Current Openings
Research Opportunities for Honors Students
Option to Receive Academic Credit
If offered, students have the option to receive academic credit for a research assistantship by submitting an Honors Contract by the designated academic term deadline. For more information please visit our Honors Contract FAQ page.
Open Positions
Please Note: Positions are sorted by faculty home department. You do not need to have a major or minor in their department or school to apply unless specified otherwise in position description.
NEW LISTINGS FOR FALL 2025:
Educational Leadership
- Professor Jihae Cha - Exploring Learning Pathways for Overage Afghan Young Adult Learners in Northern Virginia
ESIA, Institute for International Science and Technology Policy (IISTP)
- Professor Susan Aaronson - Meta study Trust and AI
History
- Professor Eric Schluessel - History of Inequality in Xinjiang, China
- Professor Katrin Schultheiss - Women Rescuers during the Nazi Period
- Professor David Silverman - For This World and the Next: The Religious Struggle for Native America
Interior Architecture
- Professor Erin Speck - Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanitorium, WELL and LEED Strategies
International Affairs
- Professor Matthew Levinger - NSSP Executive Education Curriculum Design and Development
Mathematics
- Professor Max Alekseyev - Study of Halving Partitions
- Professor Max Alekseyev - Smallest tuples of consecutive Harshad numbers
- Professor Jozef Przytycki - Knot Theory; Assisting with editing, programming, and research
Organizational Sciences & Communication
- Professor Yisheng Peng - Meta-analytic study of employees' emotional labor/emotion regulation strategies at work
School of Media and Public Affairs
- Professor Imani Cheers - Publicity and Promotional Research Assistant for Scholarly Work
- Professor Steven Livingston - Religious Media Content and the Ritual View of Communication
- Professor Ethan Porter - The Meaning Motive
Sociology
- Professor Michelle Kelso - Changing Girls’ Lives in Rural Africa: Impact of Empowerment Programming on Extreme Poverty, Gender-Based Violence and Climate Change Resiliency
Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
- Professor Cynthia Core - Early language skills in young Spanish-English speaking children
Strategic Management & Public Policy
- Professor John Forrer - Biodiversity Credits
- Professor John Forrer - Circular Economy and Circular Business Models
Listings pre-Fall 2025, still active:
Art History
- Professor Jung-Sil Lee - Exhibition Curatorial Assistant
Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
- Professor Andrew Smith - Building a Reference Collection for the Development of Machine-learning Tools to Study Archaeological Sites in Jordan and Aid in the Cultural Resource Management of the World Heritage Site of Petra
Political Science
- Professor Cynthia McClintock - The Challenges to the Building of Political Parties: Peru in Comparative Perspective
RA Position Descriptions
Department: Mathematics
Title: Knot Theory, assisting in editing, programming, and research
Description: Knot Theory is a discipline of modern mathematics, part of topology (geometria situs). Student(s) will assist me with editing programming and doing research in Knot Theory.
Duties: Students under my supervision will be involved in tasks as below:
1. Student would assist in preparing/editing research paper for arXiv submission (and eventual publication). Student has to learn LaTeX and how to draw figures in xfig or other similar program.
2. Many invariants of graphs and knots require pattern testing which require to wrote simple (or not that simple) programs. Also programs are needed to analyze simple algebraic structures related to knots.
Time commitment: 4-6 hours per week (average)
Number of openings: 2
Credit hour option*: 2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: przytyck
gwu [dot] edu (przytyck[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If credit is sought, all registration deadlines and requirements must be met.
Professor: Cynthia McClintock
Department: Political Science
Research Title: The Challenges to the Building of Political Parties: Peru in Comparative Perspective
Description: In some Latin American countries, political parties have rarely achieved institutionalization, and this has been particularly the case in Peru. This project explores explanations for party-building failure, considering in particular the implications of political culture (namely, a history of failures to build parties) and the implications of political economy (namely, shifts in a country's exports and economic production patterns).
Knowledge of Spanish and/or knowledge of quantitative methods would be valuable. It would also be helpful if the research assistant is open to work that could arise for previous scholarly projects by the professor.
Research Assistant Duties: The construction of datasets, largely through online research, and also bibliographic reviews.
Number of openings: 1
Average weekly time commitment: 5-7 hours
Credit hour option*: 3 credits
Submit Resume/Cover Letter to: Professor McClintock (mcclingwu [dot] edu (mcclin[at]gwu[dot]edu))
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract.
Department: Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Title: Building a Reference Collection for the Development of Machine-learning Tools to Study Archaeological Sites in Jordan and Aid in the Cultural Resource Management of the World Heritage Site of Petra
Description:
We are developing a reference collection based on archived archaeological image and text data from southern Jordan. We seek to build a reference collection that will serve as a platform for the development of two Machine-learning (ML) models of use to academics, educators, and conservators, in the preservation and management of archaeological sites associated with the World Heritage site of Petra, now a World Wonder, and other sites in southern Jordan associated with the ancient Incense Route. This reference collection and the ML models derived from it will facilitate the identification and dating of archaeological sites in southern Jordan and promote best practices in cultural heritage management. This reference collection’s data infrastructure and the ML models will also be transferable, allowing scholars in other regions to apply these tools to their datasets. These ML models will eventually form the underpinnings for an applied AI model. This is now a cornerstone project for the Center for Ancient Arabian Studies at GW.
Duties include:
At this stage, the student will be engaged in mostly archival work. The student will mine journals and monographs for illustrations of archaeological ceramic material, scan them, and enter appropriate metadata.
Time commitment: 5-7 hours per week
Credit hour option*: 3
Number of openings: 1-2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: amsiigwu [dot] edu (amsii[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: Art History
Title: Exhibition Curatorial Assistant
Description:
I am seeking a dedicated and detail-oriented Exhibition Assistant to support the planning, researching, and execution of the upcoming exhibition (Oct to Nov.. 2025) titled Ecriture, Body, Empowerment: Korean Contemporary Women Artists at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and other venues. This exhibition explores themes of écriture (writing), body, and empowerment in contemporary Korean and Korean American art, featuring works by text-based artists. Accompanying the exhibition will be an artist talk, a lecture, and the publication of both a brochure and a book compiling research papers by selected students. This position offers a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in curatorial practice and exhibition organization while deepening knowledge of contemporary female artists from Korea.
Key Responsibilities:
• Assist in the step-by-step curatorial process, from research to installation
• Support the development of exhibition materials, including brochures and publications
• Help coordinate logistics across multiple venues
• Communicate effectively with artists, scholars, and institutional partners
• Provide organizational and administrative support for the artist talk and lecture
• Initial overview and compile student’s research papers
Time commitment: 1-3 hours per week
Credit hour option: Not available
Number of openings: 1
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: jsleegwu [dot] edu (jslee[at]gwu[dot]edu)
Department: Organizational Sciences & Communication
Title: Meta-analytic study of employees' emotional labor/emotion regulation strategies at work
Description:
This study will examine the impacts of emotional labor/emotion regulation strategies on employees’ well-being and work outcomes. I am also interested in examining whether younger and older employees manage/regulate their emotions differently at work. A quantitative, meta-analytic method will be used. I aim to complete the literature screening and coding by this semester. Findings will be presented in academic conferences and top tier journals.
Key Responsibilities:
- Review/organize/code literature
- Recruit participants
- Prepare IRBs/administer surveys
- Analyze and manage research data
- Create Qualtrics and set up studies
Time commitment: 5-7 hours per week
Credit hour option: 3
Number of openings: 4
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: yishengpenggwu [dot] edu (yishengpeng[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: SMPA
Title: The Meaning Motive
Description:
For my next book, The Meaning Motive, I have surveyed thousands of people about what they find meaningful in life and in politics. I am very interested in better understanding the contents of these responses. Research assistants will help me evaluate these responses, which were provided in open-ended text boxes. We will understand the content and coherence and what people report finding meaningful in life and in politics. The results will be discussed in the completed book.
Key Responsibilities:
Research assistants will read through thousands of short responses to questions about what people find meaningful in life and in politics. They will code these responses according to pre-set criteria. Together, we will learn about what people do (and do not) find meaningful in life and politics.
Time commitment: 1-3 hours per week
Credit hour option: 1
Number of openings: 3
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: evportergwu [dot] edu (evporter[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: Sociology
Title: Changing Girls’ Lives in Rural Africa: Impact of Empowerment Programming on Extreme Poverty, Gender-Based Violence and Climate Change Resiliency
Description:
While research has focused extensively on programming, little scholarship focuses on the impact holistic empowerment programs have had on economic and social sustainability, GBV prevention, and climate resiliency for adolescent girls and youth in rural areas. My project will complement existing work on gender and development (writ empowerment) while also expanding theory and praxis. In practice, development programs often offer gender-based violence as separate from other initiatives. I believe my research will reveal that a holistic empowerment model can greatly impact the lives of teenage girls living in extreme poverty in rural areas by increasing their economic and social stability, thus reducing GBV, even if it is not the primary intervention area. Empowerment can do so through confidence building, the creation of strong social ties and networks in communities, and microfinance grants and coaching for small business development. Thus my work will both complement and challenge existing paradigms, especially of GBV prevention models that use stand alone and targeted programming to decrease its prevalence
Methods: Survey research, focus groups and interviews.(Already completed)
Key Responsibilities:
Position 1: Quantitative data analysis assistant. I would love someone who can help us work with our data who is familiar with R and/or Stata. Experience required. Hours - 1-3 per week.. Credit hour option is possible.
Position 2: General research assistant. Duties include assisting with lit reviews, working with qualitative data and presentations. Willingness to learn NVIVO. Credit hour option is possible.
Time commitment: 3-5 hours per week
Credit hour option: 2
Number of openings: 1-2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: mkelsogwu [dot] edu (mkelso[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: History
Title: History of Inequality in Xinjiang, China
Description:
I am using quantitative methods to investigate changes in inequality in the Uyghur-majority Xinjiang region of China 1877–1928. This was a critical period in the region's development, as well as a highly politically contested one. I am trying to find out: Did inequality increase between Uyghurs and Han Chinese? Or between different socioeconomic classes? Or both? My main source is a large collection of tax records and land ownership records, which I have been entering into a database. I then subject the data to statistical analysis to demonstrate change over time.
Key Responsibilities:
The research assistant must be able to read Chinese. Much of the work will be data entry, converting Chinese-language tax records into database entries. The RA will ideally be familiar with statistical methods and/or data visualization and will apply those methods. The RA will also learn about measurements of inequality and how we apply them in contexts where data is fragmentary.
Time commitment: 1-3 hours per week
Credit hour option: 1
Number of openings: 1
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: schluesselgwu [dot] edu (schluessel[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: SMPA; ESIA
Title: Religious Media Content and the Ritual View of Communication
Description:
This project builds on two recent publications, both of which draw on James Carey's "ritual view of communication." In simplified terms, Carey asserts that we turn to the media sources that we do in a fashion similar to the way we turn to various religious experiences; we seek affirmation and reconstitution of animating norms and values. Joining a graduate research assistant and MA student, this project would ask that you work with me and the GTA downloading and coding religious online content. Here are two recent articles that provide a more complete theoretical explanation: https://journals.sagepub.com/
Key Responsibilities:
Working with Steven Livingston and second-year MA student Sarah Banholzer, the honors research assistant will help design a data collection strategy, download online content from about a dozen different content platforms (mostly YouTube), configure the data in a text format, and work with Gelman Library research librarians using Python to analyze content patterns. The main benefit for the student involves research design, data collection and analysis, and learning to work with a research team.
Time commitment: 3-5 hours per week
Credit hour option: 2
Number of openings: 1
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: slivgwu [dot] edu (sliv[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: IISTP, ESIA
Title: Meta study Trust and AI
Description:
We need an RA to develop a listing and summarize (can use notebook LLM) the scholarly literature on trust in AI (how to develop it; sustain it, what it means etc.) from different disciplines. WE hope to then do a meta study. WE will then do trustworthy AI.
Key Responsibilities:
- Do a library search of the literature.
- Obtain the literature and summarize.
- Work with us on drafting the metastudy.
Time commitment: 5-7 hours per week
Credit hour option: 4
Number of openings: 2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: saaronsogwu [dot] edu (saaronso[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: History
Title: Women Rescuers during the Nazi Period
Description:
I am seeking a student research assistant for a new project that will document the largely unrecognized work of women who organized the rescue of Jews and other victims of the Holocaust in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. While a significant amount of research has been conducted on the efforts of a handful of prominent rescuers (for example, Varian Fry, Nicholas Winton), there is relatively little work on the hundreds of ordinary people who risked their lives to try to rescue Jews and other persecuted peoples from Nazi Germany and German-occupied countries. Especially noticeable is the absence of published work on women who used their professional and social connections to create pathways of escape for persecuted individuals and families. This project seeks to recover the history of these women in an effort not only to restore them to the historical record where they have been largely ignored, but also to reveal the many ingenuous strategies that women adopted to conduct their courageous and lifesaving work.
Key Responsibilities:
I am just beginning this project so the research assistant would have the opportunity to help shape its parameters and contribute meaningfully to its substance. Initial work would involve scouring the numerous on-line research databases and archival collections to develop a preliminary index of women who will be included in the project. That index will form the foundation on which further research will be built. I am looking for a highly organized, responsible, motivated research assistant with an interest in the history of the Holocaust and women’s history.
Required skills: Familiarity with using online archival sites; ability to accurately record and organize identified relevant material (attention to accuracy and detail is essential!); Reading knowledge of at least one relevant European language, e.g. German, Dutch, French, Polish.. (RA does not have to be fluent but they must be able to navigate a foreign-language-based website and understand the gist of the material on it.); ability to work independently and to take initiative.
Desirable background: Familiarity with the history of the Holocaust, Europe in the 1930s, women’s history; Experience with database creation and management.
Time commitment: 3-5 hours per week
Credit hour option: 2
Number of openings: 1
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: kschulthgwu [dot] edu
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: Mathematics
Title: Study of Halving Partitions
Description:
Recently Clark Kimberling introduced a class of integer halving partitions, including partitions such as 13 = 7 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1, in which each next part equals half of the previous one rounded up or down. The number of halving partitions of n for small integers n is tabulated in the OEIS sequence https://oeis.org/A349552 The proposed project is aimed at exploring properties of halving partitions by establishing connections to divide-and-conquer sequences (Hwang et al., ACM Trans. Algorithms, 13, 2017) and/or payphone permutations (Alekseyev, Amer. Math. Monthly 131, 2024), and deriving an explicit formula for the number of halving partitions.
Key Responsibilities:
Read the suggested mathematical literature, learn about methods of combinatorial enumeration, carry out numerical experiments, derive and prove properties of halving partitions, prepare a final report and/or research paper with the exposition of obtained results. Project requires analytical thinking and some programming.
Time commitment: 1-3 hours per week
Credit hour option: 1
Number of openings: 1
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: maxalgwu [dot] edu (maxal[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: Mathematics
Title: Smallest Tuples of Consecutive Harshad Numbers
Description:
A Harshad number is a positive integer that is divided by the sum of its digits. Cooper and Kennedy (Fibonacci Quart. 21, 1993) proved that at most 20 consecutive integers can all be Harshad numbers. The smallest n-tuples of consecutive Harshad numbers are known for n up to 14 as well as for n = 16 and n = 17 (see https://oeis.org/A060159). This project is aimed at closing the gap by finding the smallest n-tuples of consecutive Harshad numbers for the remaining values n = 15, 18, 19, and 20.
Key Responsibilities:
Read the suggested mathematical literature, design an algorithmic approach, carry out numerical experiments (possibly using HPC), prepare a final report and/or research paper with description of the algorithm and computational results. Project requires familiarity with elementary number theory and scientific programming.
Time commitment: 1-3 hours per week
Credit hour option: 1
Number of openings: 1
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: maxalgwu [dot] edu (maxal[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: Interior Architecture
Title: Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanitorium , WELL and LEED Strategies
Description:
The project is an analysis of Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanitorium for compliance with current WELL (International WELL Building Institute) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Standards.
Using the current LEED and WELL Standards along with floor plans, elevations and other written information about Paimio Sanitorium determine which, if any, strategies are evidenced.
To understand how thinking has remained the same and also advanced with respect to sustainability and human wellness.
Key Responsibilities:
- Find information about the sanitorium including floor plans, elevations, and other orthographic and 3D drawings of the sanitorium.
- Find articles and other information about the sanitorium.
- Access the current LEED and WELL Standards.
- Compare the information about the sanitorium with the Standards and note any evidence of the Standards being incorporated. Note where unusual features that were believed to be healthy were incorporated.
Time commitment: 3-5 hours per week
Credit hour option: 2
Number of openings: 1
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: jespeckgwu [dot] edu (jespeck[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: History
Title: For This World and the Next: The Religious Struggle for Native America
Description:
A wide-ranging book project about how religion has factored in struggles to control Native American societies, from ancient times to the present. I am seeking research assistance from three people for three different aspects of this work.
Key Responsibilities:
Project 1: Go through the microfilm records of Record Group 75 (Bureau of Indian Affairs) for each Indian Agency (or reservation setting) with a focus on the proceedings of the Court of Indian Offenses designed to combat "heathenish practices." I am interested in cases involving Native religious practice. This research will require reading nineteenth- and twentieth-century handwritten cursive English on microfilm at the National Archives in downtown DC.
Project 2: Using the National Indian Boarding School Digital Archives, examine student newspapers, administrative records, photographs, and various other materials from Native American Boarding Schools to determine the role of Christian teaching in these public institutions. Most records will be in typescript, but some will appear in cursive English. All the records are available online.
Project 3: A systematic reading of the digitized administrative records of colonial New France (or Canada), known as Series C11A. I am looking for episodes in which Native people used claims to a shared Catholic identity (whether in speech or ornamentation) to broker their relations with the French. I am also looking for episodes in which French priests (usually Jesuits) served as interpreters or spokesmen for Native people in their diplomacy with French officials. This work will require reading fluency in French. The records are hand-written in seventeenth-century script.
Time commitment: 5-7 hours per week
Credit hour option: 3
Number of openings: 1-3
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: djsilvergwu [dot] edu (djsilver[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: Educational Leadership
Title: Exploring Learning Pathways for Overage Afghan Young Adult Learners in Northern Virginia
Description:
This project investigates the educational trajectories of overage young adult learners with Afghan backgrounds who have resettled in Northern Virginia following conflict and displacement. While global scholarship on refugee education has highlighted the acute needs of school-aged children in emergencies, far less attention has been paid to those who arrive beyond the conventional age of secondary schooling. These learners, typically between the ages of 18 and 25, face systemic exclusion: they are deemed too old to complete high school within established timelines, yet they remain poorly served by adult education structures designed for mid-career or older adults. Their experiences of interrupted schooling, constrained opportunities, and contested belonging underscore how conflict-induced displacement produces enduring challenges for equity and inclusion.
The study is grounded in two complementary perspectives: the integration framework and the socio-cultural approach. The integration framework highlights the structural and institutional mechanisms that regulate immigrant learners’ access to education. Policies such as age caps, program eligibility requirements, and rigid graduation criteria shape not only who is permitted to participate but also how opportunity itself is defined. From this perspective, the barriers Afghan-background learners encounter cannot be reduced to individual shortcomings; rather, they reflect the effects of inflexible institutional arrangements and policy design. The socio-cultural approach, by contrast, conceptualizes learning as deeply embedded in social relations, cultural identities, and dynamics of belonging. Family responsibilities, peer networks, community expectations, and migration histories all shape the ways in which learners engage with schooling. Taken together, these frameworks illuminate the tension between structural exclusion and the pursuit of belonging, demonstrating how conflict and forced migration reverberate through both institutional policy and everyday experience.
The project adopts a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) design in partnership with local schools and nonprofit organizations. This approach ensures that Afghan-background learners and their communities remain active participants in the production and interpretation of knowledge. Data collection includes focus groups with Afghan young adults in community-based settings, individual interviews with learners aged 18–25, and stakeholder interviews with educators and community partners. Community partners are engaged throughout the analytic process to ensure contextual accuracy and cultural validity.
Key Responsibilities:
- Project Coordination & Meetings
- Attend and actively participate in weekly project team meetings (take notes, track action items).
- Communicate regularly with the faculty supervisor, PhD students, and peers regarding progress, challenges, and deadlines.
- Maintain shared project files and trackers (Google Drive, Zotero, or equivalent platforms).
- Literature Review & Writing Support
- Conduct systematic literature searches on topics such as refugee education, adult/overage learners, integration frameworks, and socio-cultural approaches.
- Maintain and update a literature tracker (spreadsheet or Zotero database).
- Draft annotated bibliographies that summarize, critically evaluate, and organize key sources.
- Assist in drafting background sections of research articles, reports, and grant proposals.]
- Data Collection Support
- Assist with recruitment of participants in coordination with community partners.
- Help prepare interview and focus group materials (consent forms, interview guides, demographic questionnaires).
- Support note-taking during interviews and focus groups (as appropriate, with participant consent).
- Transcribe audio recordings and ensure accuracy in translation checks when needed.
- Follow IRB protocols for confidentiality and ethical handling of data.
- Data Management & Analysis
- Organize and code qualitative data (transcripts, field notes) in NVivo, Dedoose, or other qualitative software (training will be provided).
- Support preliminary analysis by identifying recurring themes, patterns, and illustrative quotes.
- Maintain data logs to ensure transparency and reliability.
Time commitment: 5-7 hours per week
Credit hour option: 3
Number of openings: 2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: jihae [dot] chagwu [dot] edu (jihae[dot]cha[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: SMPA
Title: Publicity and Promotional Research Assistant for Scholarly Work
Description:
Seeking a detail-oriented research assistant to support the publicity and promotional campaign for two upcoming book releases scheduled for October 2025, "Framing Fatherhood" & "Sacred Sisterhood". This role combines research, content creation, and outreach coordination to maximize visibility and engagement for both titles.
This position offers valuable experience in book marketing, content creation, and publicity campaign management while supporting meaningful literature on family and community themes.
Key Responsibilities:
- Social Media Content Creation
- Develop engaging social media posts for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- Create visual content including graphics, quote cards, and promotional images
- Produce short-form video content (Reels, TikToks, YouTube Shorts) featuring book themes and author insights
- Maintain consistent brand voice across platforms for both books
- Schedule posts using social media management tools
- Media Outreach & Tracking
- Research and compile media contact lists (podcasts, blogs, magazines, newspapers)
- Track outreach efforts in organized spreadsheets with follow-up schedules
- Monitor media coverage and compile press clippings
- Identify relevant influencers, book reviewers, and potential interview opportunities
- Coordinate interview scheduling and logistics
- Promotional Campaign Support
- Research book marketing trends and competitor analysis
- Identify speaking engagement opportunities at conferences, book clubs, and events
- Support email marketing campaigns to author's mailing list
- Research bookstore events and reading opportunities
- Track campaign metrics and provide regular progress reports
Required Skills:
- Strong writing and visual design abilities
- Proficiency with social media platforms and content creation tools
- Experience with Canva, Adobe Creative Suite, or similar design software
- Basic video editing skills (CapCut, iMovie, or similar)
- Excellent organizational and project management skills
- Research and database management experience
- Understanding of book marketing and publishing industry preferred
Deliverables:
- 4-5 social media posts per week across platforms
- Weekly media outreach reports with contact logs
- Monthly campaign analytics and recommendations
- Content calendar for both book launches
- Comprehensive media contact database
Timeline:
- Start Date: September 2025 (1 month pre-launch preparation)
- Duration: Fall 2025 semester (September 2025-January 2026)
- Time commitment: 10-15 hours per week
Credit hour option: 4
Number of openings: 1
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: imanimcheersgwu [dot] edu (imanimcheers[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: International Affairs
Title: NSSP Executive Education Curriculum Design and Development
Description:
The GWU National Security Studies Program (NSSP) delivers strategic executive education programs for military officers from the United States, international partner nations, and civilians at comparable levels. NSSP’s flagship program is the two-week Senior Manager Course in National Security Leadership (SMCNS) for senior military officers at the O-6 level and civilians at the GS-14/15 or equivalent level. SMCNS was first launched in 1982 as an Office of Secretary of Defense initiative and has been housed at ESIA since 2007.
One key component of the SMCNS experience is an immersive 1.5-day capstone strategic simulation exercise that simulates a whole-of-government response to an emerging international crisis. The simulation reinforces core concepts from the SMCNS and provides the students with an opportunity to replicate the complex interplay of the executive branch, legislative branch, international organizations, interest groups, and media. Carefully selected senior mentors coach SMCNS students as they navigate a complex national security issue that culminates with a simulated Congressional hearing, press conferences, and National Security Council decision briefing. Recent SMCNS simulations have depicted crises in the Arctic, Baltic region, nuclear proliferation, and South Asia.
The design and development of the SMCNS strategic simulation is a significant annual undertaking that carefully incorporates current events, NSSP learning objectives, and emerging strategic priorities. The ultimate goal of this effort is preparing military and civilian leaders to navigate complex and uncertain challenges as strategic advisors or strategic leaders.
The SMCNS strategic simulation is developed annually to address the learning objectives identified by the NSSP Director in consultation with experts in national security, the intelligence community, media, and the legislative branch. The simulation development process centers on preparing a professional 30-40 page simulation packet that includes the exercise scenario, background information, maps, and essential reference information. The packet is accompanied by 40-50 scripted individual roles for the student participants that credibly reflects the complexity of the national security decision process and its inherent tensions.
Key Responsibilities:
Among other responsibilities, research assistants will be valued members of NSSP’s strategic simulation team responsible for the research, development, design, execution, and documentation of the exercise. They will work closely with the NSSP Director, military advisor, and visiting scholars throughout their tenure. Assistants will participate in the selection of the simulation topic, conduct research for the scenario, and draft substantial portions of the simulation packet. Research may include literature review, interviews with subject matter experts, and attendance at relevant public events in the Washington, DC area.
The selected research assistants will be integral members of the strategic simulation exercise tentatively scheduled for March 11-12, 2026 where they will directly interact with senior mentors and SMCNS students. Research assistants will document the exercise, key observations, and outcomes. They may be asked to leverage this experience in the collaborative drafting of articles for publication.
Research assistants may have opportunities to participate in the development of the SMCNS curriculum and syllabus. They may also be asked to independently schedule and facilitate video recordings from international experts on a variety of topics.
Time commitment: 1-3 hours per week (Fall 2025); 7+ hours per week (Spring 2026)
Credit hour option: 1 credit (Fall 2025); 4 credits (Spring 2026)
Number of openings: 2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: mlevingergwu [dot] edu (mlevinger[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: Strategic Management & Public Policy
Title: Biodiversity Credits
Description:
Sustainable biodiversity of the global environment is under threat due to expanded deforestation, corporate farming and urbanization. Carbon credits and carbon market exchanges have been established as an approach to reduce carbon emissions. Conservation groups have become interested in the idea of establishing 'biodiversity credits' as an approach to advancing biodiversity, but the idea is new and there are many practical questions on how such an approach would work and how success world be measured.
The research project involves writing a report on the opportunities and challenges of establishing a global biodiversity credit trading regime, drawing on the literature and the experiences of global carbon credit exchanges. Based on the report ICR will convene a meeting of conservation org and other interested parties to discuss the findings of the report and develop a Work Plan for a collaboration to develop pilot programs that advance biodiversity using biodiversity credits.
Key Responsibilities:
The RAs will conduct a literature review and write up an annotated bibliography of current research in the field, help write the ICR report, and assist in organizing the seminar
Time commitment: 5-7 hours per week
Credit hour option: 3
Number of openings: 2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: jforrergwu [dot] edu (jforrer[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: Strategic Management & Public Policy
Title: Circular Economy and Circular Business Models
Description:
Circular Economy has become a popular topic among governments, advocates and businesses. The focus of the topic has been the reduction of waste. But efforts to develop b business models that utilize the waste for commercial purposes and embrace sustainability face many challenges. In response, ICR is developing a different approach -- circular business models.
Circular business models consider the concern about waste as a matter to be addressed by considering sourcing security issues. For any company, the reliability and sustainability of their supply chain is a constant risk. Firms face three options when addressing the risks around their supply chains:
- Take actions that mitigate the risks of the existing supply chain.
- Selective different sources and supply chain partners to produce required materials and services.
- Harvest needed materials from its own or other's waste streams.
Our research is developing a framework and an analytic tool to help firms make the determination of which the options offer the best way to reduce sourcing risks.
One, we will focus on U.S state laws regarding circularity regulations and requirements. Two, we will develop a CBM Mapping tool that examines the full supply chain of a company and identifies what options the firm has to alter its practices (and its business model) to increase supply chain security -- including waste utilization
Key Responsibilities:
RAs will search state government policies regarding circularity and document what requirements exist. A report will be written based on the data collected and analyzed.
RAs will help develop an analytic tool and search capability -- using AI -to create a CBM map for a specific firm
Time commitment: 5-7 hours per week
Credit hour option: 3
Number of openings: 2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: jforrergwu [dot] edu (jforrer[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.
Department: Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
Title: Early language skills in young Spanish-English speaking children
Description:
My research focuses on Spanish-English bilingual language development. I have videos and transcripts of parent-child interactions of 30-month old children in Spanish and in English. I would like to analyze the language samples to describe the children's speech sound use, vocabulary and grammar skills in each language.
Key Responsibilities:
- Use videos and language transcripts to analyze vocabulary, grammar, and sound production.
- Use software tools to complete language analyses.
- Find publications on topics related to bilingual language development and summarize relevant information.
- Students may develop a research project to present at a GWU student research forum or another conference.
Time commitment: 3-5 hours per week
Credit hour option: 1
Number of openings: 2
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: coregwu [dot] edu (core[at]gwu[dot]edu)
*If seeking academic credit, you must complete an Honors Contract before the semester deadline.