Undergrad Research Mentors
Faculty in CHaSS are actively and enthusiastically involved in undergraduate research mentorship. This is a resource for undergraduate students in CHaSS looking for opportunities to get involved in undergraduate research. Students are encouraged to contact these professors about possible undergraduate research assistantships (paid and unpaid), courses, and other projects. Those in the Honors Program as well as interested in URCO grants should find potential faculty mentors here.
Faculty can add their details using a form.
Sarah Gordon
Professor
Phone: (435) 797-8213
Office: MHC 230
Email: sarah.gordon@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- USU Research Week events
- NULC National Undergrad Literature Conference
Current Research Interests
- Humanities
- Health Humanities
- Medieval Studies
- French and Francophone Studies
- Literature
- Film
- Culture
- Food
- Medicine in literature
Mehmet Soyer
Assistant Professor
Phone: (435) 797-4154
Office: Logan (MAIN 224C)
Email: mehmet.soyer@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
- USU Research Week events
Current Research Interests
- Environmental Sociology
- Social Inequality
- Teaching Pedagogy
C. R. Grimmer
Assistant Professor
Office: Logan (RWST 302C)
Email: cr.grimmer@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Creative Writing
- Poetry
- Activist Poetry
- Multimodal Poetry
- Interdisciplinary Arts
- Cultural Studies
- LGBTQIA+ Writing
- Anti-Racist Poetics
- Ecopoetry
- Poetry As Research Method
Christy Glass
Professor of Sociology
Phone: (435) 213-0537
Office: Logan (MAIN 224F)
Email: christy.glass@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
- USU Research Week events
Current Research Interests
- Workplace Justice
- Work Inequality
- Race and Gender
Elsa Pérez
Assistant Professor
Phone: (801) 358-9085
Office: MHC 214
Email: elsa.perez@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
Current Research Interests
- Translation
- Language teaching
- Interpretation
- Machine Translation
Marcela Lemos
Assistant Professor
Office: MHC 128
Email: marcela.lemos@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Translation
- Translator Training
- AI-Assisted Translation
- Brazilian Literature
- Argentine Literature
- Latinx Literature
- Photography
- Memory
- Dictatorships
- Gender
- Immigration
Jennifer Givens
Associate Professor
Phone: (435) 797-6368
Office: Logan (MAIN 216E)
Email: jennifer.givens@usu.edu
Best contact method: Office Hours
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
Current Research Interests
- Climate Change
- Immigrant and Refugee Populations
- Environmental Concern
- Environmental Policy
- International Development
- Mountains
- Glaciers
- Sea Level Rise
- The Great Salt Lake
Amanda Katz
Assistant Professor
Phone: (435) 722-1724
Office: Uintah Basin - Vernal (221U)
Email: amanda.katz@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- History of Science, Technology, Environment, and Society (broadly speaking)
- Infrastructure and Transportation Studies
- 20th Century U.S. History
- Interdisciplinary Projects
Victoria Grieve
Professor
Phone: (435) 797-0145
Office: Logan (MAIN 321G)
Email: victoria.grieve@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- USU Research Week events
Current Research Interests
- American Labor History
- Labor Feminism
- Journalism
- The Political Left
- New Deal
- World War II
- Cold War
- McCarthy Era
Jennifer Sinor
Professor; Interim Associate Department Head
Phone: (435) 797-3304
Office: Logan (RWST 301C)
Email: jennifer.sinor@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
Current Research Interests
- Creative Nonfiction
- Memoir
- Research-Based Creative Writing
- Place-Based Writing
Michael Ashfield
Assistant Professor
Office: Logan (MAIN 002E)
Email: mike.ashfield@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
- USU Research Week events
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Value Theory (broadly construed), including
- Normative and Applied Ethics
- Metaethics
- Social & Political Philosophy
- Their intersections with Epistemology and the Philosophy of Religion
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
Current Research Interests
- Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Writing
- Digital Technologies in Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages
Colin Flint
Distinguished Professor
Phone: (435) 797-5962
Office: Logan (MAIN 324B)
Email: colin.flint@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Geopolitics
- US Foreign Policy
- The Rise of China
Austin Knuppe
Assistant Professor
Phone: (435) 797-0919
Office: Logan (MAIN 330C)
Email: austin.knuppe@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Middle East Politics
- International Politics
- International Security
- Peacebuilding
Avery Edenfield
Associate Professor; Intersections Director
Phone: (435) 797-5791
Office: Logan (RWST 211)
Email: avery.edenfield@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
- USU Research Week events,
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Intersectional Gender Studies
- Technical Communication
- Feminist Science and Technology Studies
- Queer Theory
- Trans Studies
Abdulkafi Albirini
Professor, Arabic Language Coordinator
Phone: (435) 797-8630
Office: MHC 234
Email: abdulkafi.albirini@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
Current Research Interests
- Theoretical Linguistics
- Sociolinguistics
- Language Acquisition
- Bilingualism
- Heritage Speakers
- Discourse Analysis
Sofía Monzón Rodríguez
Assistant Professor
Office: MHC 216
Email: sofia.monzonrodriguez@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
- USU Research Week events
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Translation and Interpreting Training and Pedagogy
- Community Translation and Interpretation
- Translation and Interpreting in Education
- Legal Translation
- Court Interpreting
- Translation Theory
- Literary & Cultural Translation
- Transcreation
- Translation and Censorship
Aggrey Otieno
Assistant Professor
Office: Logan (AGRS 319)
Email: aggrey.otieno@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
Current Research Interests
- Communication for Social Change
- Big Data and Analytics
- User Engagement in Online Environments
- Social Media Analytics
- Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods
Jia Li
Assistant Professor
Phone: (435) 797-1827
Office: Logan (MAIN 330E)
Email: jia.li@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
- USU Research Week events
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Autocratic Politics
- Democratization
- Democratic Backsliding
- Elections
- Political Parties
- Public Opinion
- Corruption
- East Asia
- Southeast Asia
Adena Rivera-Dundas
Assistant Professor
Office: Logan (RWST 204A)
Email: adena.rivera-dundas@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Black Feminism
- Intersectionality
- Queer of Color Critique
- Legacy of Slavery
Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde
Interim Director of Graduate Studies | Associate Professor
Phone: (435) 797-1241
Office: Logan (MAIN 216F)
Email: guadalupe.marquez-velarde@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
Current Research Interests
- Health Disparities
- Social Inequality
Jessica Schad
Associate Professor | Director, CANRI
Office: Logan (MAIN 216C)
Email: jessica.schad@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Social and Community Dimensions of Environmental Issues
- Survey Methods
- Agricultural Conservation
- Amenity Migration
- Community-Engaged Research
- Rural Sociology
Sophia Martinez-Abbud
Assistant Professor
Office: RWST 302B
Email: a02451410@aggies.usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
- USU Research Week events
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Chicanx/Latinx Literature and Culture
- Punk Genres and Subcultures
- Borderlands Histories
- Migration Studies
- Multicultural Pedagogies
- Archival Work
- Digital Humanities Work
Taylor Rose-Dougherty
Assistant Professor
Office: RWST 301B
Email: taylor.dougherty@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- NCUR (National Council on Undergraduate Research)
- URUR (Utah Council on Undergraduate Research)
- USU Research Week events
Current Research Interests
- English Language Arts (ELA) Teacher Education
- Preservice Teachers
- Adult and Adolescent Literacy
- Critical Literacy
- Critical Discourse Analysis
- White Teacher Identity Studies
- Graphic Novels
- Graphic Literature
- Graphic Composition
Shane Graham
Professor
Phone: (435) 797-2719
Office: Logan (RWST 420B)
Email: shane.graham@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- USU Research Week events
Current Research Interests
- Langston Hughes
- African Literature
- Caribbean Literature
- Black Diaspora Cultures
- Memory Studies
- Transnationalism and Culture
Sydney O'Shay
Assistant Professor, REACH Lab Primary Investigator
Office: Logan (MAIN 202H)
Email: sydney.oshay@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
- Formal (paid) research assistantships
Current Research Interests
- Stigma Communication
- Family Substance use
- Health Interventions
Susan R. Grayzel
Professor
Office: Logan (MAIN 323J)
Email: s.grayzel@usu.edu
Best contact method: Email
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
- Honors Program projects
- Peak Fellowships
- Undergraduate Research and Creative Opportunities (URCOs)
- Faculty-Student Summer Mentorships
Current Research Interests
- Consequences of Modern Warfare on Civilians
- Public History/Oral History on material culture and war
- Family Memory and Modern War
- Women and War
- Peace building after conflict
- Modern Europe (especially Britain and France)