Research Opportunities for Humanities Students

We often say that Barnard students get the “best of both worlds,” enjoying the close-knit community of a small, liberal-arts college like Barnard, while also taking advantage of the research opportunities available at a large research university like Columbia. In our admissions materials, we usually highlight these opportunities in our STEM fields, citing the Summer Research Institute (SRI), or the numerous lab assistant positions available year-round. As a history student, I often wondered if there were similar opportunities in my field of study. Through the process of developing my senior thesis, I was elated to discover the vast set of research resources available to students studying in the humanities.

In my junior year, I took an upper-level history seminar that encouraged us to start thinking about senior thesis topics. Given my interest in indigenous studies, I began to look into the complex history of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Rush. Throughout the semester, we workshopped and refined our thesis ideas, asking ourselves questions like: “What primary and secondary sources are available on my topic?” and “How do the barriers of academia and geography limit the research resources available to scholars?” At the end of this project, our professor suggested that those of us who were committed to expanding on our topic during our senior year could apply for grant funding to visit relevant archives in-person. I knew that many of the sources I sought on my subject were housed in Oklahoma City and difficult to find online, so I decided to apply for grant funding to fly out to Oklahoma myself. The application process consisted of a project proposal (which I had already developed for the class) and a breakdown of the necessary costs needed to cover the trip. Within a few months, the committee approved my request and provided the funding for me to head west.

I flew out to Oklahoma in August before my senior year and spent a week poring over the documents in the archives. There were thousands of primary sources available on my topic, including letters, newspaper articles, and legal documents! As I donned my white cotton gloves to flip through yellowing, handwritten notes, it was exciting to think that I was the first person to see or touch many of these documents in decades. Over this one week period, I cataloged over 200 primary source materials that would eventually find their way into the body of my thesis. Through this process, I found new avenues in my research, and ultimately switched tracks from the famous 1889 Land Rush to cover the lesser-known 1893 Land Rush. The documents that I found certainly added new breadth and depth to my thesis, and I am incredibly grateful for the support of Barnard in funding these humanities research opportunities.

—Becca Soforenko ‘23