: Your name and contact information, Department/School, etc.
- A copy of your most recent CV
- Project Title and Abstract
- Project Narrative
- Project timeline including what will be accomplished by student research assistant(s) at each stage.
- Faculty Mentorship Plan
- Name and contact information for your proposed student assistant(s) if you have this information (it can also be added later once the grant has been awarded)
- Justification for a second student assistant (if applicable)
- Additional Materials (optional)
Marcus Undergraduate Assistantship Grant: Current and Past Winners
Expanded Vectors: Printmaking with Laser Engraver and Vinyl Cutter
Susan Belau
Department of Art
Student Researcher: Kamryn Smith
70 years in the making: A history of design education at SF State
Hsiao-Yun Chu
Department of Design
Student Researcher: Zachary Nightingale
The Wandering Animal Mind
David Peña-Guzmán
Department of Humanities and Comparative World Literature
Student Researchers: Alexis Kleinberg & Aine Grace Walsh
Politics of Immigration and Inequality in the United States: A View from the Left
Ron Hayduk
Department of Political Science
Student Researcher: Michelle Martinez
A quién le importa cómo escribo? Understanding bilingual students' literacy skills in higher education
Ana Lourdes Cardenas
Department of Journalism
Student Researcher: Daniel Eduardo Hernandez
The Politics of Backlash: The forces behind the effort to ‘remove, recall, and replace’ reform-minded prosecutors in the U.S.
Josh Davis
Department of Journalism
Student Researcher: Daniel Hernandez, Gabriela Calvillo Alvarez
The Traveling Radio Show Goes to the CSU!
Jeff Jacoby
Department of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts
Student Researcher: Fares Muthana
‘Best intentions’: A qualitative longitudinal study of journalists’ perceptions about advocacy, objectivity, and collaboration in reporting on homelessness
Laura Moorhead
Department of Journalism
Student Researchers: Adriana Hernandez, Steven Rissotto
Running as a Republican: Political Ambition Among Republican Women Candidates in US States
Amanda Roberti
Department of Political Science
Student Researcher: Brooke McNeill
Design of Origami-Inspired New Metamaterials
Pino Trogu
School of Design
Student Researchers: Elizabeth Montano, Jojo Mennick
Queering the Newsroom: Using Engagement Strategies to Improve Coverage in the Bay Area
Josh Davis
Department of Journalism
Student Researchers: Nicole Buss, Myron Caringal
From the Bay to the Valley: California Politics in Context
Marcela García-Castañon
Department of Political Science
Student Researcher: Arturo Avila
Animation Matters: Interrogating Diversity in Mainstream Animated Features
Mihaela Mihailova
School of Cinema
Student Researcher: Madisyn Montoya
‘It’s my job’: Scientists Working with Journalists and the Mediatization of Science
Laura L. Moorhead
Department of Journalism
Under-Represented Cinemas in The Archive
Greta Snider
School of Cinema
Forging A Deeper Democracy?: Assessing Participatory Budgeting in the Bay Area
Ron Hayduk
Department of Political Science
Big Apple 80s: A Geolocated Audio Trip to the Birth of MTV
Elizabeth Bradley Hunter
School of Theatre & Dance
Decolonizing Linguistics: Computer-Mediated Communication as an Inclusive Gateway to the Discipline
Jenny Lederer
Department of English Language and Literature
Finding the needle, re-thinking the haystack: A systematic review of labels and descriptors of ‘low-skilled’ populations in U.S. health literacy research
Maricel Santos
Department of English Language and Literature
A New Critical Edition of ‘Romeo and Juliet’: A Digital Humanities Project
Kurt Daw
School of Theatre and Dance
Student Researchers: Jason Bolich, Nicolaz Ruiz
Shakespeare’s ‘Lear’: A VR/Live Performance Hybrid
Elizabeth Hunter
School of Theatre and Dance
Student Researchers: Nicole Carlson, Jo Rhoades
Lexical Variation and Sociolinguistic Style in a Bay Area High School
Teresa Pratt
English Language and Literature Department
Student Researchers: Ana Abarca, Shane Cueva
The Unpublished Works of Elizabeth Anscombe
Jeremy Reid
Philosophy Department
Student Researcher: Ivan Manriquez Jr.
From the Left or the Right? Anti-Semitism in Germany Since 2002
Scott Siegel
International Relations Department
Student Researcher: Nicolle Mariani
A Juggler’s Choice: Agendas and Attention in the Modern Presidency
Rebecca Eissler
Political Science Department
Student Researcher: Elizabeth Wedel
China’s Multilateral Activism and the Postwar Order: Rule Taker, Rule Shaper, Rule Breaker or Rule Maker?
See-Won Byun
International Relations Department
Student Researcher: Samuel Catania
Is It Teasing or Bullying? Interactional Practices and Blurry Lines
Leah Wingard
Communication Studies Department
Student Researcher: Austin Schutz
Vegetarian Indian Restaurant or Indian Vegetarian Restaurant: Order of Attributes in Search Queries
Anastasia Smirnova
English Language and Literature Department
Student Researcher: Lauren Baker
What They Bring with Them: Pre-Migration Experiences and Trajectories in American Politics of American Immigrants
Marcela García-Castañon
Political Science Department
Student Researcher: Yvette Osio
