Freedom Lab is excited to announce opportunities to hire student researchers on a part-time basis to work with various professors on their research projects. Students are allowed to work no more than 40 hours a month, and will get an hourly rate of 40 rmb. Below please find a list of research work that may interest you:
Professor Jesse Olsavsky
jesse.olsavsky@dukekunshan.edu.cn
Research Area
Few events have shaped history as the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), when African slaves, inspired by the French Revolution, rose up, abolished slavery, and defeated the mighty armies and navies of the Spanish, British and French empires. Significantly, this seemingly obscure event inspired the movement to end African slavery in the USA. American antislavery activists wrote groundbreaking histories of this revolution, histories that proved formative both to American anti-slavery and to later writers, activists, and historians.
I am looking for 2 research assistants who will help me to read, discuss, select, and edit nineteenth century abolitionist histories of the Haitian Revolution, for an anthology of such writings.
I am looking for students who are:
1) Strongly interested in history and literature of any kind, but willing to study deeply the histories and literatures related to the Haitian and French Revolutions, race and slavery in Americas, and decolonization
2) Responsible students who take scholarship and ideas seriously, are willing to put in time, meet deadlines, work collaboratively, and act mature
3) Are willing to do a considerable amount of reading and become genuinely knowledgeable on the subjects of our study
To apply, please send a description of yourself by February 21 (350 words or less). Tell me who you are, what your intellectual interests are, as well as what skills, qualifications, or personal experiences you have which may be useful for this project. Then explain why you are interested in the project specifically.
Professor Selina Lai-Henderson
slai.henderson@dukekunshan.edu.cn
Research Area
I am looking for 1-2 student researchers who can help me with a project on the Chinese reception and translation of African American literature in 20th-century China. The successful applicant will not only gain much deeper insight about the exciting field of Afro-Asian Studies, but also valuable skills with researching online sources and archival material, as well as critical perspectives analyzing US/Chinese literature and history from late 19th century through the Maoist period. The student researcher may have the opportunity to travel to other parts of China to conduct archival research.
The Research assistant should be:
1) Passionate about the research topic and exploring issues revolving English-Chinese translation of literary works
2) Responsible individual who respond to emails promptly and finish tasks on time
3) Independent-minded and willing to travel to other parts of China to conduct archival research (all travel costs will be covered)
For those who are interested, please send a paragraph by February 21 explaining why you are interested in working with me, and what experience you have that may help to enrich the research project.
Professor Qian Zhu
Research Area
In the first half of the 20th century, intellectual investigations of modernity, “new life” and “new men” prevailed in China, an enlightenment movement that deeply engaged with the social movements seeking for democracy, freedom, and national salvation. My research studies the Chinese leftist conceptionalizations of “new life” and their local experiments of mass education, women’s liberation, human emancipation, and anti-fascism from the New Culture Movement to the end of the Pacific War in China and in Southeast Asia (1919-1946). Significantly, the project advances the previous scholarship on Chinese leftism, nationalism, and global anti-fascist movement in the 20th century.
I am looking for 2 student researchers who are interested in studying the 20th century Chinese history and passionate about researching historical archives, such as governmental edicts, political journals, popular magazines, and newspapers. You are welcome to apply if:
1) You can read Chinese publications and conduct English translation.
2) You are responsible to respond emails promptly, work collaboratively, and complete tasks on time.
3) You are independent-minded and willing to conduct archival research online or at site (all the costs will be covered).
If interested, please send a paragraph by February 21 (350 words or less), explaining why you are interested in the project, as well as what skills and experiences you have which may prepare you for this project.
Professor Bryce Beemer
bryce.beemer@dukekunshan.edu.cn
Research Area
My current project is an examination of Buddhist temple slavery in Thailand and Burma, a system of unfree labor in which temples as institutions owned laborers assigned to washing and cleaning temples and Buddha images, protecting and copying religious texts, preparing offerings for pilgrims, and other tasks related to temple affairs. I’m interested in the history of this system of unfree labor in the transition from the 19th and 20th centuries. I am looking for 2 Research Assistants.
Requirements for a Research Assistant:
1) An interest in Southeast Asian history
2) Fluency in Thai or Burmese
3) Translate archival materials in my possession
4) Conduct online archival and academic library research in search of Thai/Burmese language materials. And online newspaper surveys looking for discussion of this topic in the popular press
5) Gather archival materials during summer months and other DKU holidays whenever possible
To start, send me a one paragraph introduction explaining why you would be a good RA by February 21.
