Korea Institute Undergraduate Research Assistantship

Applications due: February 28, 2024, 11:59 p.m. ET
The Korea Institute will offer Undergraduate Research Assistantships for Korea focused projects supervised by Harvard faculty for summer 2024.  The RAships will be remote or hybrid. There will be a range of opportunities for Harvard undergraduates to work on faculty research projects in a variety of capacities. RAships are a great opportunity for students with little research experience to get hands-on exposure to the research world. Research Assistant positions offer unique possibilities for intellectual growth, while providing students with invaluable skills and experience. Work is arranged and directed by faculty members, who will directly supervise student RAs. The specifics of the intellectual goals for the student and the research tasks involved will vary. The student and faculty member will discuss and clarify in advance the research responsibilities and outcomes. Students may assist with data collection, data analysis, literature reviews, or other aspects of a faculty project. If awarded a KI Research Assistantship, the student will be paid $20 per hour (up to $2,000 total summer stipend per Assistantship) over 5-10 weeks, based on the needs of the faculty project.

Faculty project listings will be forthcoming in late January 2024 onward. Please continue to check back.
Directions to apply are found towards the bottom of this page.


2024 Summer Faculty Projects:


Prof. William Alford
Cohen Professor Law and Director of East Asian Legal Studies, Harvard Law School
Email:
alford@law.harvard.edu
Project Title: Why Creative Thinking about Disability is Vital to Korea’s Future
Project Description: The Harvard Law School Project on Disability blends traditional academic endeavor with pro bono service, each informing the other. We have engaged with scholars, officials and civil society in over 40 nations, including working this AY closely with SNU’s Law School on its first conference on disability law. We anticipate extensive additional scholarly and public interest undertakings regarding disability in Korea, with a focus on topics such as the empowerment of persons with a disability, ways in which fuller inclusion of persons with a disability may speak to Korea’s demographic challenges, Korea and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and Korean industry and assistive technology. Toward that end, we would welcome involvement of one or more student research assistants to work with us this summer on projects concerning disability in Korea.
Desired Skills: Students need not have a legal background, as some of the work we anticipate will involve sociological, cultural, political and economic questions. Students should have strong Korean language skills (e.g., the ability to read newspapers and journal articles in Korean and do careful, thoughtful translations or summaries as needed), intellectual curiosity and a generosity of spirit.

Details: 10-20 hrs/week but we are flexible and could arrange this to include more or less time. (up to a maximum of $2000 at $20/hour)
Contact: alford@law.harvard.edu
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Prof. Mary C. Brinton
Reischauer Institute Professor of Sociology, Harvard University
Email:
brinton@wjh.harvard.edu
Project Title: Gender-Role Attitudes and Daily Lives of Highly-Educated Korean Men and Women
Project Description:
This project is the Korea portion of a comparative examination of the work and family lives of highly-educated young adults in four countries (Japan, South Korea, the U.S., and Sweden). Student research assistance is needed for translating and coding excerpts from transcripts of interviews conducted in Korean; the excerpts cover topics such as the structure of the interviewee’s typical weekday, gender-role attitudes, and feelings about marriage and children. The excerpts are needed for a book the principal investigator is writing.
Desired Skills: Language Skills: Proficiency in spoken Korean.
Details: Hours: 10-20 hours a week, depending on student availability.
Contact: brinton@wjh.harvard.edu
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Prof. Si Nae Park
Associate Professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Email: sinaepark@fas.harvard.edu
Project Title: ‘Literary Listing: Enumerated Titles of Korean Books and Realignment of Literature’
Project Description: This project explores literary listing—the act of enumerating works of literature broadly conceived—performed by readers in Chosŏn Korea and by Korean and foreign collectors, readers, and users of ‘Korean antiquarian books’ between the late seventeenth through the early twentieth centuries. Research assistant needed to aid data collection, data entry and organization, and bibliography compilation.
Skills Needed: Reading ability in Korean is required. Reading ability in Chinese (traditional characters, especially), Japanese, French, German, and/or Russian are also welcome. Spreadsheet skills are welcome.
Compensation: $20/hour; start date early June 2024; a minimum of 10 hours/week; 10 weeks or less depending on the RA’s progress (maximum compensation is $2,000)
Contact: sinaepark@fas.harvard.edu

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Dr. Chan Yong Bu
Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Email: cbu@fas.harvard.edu
Project Title: Translating and subtitling Korean music videos and documentaries
Project Description: I am looking for a research assistant(s) to translate and subtitle old Korean music videos and documentary shorts to be shown in my upcoming courses for AY 2024-2025, titled "Korean Stars" and "Documentary and East Asia," respectively.
Desired skills: Proficiency in spoken Korean is required. Knowledge of subtitling software is strongly preferred, but not required.
Hours: 3-5 hours for music video translation and subtitling+5 hours for documentary short film translation and subtitling (student can choose whether to do both or only one)
Rate: $20/hour
Contact: cbu@fas.harvard.edu
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As FYI, the following were available faculty projects from summer 2023:
Summer 2023 Faculty Projects:
Dr. John Park
Director, Korea Project, Harvard Kennedy School
Email: John_Park@hks.harvard.edu; Faculty Bio: https://www.belfercenter.org/person/john-s-park
Project Title: 'Database of North Korean Cybercriminal Activities' (2023)
Assistantship Structure: Student compensation will be $20/hour over a 10-week period (10 hours/week) during 2023 summer.
Description: The selected RA will conduct research on North Korean cyber actors' practices, partners, and pathways to expand a database of these actors' activities in the areas of cyber heists of financial institutions, cryptocurrency exchange thefts, and cyber attacks on critical infrastructure. The RA will work directly with Dr. John Park, Director of the Korea Project at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. Over the course of 10 weeks, the RA will build the database and write summary reports. The RA will also help prepare briefing memos for interviews with cyber security experts in the public, private, and academic sectors as well as conduct secondary research.
Desired Skills: The Korea Project team is seeking an RA with interest in cyber security and cryptocurrency. Korean language skills are a plus but not required. No web development skills required, but the RA will be asked to develop web content based on key findings from this research.
Application Info: Interested applicants are asked to submit a writing sample along with their resume. If the applicant has Korean language skills, please describe level (basic, intermediate, advanced).
Contact: John_Park@hks.harvard.edu

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Prof. Paul Chang
Associate Professor of Sociology, Dept. of Sociology
Email: paulchang@fas.harvard.edu
Project Title: ‘Reinventing Family: The Rise of Non-Normative Households in South Korea’ (2023)
Project Description: This project explores the diversification of family structures in South Korea, including single-parent households, multicultural families, unmarried singles, and (the isolation of) senior citizens. Student research assistants will be asked to aid in coding interview transcripts, conducting literature reviews, and basic data analysis. The number of hours worked per week is flexible depending on student availability. Proficiency in reading Korean is necessary for this role.
Details: 10hrs/week but flexible
Contact: paulchang@fas.harvard.edu
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Prof. Si Nae Park
Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Faculty Bio: https://ealc.fas.harvard.edu/people/si-nae-park
Email: sinaepark@fas.harvard.edu
Project Title: 'A Transnational Race for Traditional Korean Books' (2023)
Project Description: Research assistance needed for conducting preliminary research (such as source collection and organization, database search, keyword search, and bibliography compilation) on the topic of a transnational “book race”--joined by Korean publishers and intellectuals, Japanese settlers and colonial authorities in Korea, and Western visitors and missionaries to Korea--in the form of excavation, republishing, and documentation of pre-twentieth-century Korean books and related knowledge-making activities at the turn of the twentieth century. The number of hours worked per week is flexible depending on student availability.
Language Skills Needed: Advanced reading knowledge of Korean is required. Applicants with advanced reading knowledge of Japanese, ability to read the traditional form of sinographs/Chinese characters (fanti), or knowledge of Literary Sinitic are preferred.

Contact: sinaepark@fas.harvard.edu
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Prof. Karen Thornber
Harry Tuchman Levin Professor in Literature, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Email: thornber@fas.harvard.edu
Project Title: 'Stories of Ecological Devastation, Mental Illness, and Inequality' (2023)
Project Description: Research assistance needed for Professor Thornber’s new book on interconnections among environmental degradation, mental illness, and inequality as these are experienced and imagined globally. This book also investigates understandings of mental health vis-à-vis non-human entities (i.e., it aims to decenter mental health as a solely human phenomenon). For summer 2023, Professor Thornber is looking for an undergraduate RA with expertise in Korean to research a range of Korean-language narratives, including film, fiction, social media, journalism, oral histories, etc. that grapple with these topics.

Students from all concentrations with an interest in environment (broadly configured), justice (gender, racial, economic, species), and/or mental health are encouraged to apply.  Hours: Flexible, depending on student availability.
Contact: thornber@fas.harvard.edu
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Prof. Hi-Sun Kim
Senior Preceptor in Korean
Director of the Korean Language Program, Dept. of EALC
hisun@fas.harvard.edu
'Language Transcription for the Korean Language Program' (2023)
Job Description: We are looking for students to transcribe recorded audio of spoken data of Korean language learners. The purpose of this data collection is to examine, assess, and identify patterns in language acquisition of Korean language learners through the current curriculum. Qualification: Student must be at the native (or near-native) level of Korean language. Background in linguistics or interest in (second) language acquisition and/or pedagogy is desirable. (approximately 50 hours / 6 -7 weeks)
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Students should reach out to individual faculty members to inquire about their RA opportunities, scope, and duties. Students may apply for only one KI research assistantship opportunity. For questions about specific projects, please contact the professor directly.

Applications due: February 28, 2024, 11:59 p.m. EST

Please note: You are ineligible to apply if you are on a Leave of Absence during AY23-24/Spring Term 2024.

To Apply:

First, reach out to individual faculty to learn more about each faculty RAship.

  1. To apply, email the following information to each faculty sponsor of an RAship before the deadline
    (February 28, 2024, 11:59 p.m. EST)
  • Full name (first, LAST)
  • Email Address/es
  • Current physical address and citizenship
  • Concentration; class year
  • Korean language proficiency level (if any)
  • Financial Aid status (recipient or not)
  • 1-2 paragraphs explaining reasons for interest in the project; and
  • 1-2 paragraphs describing relevant coursework (if any), relevant work/research experience (if any), or reasons for interest in learning more about research via this project.
  • Budget: Include the number of available work hours per week, the number of weeks available to work, the earliest beginning date and latest end date. Please note: Living/travel/equipment expenses may not be included.
  1. Faculty will review applications. Faculty may invite final candidates to interview via Zoom.
  2. Ordinarily, faculty are expected to contact selected students by email within two weeks after application is submitted.
  3. Please ACCEPT or DECLINE faculty offers by email within 1 week of offer, with copy to cglover@fas.harvard.edu. Please include all project details.
  4. The KI will contact students to process compensation.
  5. KI Undergraduate Research Assistantship awardees will submit to the Korea Institute a 1-2-page written report detailing the RAship experience, along with a photo of yourself and/or your work, by August 31, 2024. Awardees will also be expected to give a presentation and speak with students on the RAship experience at an information session during the 2024-25 academic year and become an ambassador for this program.

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Harvard College Summer Funding Policy 2024

https://oue.fas.harvard.edu/summer-2023-funding-policy

Harvard College prioritizes the wide distribution of Summer funding to ensure that as many undergraduate students as possible can have a meaningful summer experience. For funded Summer 2024 experiences, students may only apply Harvard University funding to one Summer experience, regardless of duration of time (ex. only four weeks or a part-time effort). *Co-funding between multiple sources of funding is permitted only if the funding jointly supports the same Summer experience.

Exceptions to the Summer Funding Policy are uncommon and will be reviewed on an individual basis; students should make exception requests to their Resident Dean, who will forward on to the Office of Undergraduate Education. All exceptions will be approved by the Office of Undergraduate Education. 

Failure to adhere to the Harvard College Summer funding policy may result in a student being referred to the Administrative Board or Honor Council. 

* The only recognized deviation from the Summer Funding Policy applies to students conducting senior thesis research. Students in this specific situation may apply Harvard University funding to two different opportunities, given that one source of funding supports thesis research and that the two opportunities in question do not overlap in time. Thesis researchers in this case may still apply to multiple sources of research funding to enable potential co-funding opportunities.