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Proposals are intended to be well developed plans for your experience. However, experiences are exploratory in
nature, and we are flexible with changes throughout the experience. If your experience changes after receiving
approval on your proposal, contact your honors advisor to verify the changes still satisfy the requirements of an
honors experience.
Basic Information
Full Name: Jessica Smith
Title of Project: Unaccompanied Minors in Cincinnati Project—Research Assistant Phase Two
Thematic Area(s): Research, Community Engagement, Leadership
Expected Start Date: June 26th, 2017
Expected End Date: September 1st, 2017
GUIDELINES
1. Proposal submission timeline: Proposals should be submitted at least one month prior to the expected
start date of the experience. International experiences require at least two months’ notice. Contact your
honors advisor immediately for any exceptions.
2. Proposal length: While the quality of the proposal is most important, strong proposals are typically 3-4
pages single-spaced.
3. Proposal format: Please maintain the proposal format (e.g. headers, layout)
4. Time commitment: Experiences should consist of at least 75-90 hours of preparation, execution, and
reflection. This is approximately equivalent to the commitment of honors seminars and pre-approved
experiences.
Additionally, the Student Travel Policy restricts UC-sponsored travel to countries under a U.S. Department of
State Travel Warning. Those who wish to visit a country with a travel warning must seek an exemption through
UC International. Students traveling without a faculty or staff leader must individually request an exemption.
We cannot allow you to count this travel as an honors experience nor can we give you a grant without an
approved exemption.
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1. Abstract
Briefly describe the experience. What makes this experience personally meaningful? What goals do you have for this
experience? What is your timeline for this experience?
*If you are proposing an international experience, provide an itinerary.
**If you are developing this experience from an existing opportunity (class with a study tour, campus organization, co-op,
etc.) that is not already an honors seminar or pre-approved experience, how will you differentiate your experience from
what is already required of other students?
If you are developing this experience from an existing opportunity (class with a study tour, campus organization, co-op,
etc.) that is not already an honors seminar or pre-approved experience, how will you differentiate your experience from
what is already required of other students?
I hope to differentiate this experience from those of other students in that it could possibly the only time I have the
opportunity to do something like this in my time at UC. There are not very many research experiences that align so
perfectly with my career and educational goals, and being in a smaller department results in fewer opportunities. The
Anthropology Department is happy to encourage research and development in the field, but before I could start
undergraduate research of my own, it was my goal to have some experience first. In the future, I hope to take advantage of
a program like UHP Discover, but the timing and specificity of this program is a near perfect fit with what I hope to do in
the future. This kind of opportunity to do research in cultural anthropology as an anthropology student would be different
from that of my other UHP peers, but also different than anything that I have ever done before. It is my goal to use this
experience as a platform to do more research in the future.
Advisor Feedback
Must Include: Required Revisions: Effective:
2. Experience Advisor
Identify an experience advisor and provide their contact information. Explain why you chose this person and how you
plan to utilize your advisor for this experience.
Note: Advisor(s) should have knowledge or expertise in an area related to the experience. Honors advisors, undergraduate
students, and family members cannot be experience advisors.
Explain why you chose this person and how you plan to utilize your advisor for this experience:
Having worked with Dr. Rodriguez in the classroom setting, I am already familiar with her teaching style and her
expertise on the subject for the research project. As a cultural anthropologist and instructor in the Anthropology
Department, she is knowledgeable on how to teach anthropological method, and I feel comfortable and confident in
asking her any questions that I may have. Working with Dr. Rodriguez also helps in the regard that she has already
mastered the software that we will be using, and it is a common software for anthropologists to use for qualitative data.
Lastly, Dr. Rodriguez has been my advisor for the past year, and she knows my strengths and where to challenge me, but
she also knows the places that I may have more questions and doubts about my abilities. Each week, we plan to meet as a
team to go over goals and points of improvement in order to move forward and stay on track, but also to acknowledge
what changes and adjustments need to be made. I look forward to working more with her and learning more about her
experiences with research and anthropological methods.
Advisor Feedback
Must Include: Required Revisions: Effective:
1) Research: Demonstrate the ability to locate, interpret, and critically evaluate primary sources appropriate to field.
a) The most crucial primary sources of data collected throughout this project are the interviews with leaders and
partners in the Latino/a community, parents and guardians, schools, churches, and the unaccompanied minors
themselves. Using interviews for research and data collection is also a very important skill to master in the field of
anthropology as it is a good way to collect the data first hand and get a good “feel” for how individuals perceive
themselves and their position in the research. Part of the interview process is determining who would be the most
relevant person to interview and locating their contact information. I will be conducting interviews myself, and
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that will be experience that will undoubtedly benefit me in my current understanding of the project, but also as an
anthropologist in the future (like graduate school) when I may be conducting interviews for my own research.
b) Estimated time commitment: 15-20 hours
2) Leadership: Motivate and collaborate effectively with others towards completion of shared projects or goals.
a) The entire experience of being a research assistant involves working towards collaborating effectively with others.
Each day in the office, I work with my research partner Lucy to input data, discuss the best subsequent formatting
for the data, and the most efficient ways not only fulfill our tasks but to go above and beyond what is expected of
us to ensure the success of the project. In Phase Two of the research project, especially, Lucy and I will be
collaborating to come up with research questions and to research the potential interview subjects, themselves. I
will also be working closely with Dr. Rodriguez to discuss our progress, things I am doing well, and areas of
improvement. Each week, Lucy, Dr. Rodriguez and I set aside time to meet as a team and go over our
accomplishments of the past week and goals for the next week. I am also getting used to collaborating with
someone in my role as a research assistant and partner rather than only as a student, and that also requires some
personal adjustments.
b) Estimated time commitment: 100+ hours
3) Community Engagement: Identify and differentiate multiple ways to contribute towards the development or
achievement of the community’s goals.
a) The most important outcome of the data that we are collecting through this research project is that it will help Su
Casa provide better services for the unaccompanied minors and the immigrant Latino/a population in Cincinnati
as a whole. The ultimate goal of the research is to compile an extensive database of resources for Su Casa and
through Social Network Analysis, connect people and organizations in the community to each other so that they
can work together and collaborate on projects, events, and resource sharing. Collecting solid data on a topic that
people who work in public policy in Cincinnati do not have much of would also help to shape initiatives that can
better serve the Latino/a community in Cincinnati at large in ways that Cincinnati’s government is not currently
aware of or taking advantage of. Through my work with various methods of extensive analysis, coding, and one
day presenting the data, I can really be a part of something that evokes beneficial change for a local community
and population.
4) Estimated time commitment: 50-60 hours
Advisor Feedback
Must Include: Required Revisions: Effective:
1) “Essential Ethnographic Methods: Observations, Interviews, and Questionnaires” – Steven L. Schensul, Jean J.
Schensul, Margaret Diane LeCompte
a) This book is part of the Ethnographer’s Toolkit series, and it details the process of properly preparing to observe,
create and conduct interviews, and developing and conducting questionnaires. I am hoping that this would give
me some more background knowledge on these methods as I have not done research before, nor have I formally
learned about ethnographic methods in an educational setting. It will also help both Lucy and I to communicate
with each other and Dr. Rodriguez on a foundation of knowledge that the three of us would share on a basic level.
Not only would it assist me in the research that I am doing now, but it would also prepare me for the required
Ethnographic Methods course that I will take at some point in my time as an undergrad at UC.
b) Learning outcome connection: Research, Leadership
2) “See What We Say: Using Concept Mapping to Visualize Latino Immigrant’s Strategies for Health Intervention”-
Lisa M. Vaughn
a) This article was written using the Latino immigrant population in Cincinnati as the basis for the data. Although
concept mapping is not a method that we will be using, it will be helpful to see how someone else has started with
the same population and carried a project through until the end. The article directly concerning the Latino/a
immigrant population in Cincinnati is especially helpful because despite the 2016 date of publication, the
immigrant Latino/a population in Cincinnati has already changed so much since then, and it will also allow me to
track changes and trends within the community to figure out how to best serve them in this project.
b) Learning outcome connections: Research, Community Engagement
Advisor Feedback
Must Include: Required Revisions: Effective:
5. On-going Reflection
The on-going reflection should help you process the experience and progress toward your chosen learning outcomes.
Describe your method for reflecting throughout the experience. Indicate specific reflection questions/topics you plan to
use to guide your reflective process.
Note: A variety of methods can be used for on-going reflection. Some examples are videos, drawings, blogs, songs, and
journals. Reflection topics to consider include your ideas/insights about the experience, connection to other areas of
involvement, and your progress towards the learning outcomes.
As journaling is the mode in which I process my thoughts and ideas best, I will be keeping a journal to reflect
upon my experiences. Because my day-to-day experiences differ, I would like to keep a weekly journal so that I can
organize my thoughts and experiences in a more holistic perspective. I will be a bit further away from the experience than
daily journaling would lead me, and that would allow me to really dig in to what I learned about myself and my abilities
and also where I can go from there. Some specific questions and topics I plan on using to guide my reflection are:
What happened throughout the week that made me feel confident in my abilities?
What happened throughout the week that led me to doubt myself? Can I turn that into a positive experience?
Did anything I heard change my perspective on the project? On myself? On life?
How will what I learned this week affect how to proceed in the project in the long run?
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Advisor Feedback
Must Include: Required Revisions: Effective:
Because the research is not my own and the project is approximately a year long, I will not be able to share details
of the research with anyone due to confidentiality stipulations; however, I would like to share my experience on World
Anthropology Day in the Anthropology Department to help encourage other Anthropology students to seek out research
experiences in the Humanities. On World Anthropology Day, the Anthropology Department holds workshops and
discussions to help stimulate conversations on why people are passionate about anthropology, and it would be my ultimate
goal to collaborate with others who have done research in the Humanities to possibly even form a panel sharing our
experiences and answering questions of other undergrad students who might want to learn more about research
experiences. Prior to this experience, I knew nearly nothing about what being a research assistant would actually be like,
and some tips and advice on how to go about approaching opportunities for research would be something that I would
have found helpful at this time last year.
Advisor Feedback
Must Include: Required Revisions: Effective:
The funding for my pay and resources ends on June 17th, but I have secured a STEM grant from the Anthropology
Department that will fund an extra week of work for me; unfortunately, this means that after June 23rd, I will be working
the equivalent of an unpaid internship.
Number of Weeks Hours Per Week $/hour (Ohio Minimum Total Money Needed*
Wage)*
12 21 8.15 ~$2,053.80
*Ohio minimum wage for 2017 taken from National Conference of State Legislatures
(http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx)
**Cost of travel and equipment (such as recorder and qualitative analysis software) covered already, so I have listed the
what would be the cost of my labor without the taxes taken out.
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Advisor Feedback
Notes: Required Revisions: Effective:
Demonstrate the ability to locate, interpret, and critically evaluate primary sources appropriate to field.
Identify and apply appropriate methods to collect and organize data for analysis.
Analyze and interpret the meaning of results.
Produce dissemination appropriate to the field in order to share the results or impact of the research.
Articulate the broader significance of the research project and its relationship to other fields, research and ideas.