HURF Program enters its fifth year
The University of Oregon’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) was established in 2014 as a resource for the UO’s community of scholars. Housed in the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation (VPRI), UROP works to support undergraduate research and creative scholarship in all academic disciplines. One of UROP’s first priorities was to create a program that supported undergraduates conducting research in the humanities. To achieve this goal, UROP partnered with the Oregon Humanities Center to create the Humanities Undergraduate Research Fellowship (HURF) program.
The HURF program is entering its fifth year and has grown into a comprehensive undergraduate research program that assists students with their research, writing, and communication skills, while providing them with opportunities to explore career pathways for humanities scholars. The breadth of research topics that fellows have engaged in is impressive, ranging from an anthropological study of homeless women in Eugene, to research on how youth in Brazil participate in the political process through digital memes, to a study of the influence of James Baldwin across literary forms. Each year the program culminates with students giving presentations at the UO Undergraduate Research Symposium.
By all accounts, the HURF program has been a resounding success. Fellows annually report that by participating in the program they felt more engaged with the research mission of the University and made significant gains in developing their critical thinking and analytic skills. Program alumni are completing graduate study at institutions including MIT, Washington University in St. Louis, and Willamette University College of Law. Others are pursuing careers in journalism at the Wall Street Journal, serving in the Peace Corps in The Gambia, working as a wildland firefighter with the US Forest Service, and interning as a research consultant with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
The success of the program is the result of strong support from the VPRI, English’s Composition Program, the UO Libraries, and the incredible faculty mentors who support the fellows during their undergraduate education.