Professorial Assistants
The Digital Humanities and Literary Cognition Lab typically accepts two Professorial Assistants (PA) per year with the possibility of continuing for the remainder of their time at MSU. The number of PAs the lab accepts is entirely dependent on the amount of work we expect to have in the coming year. As the lab continues to grow, we hope to provide many students with the opportunity to work in our interdisciplinary scholarship.
We seek students with the following skill sets:
- A willingness to learn, adapt, and dedicate time to developing new skills
- A high proficiency in writing and communication skills
- A good team player with the ability to follow direction
- Shows leadership qualities and takes initiative in their work
- If a STEM student – A basic understanding of statistics (or is taking statistics in the coming year)
- An interest in interdisciplinary scholarship
If you are interested in working as a PA in the DHLC and are involved in the Honors College PA program, please contact your HC advisor and program coordinator.
Humanities Approaches
The DHLC has several different lines of inquiry that require a humanistic approach in our research methods. Majors including, but not limited to, English (literary studies), cognitive science, linguistics, cultural studies, and musicology provide unique methodological perspectives that allow our research lines to continue to stay grounded in the humanities. Additionally, the humanist student will have the potential to communicate the lab’s research by formulating research presentations at undergraduate conferences and by assisting in the writing of grants and scholarly articles.
STEM Approaches
Prospective Honors College PAs that are majoring in, but not limited to, psychology, neuroscience, statistics, computer science, and biology may gravitate towards the interdisciplinary scholarship that the DHLC researches. The work of the DHLC may be grounded in the humanities, but it is supported by science.
Research methods include:
- fMRI data-tracking
- Experiment design and execution
- Data collection and analysis
- Statistical software analysis
Furthermore, learning code and the back end of softwares such as Python-based softwares, FSL, MatLab, E-Prime, and more is a great opportunity for STEM students.
Prospective Researchers
If you are a current undergraduate student interested in joining the DHLC, please fill out this form or click the button below. We accept applications from students of all academic levels, and we particularly encourage underclassmen to apply.
Please note that while the form is always open, we only check the responses periodically. You will receive an update from us concerning your application when our lab is actively hiring, which typically occurs at the end of academic semesters.