Established in 2000, URAP seeks to inspire promising and driven undergraduates to pursue graduate and professional studies. At the same time, it bolsters faculty and graduate student research. Apprentices gain hands-on research experience by working closely with the sponsoring faculty on a project related to Chicanx, Latinx, Latin American, migration and/or human rights studies, while the sponsoring faculty receives research support.
UC Santa Cruz faculty working in these areas who are interested in mentoring apprentices and having apprentices assist with research via URAP should contact the Huerta Center at huerta@ucsc.edu, preferably at least two quarters in advance.
2021-2022
Whiteness and International Academic Mobility
“Whiteness and International Academic Mobility: The Impact of Living and Studying Abroad on the Racial Identity and Network Capital of White Brazilians” examined the intersections of race, mobility, and international education by analyzing whiteness in the context of “Science without Borders” (SwB), a program of the Brazilian federal government that funded the international academic mobility of over 93,000 college students between 2012 and 2016.
Student Researcher: Alma Munguia-Galvan, Latin American & Latino Studies/Legal Studies
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Patricia Pinho, Associate Professor of LALS
The Impacts of COVID-19 on Racial Inequality
This project explored the impacts of COVID-19 on racial inequality in economic outcomes by drawing on large datasets from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The student research analyzed and interpreted the findings with the goal of improving public policy.
Student Researcher: Julian Barragan, Economics/Environmental Studies
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Robert Fairlie, Professor of Economics
2020-2021
Bilingualism Research Lab
Through the UCSC Bilingualism Research Laboratory, URAP students examined cross-linguistic influence in the speech of Spanish-English bilinguals and were involved in the acoustic analysis of English and Spanish speech previously collected in the lab.
Student Researchers:
- Lilia Diaz, Legal Studies & Cognitive Science
- Cristina Gonzalez, Latin American and Latinx Studies/Sociology & Psychology
- Nadia Perez, Latino Studies and Literature
- Cevacien Moran, Applied Linguistics
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Mark Amengual, Associate Professor of Languages and Applied Linguistics
Peruvian Feminist Oral History Project (Fall 2020)
This project focused on the political mobilization and social change efforts of individuals in the women’s movement in Perú. In Fall 2020, undergraduate students transcribed and translated oral histories of 9 key women leaders (e.g., congress women, gender scholars, grassroots organizers, directors of NGOS, and indigenous leaders) in Perú, while learning about oral history as a research method and about the power of testimonios. The oral histories were added to the Global Feminisms Project at the University of Michigan, an open source archive that serves as a repository for oral histories from women scholars and activists from throughout the world.
Student Researchers:
- Jessica Gabriela Valdez Alvarez, Spanish Studies & Education
- Lizbeth Garcia, Latin American and Latinx Studies, Psychology, & Education
- María G. Govea Mendoza, Spanish Studies & Education
- Nicole Herrera-Moro, Latin American and Latinx Studies & Spanish Studies
- Karely Valdez, Psychology & Spanish Studies
Faculty Supervisors: Dr. Shelley Grabe, Professor of Psychology and Dr. Sylvanna Falcón, Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
Venom Lab
(Summer 2020)
The Venom Lab book project examined how the lives of venomous snakes provide us with new ways for understanding the ways that environments and societies have related over the course of the last century by studying snake species such as the Terciopelo, Bushmaster, and Central American Rattlesnake. URAP students engaged with guided, internet-based research in digital archives, conducted data entry on their findings, and participated in group Zoom-based lab meetings with Dr. Balloffet and the other members of the Lab research team.
Student Researchers:
- Isabelle Arguilez, Human Biology & Politics
- Madison Bankosh, Environmental Studies and Sociology & Latin American and Latino Studies
- Leslie De La Torre, Legal Studies & Latin American and Latino Studies
- Lizbeth Garcia, Psychology & Latin American and Latino Studies, Education
- Cynthia Valadon, Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
- Nuria Villanueva, Intensive Psychology & Latin American and Latinx Studies
Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Lily Balloffet, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
2019-2020
Human Right Investigations Lab
Launched in Fall 2019, the Human Rights Investigations Lab is dedicated to offering digital verification support to non-governmental organizations, news outlets, and other advocacy partners that are conducting open source investigations. Housed in the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas (Huerta Center) at UC Santa Cruz, this lab harnesses digital technologies to address and confront human rights violations.
The lab’s mission is to extend the Huerta Center’s commitment to “Dialogues without Borders” into the digital realm. The lab’s social justice mission is to track and monitor ongoing humanitarian, environmental and socio-political crises throughout the Americas by using open source investigative methods to promote justice and achieve accountability for communities adversely affected by human rights violations.
This lab continues the Huertas Center’s rich history of supporting interdisciplinary social justice research by faculty and students since 1992. For more information about the lab, please email hrlab@ucsc.edu.
2018-2019
Documentaries as Storytelling about Latin American Migration
In partnership with ÉXODOCS, the URAP team analyzed hours of Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) documentaries on the subject of Latin American migration to the United States deciphering the dominant narratives about human mobility contained in these documentaries from the past three decades. The research results of these URAP team discussions fed into ÉXODOCS’ overall work analyzing how theories of cultural (self-)translation apply to documentaries on Latin American migration to the United States.
Student Researchers
- Lehna Cohen, Latin American and Latino Studies & History of Consciousness
- Crystal Cisneros-Villa, Feminist Studies & Legal Studies
- Gina Fernandez, Latin American and Latino Studies
- Araceli Herrera, Psychology & Latin American and Latino Studies
- Crystal Farmer, Sociology & Latin American and Latino Studies
- Luis Diego Ramírez, Politics and Sociology & Latin American and Latino Studies
- Nattjelly Lupita Betancourt Ramos, History & Latin American and Latino Studies
- Andrea Rosas, Politics & Latin American and Latino Studies
- Tatiana Ruiz, Feminist Studies
Supervisors: Alexandra Sanchez, UC Santa Cruz Visiting Scholar with the Film & Digital Media Department, and Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, Associate Professor of FDM and Director of Graduate Studies of the Social Documentation MFA Program
2015-2017
Nuestras Historias: The CLRC Archive Project
From 2015 through 2017, a dedicated and exceptional group of students in the Huerta Center’s (formerly the Chicano and Latino Research Center) Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) established Nuestras Historias, the CLRC archive. Led by CLRC Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) and LALS graduate student, Alina Ivette Fernandez, this multi-phase project trained students in archival construction, archival, oral history, and digital humanities methods, digital storytelling, and exhibition curation. Above all, our GSRs and undergraduate researchers learned about the relationship of the archive to understandings of the past and future, as well as about the important role the CLRC has played and will continue to play in the life of our campus.
- Esteban Adame, Sociology and Latin American & Latino Studies
- Vicente Lovelace, Latin American & Latino Studies and Politics
- Cinthya Rosario Murillo, Sociology and Latin American & Latino Studies
- Alma Villa, Sociology and Latin American & Latino Studies
Faculty Supervisors: Rachel Deblinger, Digital Scholarship Commons director; Melissa De Witte, Digital Communications Manager of the Division of Social Sciences; Kate Dundon, Archivist; Teresa Mora, University Archivist; Jessica Pigza, Outreach and Exhibits Librarian; Jacquelyn Powell, CLRC Program Manager; and Beth Remak-Honnef, Head of Special Collections and Archives.
2013-2014
Working for Dignity
In collaboration with UC Santa Cruz’s Center for Labor Studies and California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., URAP students utilized survey and interview methods while contributing to the “Working for Dignity” project, a study of low-wage workers in Santa Cruz County. Research apprentices gained insight into how scholars formulate a research question, design a survey instrument, put primary and secondary sources in dialogue with one another, and acquire essential institutional review board approval. Above all, they saw first-hand how social actors both within and beyond the University produce knowledge and work together to improve society. URAP research helped lead to a 2014-15 Engaging Humanities Public Humanities Project Grant for the CLRC, Center for Labor Studies, and California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. from the University of California Humanities Research Institute.
Supervisors: Dr. Steve McKay Professor of Sociology, Dr. Shannon Gleeson, Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies, Ruben Espinoza, Graduate Student Researcher.