The Berkeley Center for New Media is pleased to support undergraduates, in particular those undertaking our New Media Certificate, to support new media graduate students on dissertation-level research.
Undergraduate Research Fellows will receive $1000 for approximately 50 hours of work. Graduate students will receive $500 for their mentorship.
The current call for graduate projects is closed and will open again for the fall cycle.
Undergraduates applicants are welcome using this form, and the due date is March 2, 2026.
Project Descriptions for Undergraduate Research Assistance Spring/Summer 2026
1. State of Mind(Mine): A State Secessionist Database
2. Carceral California: A 3D Archive of Pasts, Presents, and Alternative Futures
3. Platform Architectures and Youth Visibility: A Methodological Investigation of School Content on TikTok
4. Intentional Scroll: Rethinking Short-Video Design for Older Adults
State of Mind(Mine): A State Secessionist Database
Alexis Wood, Geography
The breaking apart of the American state is as old as the concept of the United States itself. However, in an age of renewed socio-political tensions, understanding the landscapes of the United States along its fractures is paramount. As part of my larger dissertation research concerning the intersection of rural socio-political movements, digital space, and climate change, for the past two years, I have been in the process of creating a rich qualitative database of state secessionist movements across the United States through time, called State of Mind, State of Mine, or SoMSoM. Recently, this project has been picked up by the Leventhal Map Library in Boston, which will be hosting the data and advertising its publication as part of their Early Career Research Grant Program. This database is the only of its kind and was inspired by a realization that these movements are often thought about as purely historical rather than ongoing and relevant in the current American political landscape. Take, for example, the complete disregard for the role of the State of Jefferson (Northern California's long-standing state secessionist movement) in getting the Newsom Recall to the state’s ballot in 2021. A wider understanding of these movements – where they are and what causes and sustains them – is essential for both policymakers and researchers, particularly as we reckon with the results of the 2024 election and, in this, calls for California to break from the United States.
The goal of this project is to publish the dozens of completed profiles created by my students (15 URAPS and a previous BCNM student assistant) and me in this database, which can be downloaded and searched easily in a web browser. By providing users with a unique, curated historical archive and current movements, this project will serve as a powerful educational tool that offers new socio-political insights into understudied parts of the United States, particularly as these movements use social media and other digital spaces to expand their influence. As the project enters its final publication phase, I am seeking a research assistant to work 1:1 with me on completing and releasing the database as a public-facing digital archive.
Responsibilities will include: Assisting me in distilling and synthesizing four years of archival and qualitative research; editing and preparing existing movement profiles for publication; assisting with the development of the interactive map and website; and helping translate archival and qualitative data into accessible digital formats. The selected student will gain hands-on experience in digital humanities, critical cartography, archival research, and political geography. In the next phase of the project, I aim to expand SoMSoM into a larger multi-institution working group, examining how territorial fragmentation, separatism, and digitally mediated political movements circulate globally—particularly in regions with histories of authoritarianism or fascism. This assistantship offers early involvement in shaping that comparative direction.
This position is well-suited for an advanced undergraduate with interests in political geography, digital humanities, cartography, history, media studies, or related fields with a strong interest in pursuing graduate studies. More important than any desired skills list below, ideal candidates will demonstrate curiosity, care, and the ability to work across qualitative, archival, and digital materials.
Desired skills and experience may include:
- Experience with archival research, qualitative analysis, or historical synthesis
- Interest in U.S. political movements, territorial politics, or rural studies
- Familiarity with (or desire to learn) digital mapping, GIS, or web-based visualization
- Comfort working with large qualitative datasets and synthesizing complex material
- Strong writing and editing skills, particularly for public-facing or educational audiences
- Ability to work independently while collaborating closely in a 1:1 research setting
Additional (but not required) experience:
- Experience with digital humanities or critical cartography projects
- Basic familiarity with HTML/CSS/JavaScript, web platforms, or data visualization tools
- Experience working in research labs, libraries, or collaborative student research programs
Broadly, this position offers professional experience in academic research, digital publication, and collaborative project development, with opportunities for co-authorship and co-developer credit on a publicly released research platform. More specifically:
(Technical & Research Experience):
- Direct experience working with a large-scale qualitative research database from final synthesis to public release
- Training in archival research methods, including evaluating, editing, and contextualizing historical sources
- Exposure to digital humanities and critical cartography workflows, including translating qualitative data into interactive maps and web-based formats
- Experience contributing to the development of a public-facing research website, including content preparation, structure, and usability considerations
- Understanding of how academic research is prepared for public dissemination through libraries, grants, and digital platforms
(Professional & Collaborative Development):
- Close 1:1 mentorship within an advanced research project from conception to publication
- Experience working in a collaborative but independent research environment, with autonomy over defined components of the project
- Development of project management skills, including prioritizing tasks, meeting deadlines, and coordinating across research phases
- Practice translating complex academic ideas into clear, accessible language for broader audiences
- Strengthened skills in critical thinking, synthesis, and scholarly judgment
- Professional credit as a co-developer on a publicly released, library-hosted digital research project
Carceral California: A 3D Archive of Pasts, Presents, and Alternative Futures
Tamara Jamil, Geography
My dissertation project studies proposed and recent jail construction in rural California as part of a broader ongoing shift in carceral geographies across the country. U.S. federal and state prison populations have declined steadily in the last decade, represented by a 25% population reduction between 2011 and 2021. While this might suggest the chipping away at the “mass” of mass incarceration, few scholars are focusing on the ongoing rural jail boom ushering in a new era of incarceration. Over the past decade, jail populations have increased by 27% in rural counties nationwide. Since 1977, jail costs have increased sixfold, reaching $25 billion in 2021. As of 2017, about 1 in 17 rural county dollars was spent on jails. While contemporary policy decisions have shaped the ebbs and flows of California’s incarceration shifts, this does not suffice in answering why jails are expanding in rural areas far beyond detention rates. The question of ongoing jail siting and its connection to the rural sphere are at the heart of this project and evoke themes of race, class, disposability and (in)visibility.
I argue that the ongoing jail boom is a form of slow violence that exacerbates the existing precarity of rural areas by eating at community infrastructure while investing in carceral expansion. To render this slow violence visible and as part of my ongoing fieldwork, I am conducting several visits to three-to-four rural California counties which have recently constructed or proposed a new jail.
As part of my broader dissertation project, I will be applying Forensic Architecture’s ‘Situated Testimony’ method to conduct interviews with community members at each of my sites. This computer-mediated method uses 3D models of environments to aid in the process of interviewing and gathering testimony. Landscapes are forgotten and are constantly being re-made; this method allows for a digital, spatial and historical reconstruction of conditions that render rural sites ‘barren’ and ‘disposable’ to question how this process becomes naturalized, and how this paves way for carceral development. The situated testimonies in interaction with the 3D models will be filmed, and the 3D models will, at a lager stage in the project, be compiled into a 3D living archive that shows a past before the jail, a present with it, so as to envision a future without it.
Responsibilities for Undergraduate Researcher: Aiding in the 3D recreation (Rhino preferred) of three-to-four research sites with standard context-building detail, and with higher definition modeling required for structures to be modeled in higher definition. This will include finding landscape/terrain models online, importing these into Rhino and making necessary shape patches for these to render seamlessly, and referring to Google Maps and planning maps to recreate street/building layout, and consulting archival photos to recreate detail when necessary. For each site there will be at least two version of the context: one in the past (exact year to be determined contextually), and one in the present (as of 2026).
The selected student will learn the computer-mediated interview method of ’Situated Testimony’, and will gain experience on/exposure to archival research, carceral geography, and forensic architecture.
The work/responsibilities for this position are best suited for an advanced undergraduate student who is fluent in 3D modeling (Rhino preferred) and is interested in critical geography and spatial analysis. An interest in or knowledge of California geographies is a plus. Speaking as an architect, if you are interested in pursuing graduate studies to further pursue critical spatial questions but do not know that this might be an option for you/in your discipline this research opportunity would align well.
Desired Skills
- Fluency in 3D Modeling (Software: Rhino preferred, Cinema4d is a plus) - Would aid in the creation of 3D environments and "assets" to be used during the 'Situated Testimony' interview method.
- Comfort gathering open-souce 3D models of landscapes/terrain, and existing city models. - This will allow for 3D modeling to start from somewhere, and not from scratch.
- Interest in exploring/playing around in Unreal Engine - Would aid in bringing in the 3D model to Unreal and setting up the assets.
- Ability work independently while collaborating closely in a 1:1 research setting (both in-person and via Zoom).Familiarity with or interest in film (digital) - If available to accompany on site visits, would aid in filming and camera setup for the situated testimony interviews.
Skills to be gained
- Forensic Architecture’s ’Situated Testimony’ Interview Method - Having worked as a researcher for Forensic Architecture, the undergraduate researcher would learn this method and be able to apply it for their future research. It’s a different way of engaging with space, especially when a version of that space to which those giving testimony are referring to no longer exists at present. It is, also, a very important form of memory preservation during a time of enforced systematic erasure.
- Experience in archival research - Specifically, for the purposes of finding spatial documentation for recreation of the sites’ past lives.
- Film (Digital) - If not familiar with how to work a camera, I could teach basics/camera setup/how to plan shots, etc.
- 1:1 Research Mentorship - If considering graduate studies or wanting to engage with space critically, this opportunity would allow for mentorship within an advanced research project. Mentorship would include practice in translating complex ideas into digestible formats for broader audiences (beyond academia), development of project management skills, and experience using spatial analysis skills for critical research purposes.
Platform Architectures and Youth Visibility: A Methodological Investigation of School Content on TikTok
Meg Everett, School of Education
While researchers have demonstrated how social media can still illuminate youth perspectives on certain educational and classroom experiences (Literat, 2021; Vickery, 2020; Wright, 2021), platform policies and technical infrastructures still significantly shape and constrain both youth social media artifacts about school and our ability to study them. This presents substantial challenges for schools and researchers seeking to understand how platforms shape student-created content, and limits our ability to develop evidence-based approaches to supporting youth social media engagement. Through virtual ethnography (Hine, 2017), this study examines the visibility of school-related content on TikTok while illuminating the methodological and ethical constraints that affect our ability to study it.
Research Questions
- How do TikTok’s platform policies and technical infrastructures shape the visibility and accessibility of youth-generated content about school contexts?
- What are the methodological and ethical implications of studying youth social media practices within these structures?
This project will use a virtual ethnographic approach that documents content related to the search “school.” Following Hine’s (2017) “provocation for ethnography of the internet,” (p. 24), the documentation process will foreground typically invisible platform mechanisms that shape content visibility and access. This project is currently in the data collection phase and looking for an undergraduate researcher who can assist with 1) documentation of platform research infrastructure 2) systematic platform observation of school-related videos on TikTok and 3) a reflexive field diary of this experience.
Ideal Undergraduate Assistant
- Familiarity with TikTok as a user, strong observational and note-taking skills with attention to detail in documenting both content and platform behaviors (e.g., search results, algorithmic recommendations, content moderation notices)
- Interest in qualitative research methods and comfort with reflexive thinking
Skills & Experience
- Hands-on training in virtual ethnographic methods, including systematic platform observation, reflexive field diary practices, and navigating the ethical complexities of internet research involving youth-generated content
- Exposure to critical platform studies frameworks that can be used in education research, media studies, or UX research
Intentional Scroll: Rethinking Short-Video Design for Older Adults
Connie Gu, Information Science
Digital Wellbeing has been widely studied in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), especially among children and teenagers, with major threads on video game addiction, social media overuse, and parental control technologies. However, problematic internet use affects people across the lifespan, and one of the most understudied populations is older adults. Existing research on older adults and technology often emphasizes adoption barriers and digital literacy, assuming older adults struggle with new tools. Short-video platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts challenge this assumption: their swipe-based interfaces are easy to learn, and many older adults spend long periods scrolling, sometimes displacing offline social activities or daily routines. The growing public discourse around “internet-addicted elderly” points to a real but poorly understood phenomenon.
This summer, I plan to pursue two connected projects to understand better and address compulsive short-video use among older adults. First, I will prototype a design artifact that increases the “attention” and intention of the swiping action, encouraging reflection on scrolling habits through an at-home installation that can also function as an intergenerational intervention. Second, I will run a community-based, participatory co-design study that centers older adults’ lived experiences through remote and/or in-person workshops, where participants share patterns of overuse or confusion and collaboratively imagine interventions that support healthier, more intentional engagement. Together, these projects aim to produce concrete HCI contributions, such as design guidelines for mitigating addictive interface patterns for older adults and/or a new lens for evaluating short-video interfaces beyond traditional usability measures.
My undergraduate assistant should be able to:
- Conduct literature reviews and be interested in (or have some grounding in) HCI and design research
- Be familiar with quantitative data analysis, and be willing to learn qualitative coding and thematic analysis
- Have a background in computer science, psychology, design, or a related field (preferred, not required)
- Be interested in community-based research and comfortable working with diverse populations, including older adults
- Be self-motivated, reliable, and able to collaborate closely as part of a small research team
- Be excited about working toward an HCI publication and, ideally, curious about PhD study in HCI
- Fabrication/prototyping skills are a plus (makerspace comfort, Arduino, 3D printing, laser cutting, etc.), but not required
After the program, students can expect to gain:
- Practical experience with the end-to-end HCI research process (framing a question, designing a study, collecting data, analyzing results)
- Training in community-based and participatory design methods, with exposure to mixed-methods research
- Stronger academic writing skills, including how to write an HCI-style literature review and methods/results sections
- Experience translating research insights into design concepts, prototypes, and actionable design guidelines
- A portfolio-worthy research experience and mentorship toward publication and/or graduate school in HCI
Previous Undergraduate Research Fellows and Projects
2025 funded candidates and projects are here!
2024 funded candidates and projects here and here!
2023 funded candidates and projects here and here!
2022 funded candidates and projects here and here!
2021 funded candidates and projects here!
2020 funded candidates and projects here!
2019 funded candidates and projects here!
2018 funded candidates and projects here!
2017 funded candidates and projects here!