Current URAP Projects

Faculty Lead: Jennifer Beer

Unit: Department of Psychology

Meeting Time: Fridays, 9–10 AM

About the cohort:
This research project examines whether online games can teach people how to navigate and repair awkward social interactions in real life. It draws on psychology, communication, gaming research, and computational modeling to explore what scientific design reveals about game‑based social skills training. The team will review background literature on how people learn social behavior, why games may support that learning, and how to assess whether skills practiced in a game translate to real‑world situations.

Student researchers will read primary research literature, participate in weekly team meetings, and collaboratively develop an immersive game that embeds social repair training along with a lab assessment to measure training success. They will gain experience in rigorous scientific design with human participants, game development in Twine, and behavioral assessment using computational modeling and statistical analyses. Students will also evaluate media write‑ups of scientific research and contribute to a group presentation on the project’s questions and hypotheses.

Faculty Lead: Hongjoo Joanne Lee

Unit: Department of Psychology (Behavioral Neuroscience Area)

Meeting Time: Fridays, 9–10 AM

About the cohort:
This research project explores how environmental cues become linked to alcohol use and why those cues can trigger alcohol‑seeking and relapse. Using a rat model of alcohol dependence, the project looks at the biological, psychological, and social factors that shape drinking behavior. By studying how these cues gain meaning and influence behavior, the work helps clarify why problematic drinking can return even after periods of recovery.

Student researchers will participate in discussions, literature reviews, and hands‑on trainings on lab methods. They will gain transferable skills in data collection and analysis, while working through the strengths and limitations of different research approaches. Students will have ample opportunities to participate in sub-sections of specific ongoing studies. By the end of the project, students will deepen their understanding of how environmental cues affect alcohol use and learn to communicate their results in both lab meetings and the URAP Research Symposium.

Faculty Lead: Marie Monfils

Units: Monfils Memory Lab; Department of Psychology

Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 11 AM–12 PM

About the cohort:
This research project examines how social relationships shape learning, communication, and cooperation in rats. It focuses on how factors like familiarity and kinship influence the ways rats share information, solve problems, and pass knowledge across generations. By studying these social dynamics, the project aims to better understand the foundations of teamwork and social learning.

Student researchers will join weekly discussions and hands‑on workshop sessions while receiving training in behavioral coding and research methods. They will analyze a large set of videos showing rats learning by proxy or cooperating on problem‑solving tasks, applying what they learn to real data. Each student will develop a sub‑project that reveals its own story within the larger research question. By the end of the semester, they will present their findings in both lab meetings and the URAP Research Symposium.

Panel 4. Add body text in this space.

Panel 5. Add body text in this space.

Faculty Lead: Sean Theriault

Unit: Department of Government

Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 1–2 PM

About the cohort:
This research project contributes to the Policy Agendas Project (PAP), which tracks how Congress’s priorities have shifted since the Second World War. By coding congressional bills by policy topic, the project helps reveal what issues lawmakers focus on, how those priorities change over time, and how they compare with public mood and presidential agendas. The resulting database is widely used to understand long‑term trends in American policymaking.

Student researchers will learn to code congressional bills using the PAP codebook, practice interpreting complex policy language, and work through weekly training and feedback during the first month. After training, they will code real bills in pairs and take part in a reconciliation process to compare and refine their decisions. By the end of the semester, students will have coded thousands of bills and will create a research presentation on a PAP‑related topic or policy area of interest.

Faculty Lead: Yasmiyn Irizarry

Units: Department of African and African Diaspora Studies

Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 3–4 PM

About the cohort:
This research project supports the State Immigration Legislation Data Archive (SILDA), which documents state‑level immigration laws passed across the U.S. from 2008 through 2025. By gathering and organizing thousands of laws, the project tracks major policy trends and helps researchers understand how immigration legislation has changed over time and across states.

Student researchers will learn to code state immigration laws using the SILDA codebook, gaining skills in interpreting complex legal language, making collaborative coding decisions, and gathering information from multiple sources. They will explore trends across states and over time, and help create accessible summaries to inform policymakers, researchers, and the public. By contributing directly to the expansion of SILDA, students will build experience with data analysis, policy evaluation, and public communication.

Faculty Lead: Scott Wolford

Unit: Department of Government

Meeting Time: Thursdays, 9:30–10:30 AM

About the cohort:
This research project supports the Correlates of War (COW) Project—the longest‑running and most widely used dataset on armed conflict in the world—by identifying territorial states and the wars they fought from 1816 to the present. By working across different regions and time periods, the project traces how states formed and changed over time. Using maps, encyclopedias, and historical sources, the goal is to build a clear and consistent global record of state membership and conflict.

Student researchers will explore historical sources to determine when specific political entities qualified as states under COW’s guidelines. They will practice coding state features, evaluating source quality, and applying measurement rules to complex historical cases. Students will write brief reports explaining their coding decisions and contribute to a dataset widely used in political science research. By the end of the semester, they will help produce materials for broader historical analysis and will present their findings at the URAP Research Symposium.

Faculty Lead: Kevin Foster

Unit: Department of African and African Diaspora Studies

Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 12–1 PM

About the cohort:
This research project supports the development of P3, the Policy Studies Professional Pathway at UT Austin, a new digital credential that links courses on race, policing, education policy, and community governance. The project studies how P3 is built and how students experience it, with the goal of creating a stronger, more coherent program. By tracking participation, documenting feedback, and reviewing program materials, the project helps shape a growing initiative in real time.

Student researchers will work as a research and evaluation team, designing and piloting surveys, conducting interviews, maintaining a program database, and reviewing documents related to P3’s development. They will analyze data, identify themes, draft sections of a final report, and prepare a group presentation for the URAP Research Symposium. Along the way, students will build practical skills in program evaluation, qualitative and quantitative research, digital record‑keeping, and professional communication.

Panel 5. Add body text in this space.

Faculty Lead: Charlie Nagle

Units: Speech Learning Lab; Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 2–3 PM

About the cohort:
This research project investigates how sound systems interact in the bilingual and multilingual mind, with a focus on how adults learn the sounds of an additional language. Within the Speech Learning Lab, there are several ongoing projects exploring the training techniques that can be used to help improve speech perception, production, and comprehension. Together, these projects offer insight into the development of pronunciation skills and the broader processes involved in second‑language speech research.

Student researchers will take part in weekly meetings, guided readings, and hands‑on training across different stages of the research process. They may help design studies, collect and process data, conduct acoustic analyses, and/or visualize results using tools like R. Students will also prepare a presentation for the URAP Research Symposium, with opportunities to contribute to future conference presentations or academic publications.

Faculty Lead: Lars Hinrichs

Units: Texas English Linguistics Lab (TELL); Department of English

Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 1–2 PM

About the cohort:
The research project explores how Texas English is changing by working with interview recordings collected for the Digital Archive of Texas English Speech (DATES). It looks at how people across Texas speak, how dialects shift over time, and what these patterns reveal about language in everyday life. By building and analyzing this growing archive, the project helps document Texas voices and makes this information available for future research.

Student researchers will prepare and quality‑check transcripts, learn basic phonetic and acoustic analysis, and work with tools such as DARLA to study speech sounds. They will also develop individual research questions related to Texas English, receive mentorship on data analysis and interpretation, and present their work at a mini‑symposium and the URAP Research Symposium. Throughout the semester, students will build hands‑on skills with real linguistic data while contributing to a long‑term public research archive.

Faculty Lead: Pablo Requena

Units: Language Variation and Learning Lab; Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 11 AM–12 PM

About the cohort:
This research project investigates how children learn the patterns of Spanish spoken in Córdoba, Argentina, where speakers alternate between two ways of expressing the second-person singular “you”: tú and vos. Because both forms appear in different contexts, the project explores how this variation is used by adults and how children pick up these patterns in their everyday environments. The goal is to better understand language variation, language change, and how children acquire the language they hear around them.

Student researchers will transcribe, code, and analyze recordings of adults and children using Spanish in natural settings. They will read and discuss linguistic research, practice transcription and coding techniques, and work collaboratively to identify patterns in how tú and vos forms are used. Students will also receive training in research design and data analysis. The experience will culminate with a group presentation of their findings at the URAP Research Symposium, with potential opportunities to contribute to future conference presentations as well.

Faculty Leads: Nick Henry, Levi Thompson, & Rosemary Lester-Smith

Units: Departments of: Germanic Studies; Middle Eastern Studies; Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 10–11 AM

About the cohort:
​​​​​​​This research project looks at how language works under “imperfect” conditions—such as when a speaker has a strong accent or a neurological voice disorder that affects how they sound. The project explores how these factors shape communication in both English and Arabic. By drawing on research from language learning and speech pathology, the project aims to better understand how voice disorders influence speech production and how listeners process what they hear.

Student researchers will discuss readings in weekly meetings and receive hands‑on training in experimental design, data collection, and acoustic analysis. They will help analyze vocal samples from previous semesters, assist with lab‑based experiments, and learn to process and interpret speech data. Students will build transferable skills in collaboration, communication, and problem‑solving, and may also contribute to research talks on campus or at future national conferences.

Panel 5. Add body text in this space.

Faculty Leads: Paola Bonifazio & Valerie McGuire

Unit: Department of French and Italian

Meeting Time: Mondays, 1–2 PM

About the cohort:
This research project examines the experiences of Italians and Italian Americans in Texas during the 20th century by collecting and cataloguing oral history testimonies. It focuses on individuals with extended family histories in the state, aiming to build a primary-source archive for historians interested in the ethnic experience of Italian immigrants. The project contributes to broader research on cultural practices, media consumption, migration histories, and community life across Texas.

Student researchers will complete human‑subjects research training; assist with editing interviews and copyediting transcripts; and help recruit participants across regions including Dallas-Fort Worth, the Mexican border, and the Louisiana border. They will support interviews and learn to conduct them, participate in outreach such as local festivals, and help create content for the project website. Depending on their background, students may also contribute historical summaries or translate materials between Italian and English.

Faculty Lead: Naomi Campa

Unit: Department of Classics

Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 4–5 PM

About the cohort:
This research project investigates migration in the ancient Greek world by contributing to a large‑scale digital database that collects and systematizes evidence of migration across all available Classical‑period texts. Grounded in interdisciplinary migration studies, the project seeks to build an accessible resource that illuminates the history of migration as a universal and enduring human experience. Its enriched, machine‑readable dataset aims to support new questions about ancient mobility for scholars and the general public.

Student researchers will attend weekly meetings, complete onboarding in migration studies and digital database methods, and participate in hands‑on workshops for data entry and review. They will read ancient Greek texts in English, consult commentaries, enter and evaluate data, and check entries for consistency. Students may also explore linked open data or, if they have a computer science background, contribute to programming tasks or data ontologies. Throughout the semester, they will gain experience gathering data, understanding research foundations, and engaging with ancient Greek history.

Faculty Lead: Nebojša Todorović

Unit: Department of Classics

Meeting Time: Mondays, 1–2 PM

About the cohort:
This research project documents adaptations of ancient Greek tragedies created during periods of political urgency, displacement, and historical trauma. By gathering scripts, programs, photographs, and reviews from productions around the world, the project aims to build a public digital archive that highlights how artists use classical drama to respond to crisis. The long‑term goal is to create an open, collaborative resource for scholars, students, and theatre practitioners.

Student researchers will help digitize archival materials, organize information using metadata standards, and contribute to the design of a working prototype of the project’s public‑facing scholarly website. They will also assist with rights and permissions research by drafting correspondence and exploring copyright frameworks in different countries. Through weekly meetings and hands‑on trainings, students will build skills in archiving, translation, and collaborative digital project development, and will present their work at the URAP Research Symposium.

Faculty Lead: R. Alan Covey

Unit: Department of Anthropology

Meeting Time: Either Tuesdays or Thursdays, 2–3 PM

About the cohort:
This research project explores daily life and state administration in the Inca Empire by examining excavation and archival data from Huánuco Pampa, one of the best‑preserved Inca provincial capitals. The project focuses on understanding how storage buildings and planned compounds functioned within the broader urban center. By studying materials from more than 500 storehouses and nearby residences, the research helps clarify how the Inca organized labor, resources, and community life.

Student researchers will learn about the Inca Empire and Andean urbanism before working directly with project databases and archival materials. They will curate images, edit field drawings, and review architectural and artifact data from excavated buildings. Students will also help update storage‑sector records by converting older data into the project’s current typology. Depending on interests, they may use tools like GIS, statistics, or image‑editing software, with opportunities to continue the work in future semesters.

Panel 5. Add body text in this space.

Faculty Leads: Tanya Clement & Sam Horewood

Unit: Humanities Institute

Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 1–2 PM 

About the cohort:
This research project focuses on creating digital exhibits that make the This Is Democracy podcast more accessible and useful for audiences and educators. Using the A V Annotate platform, the project brings together audio, transcripts, and historical themes to highlight how the podcast explores contemporary democratic issues through a historical lens. The long‑term goal is to build organized, public‑facing resources that support teaching and learning across topics related to democracy.

Student researchers will help expand the existing A V Annotate project by reviewing and correcting transcripts, importing additional podcast episodes, and applying a set of 22 established thematic tags. They will identify recurring themes across episodes, build an aggregated tag database, and develop topic‑based clip sets with brief framing essays and discussion questions. Throughout the semester, students will gain experience in digital humanities research, metadata work, careful listening and annotation, and preparing materials for use in Not Even Past, a digital magazine for Public History developed and run by the Department of History.

Faculty Lead: S. Scott Graham

Unit: Digital Writing and Research Laboratory (DWRL)

Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 2:30–3:30 PM

About the cohort:
This research project explores the history of anatomy and pathology museums by tracing an academic lineage that begins with Pieter Pauw’s university anatomy museum in 1595. The project examines how these museums were founded, who ran them, and what collections they held. By studying archives and digital records, the work aims to build a public online repository showing the global footprint of these museums across major medical centers.

Student researchers will learn how to search and curate digital archives, work with metadata, and practice basic GIS to map museum locations. They will collect information on museum founders, curators, and collections, and help create an image‑rich digital repository. Weekly meetings will provide training in data collection and presentation, and students will complete independent research using online sources and digital archives.

Faculty/Staff Leads: Elon Lang & Elise Nacca

Units: Liberal Arts Honors and Humanities; UT Libraries

Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 3:30–4:30 PM

About the cohort:
This research project examines how students and faculty interact with local archives and what support they need to get started with archival research. By gathering information from places like the Ransom Center, Briscoe Center, and Austin History Center, the project aims to understand how people currently use archival resources and to build a digital toolkit that helps others learn how to confidently jumpstart their engagement with local archives.

Student researchers will conduct an in-depth needs assessment by developing key questions, meeting with stakeholders, and exploring online resources from local archives. Mid‑semester, they will shift to designing and publishing a digital toolkit—either as a Canvas course or dynamic website—to help users learn how to engage with archives. Students will build skills in interviewing, archival research, instructional design, comparing complex organizational structures, multimodal writing for various audiences, and video production.

Panel 4. Add body text in this space.

Panel 5. Add body text in this space.

Faculty Lead: Leta Deithloff

Unit: Health and Society

Meeting Time: Tuesdays, either 10–11 AM or 12:30–1:30 PM

About the cohort:
This research project examines what maternal and reproductive health care currently looks like across Texas at a time when existing data are outdated or incomplete. With nearly half of Texas counties classified as maternal health deserts and large gaps in statewide reporting, the project begins by building community‑level profiles of available services. These case studies aim to clarify what resources exist, where gaps remain, and how recent policy changes may be affecting maternal health outcomes.

Student researchers will help determine what information to collect, gather data from their home communities and Austin, and connect with local hospitals, clinics, and service providers. They will observe and describe available services, identify gaps, and conduct interviews or surveys with practitioners and community partners. Students will also practice needs‑assessment methods and learn ethical interviewing skills. Throughout the semester, they will contribute to a growing statewide profile of maternal health access in Texas.

Faculty Lead: Michael Roy Hames-García

Unit: Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies

Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 4–5 PM

About the cohort:
This research project continues earlier work with East Austin teens who used photos and stories to share what makes them feel safe in their communities. It focuses on their perspectives as co‑researchers and looks for themes across their images, conversations, and reflections. The long‑term goal is to better understand how young people experience public safety and to use their insights to help shape community‑grounded policy ideas.

Student researchers will clean and code qualitative data from storytelling sessions and focus groups, using both manual methods and NVivo. They will identify emerging themes, support the research team during youth policy‑development sessions when possible, and meet weekly to discuss progress. Students will also receive training to work with confidential data and learn skills in qualitative research design, community‑based research, and writing for publication.

Faculty Lead: Pavithra Vasudevan

Unit: Department of African and African Diaspora Studies

Meeting Time: Thursdays, 1–2 PM

About the cohort:
This research project introduces students to community‑engaged research in partnership with Austin‑based environmental justice (EJ) organizations. It explores how visions for a just and sustainable world emerge from long‑term grassroots work and how social science research can support communities facing environmental racism. By using “worldbuilding” as a way to imagine just environmental futures, the project centers ethical collaboration with communities, attention to place, and the creative forms of knowledge that emerge from grassroots EJ efforts.

Student researchers will work within the Feminist Geography Collective to learn ethnographic and archival methods, participate in workshops with community partners, and study the histories and goals of the EJ movement. They will explore topics such as ecological restoration, solidarity economies, disaster preparedness, and mutual aid while practicing participatory methods like performance ethnography, documentary photography, and counter‑cartography. Students will create public‑facing materials for community partners and help develop ways to share and archive the cohort’s work.

Panel 4. Add body text in this space.

Panel 5. Add body text in this space.