2011 Summer Graduate Research Assistants (from left) Tomasz Frydel, Jakub Smutny, Craig Sorvillo, Andrew Kloes, and Gina Lentine.
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Applications due April 13
The Museum’s Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies invites applications for the Summer Graduate Research Assistant program, designed for students accepted to or currently enrolled in a master's degree (MA) program. The Center will also consider those who have or will have completed an MA within the last two years but are not yet enrolled in a doctoral (PhD) program.
The Center welcomes applications from students in all relevant academic disciplines, including history, political science, literature, Jewish studies, psychology, sociology, geography, and others.
Program Objective
The objective of this program is to acquaint promising MA-level students with Holocaust studies by encouraging participation in the broad range of scholarly and publicly available educational programs the Museum offers during summer.
Projects may include but are not limited to: (1) conducting research on Holocaust-specific and Holocaust-relevant courses in the United States, including assisting with statistical assessments of the state of the field; (2) facilitating preparations related to the August 2012 seminar “Poland and Ukraine during and after World War II in the Records of the International Tracing Service Collection,” as well as other efforts related to the International Tracing Service digital collection at the Museum; and (3) supporting the research, annotation, contextualization, and editing required for advancing the Museum’s Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945 (vols. III–VI) as well as the archival source series Documenting Life and Destruction, especially for Jewish Responses to Persecution, 1933–1946 (vols. III–V) and The Holocaust in Hungary.
In addition, assistants are expected to participate in a weekly training seminar led by Museum staff, which will introduce them to key subjects, essential tools, useful methods, and approaches, as well as to career opportunities in Holocaust research. Each assistant will meet with a staff mentor who will assign weekly tasks and project goals and discuss the assistant's progress on them. Assistants are expected to familiarize themselves with relevant topics through assigned readings and to actively engage with Center staff.
Residency Requirements
Assistants are required to be in residence at the Museum for 12 consecutive weeks, arriving on June 1, 2012, and departing on August 24, 2012. The Center provides assistants with a stipend of $2,500/month, as well as an allowance to offset the cost of direct, economy-class travel to and from Washington, DC. Those who live in the area do not receive a travel allowance.
Eligibility
Applicants must be accepted to or enrolled in an MA program at a North American college or university and have legal permission to work in the United States (i.e., US citizenship, US permanent residency, or proper authorization on a US student visa). The Center will also consider those who have or will have completed an MA within the last two years but are not yet enrolled in a PhD program.
The Center is unable to provide visa assistance for non-US citizens. In addition to English, applicants are encouraged, but not required, to be fluent in one or more of the following languages: German, Russian, Polish, Romanian, Hebrew, Yiddish, French, Dutch, Hungarian, Slovakian, Italian, and/or Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.
Application Materials and Guidelines
All applications must be submitted in English and include:
- A résumé and personal statement of no more than two single-spaced pages. The personal statement should explain your interest in the field of the Holocaust and World War II and how the assistantship might further encourage your studies in this area;
- One letter of recommendation from a faculty member or dean at your institution that speaks to your qualifications. The letter of recommendation must be signed and on institutional letterhead.
To Apply
Please send all materials via mail, fax, or e-mail to:
Jo-Ellyn Decker
Program Coordinator
Visiting Scholar Programs
Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
Washington, DC 20024-2126
Fax: 202.479.9726
E-mail: SGRA@ushmm.org
Selection Results
The Center will notify all applicants of the selection results by early May 2012.
Inquiries
Please direct inquiries to Jo-Ellyn Decker via the contact information provided above or by calling 202.314.7829.
