Research Assistantships

This research assistantship offers the opportunity for Harvard College students to conduct research for Rouven Symank, one of our Center’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellows from Europe.

The project examines historical injustice, rectificatory justice, and intergenerational public justification. The research assistant will help build a structured literature review and comparative case summaries of restitution processes—especially cases where objects are returned or arranged through long-term loans (e.g., the Benin Bronzes and Asante regalia). Tasks include identifying and summarizing academic work at the intersection of political science, cultural-heritage law, and political theory; constructing a simple analysis framework (actors, legal basis, key arguments, timeline, outcome); and supporting data organization.

This position is for a candidate with knowledge of and interest in political theory and qualitative political science, especially questions of cultural property, historical injustice, and the politics of reconciliation.

This assistantship takes place during the Spring 2026 and Fall 2026 semesters. 

Required skills:

• strong qualitative reading and synthesis.
• clear analytic writing and careful organization of sources/data.
• ability to search academic databases.

Preferred skills:

• basic qualitative coding of interview and documentary material.
• familiarity with heritage governance/comparative policy frameworks.

Pay: $20/hr.

Application Materials:

Interested students should submit the following materials as a single PDF:

1. cover letter (max. 2 page) describing research interests, relevant coursework or experience, and motivation for applying.
2. current CV.

To submit your application, please send your materials directly to Rouven Symank rouvensymank@fas.harvard.edu.

This research assistantship offers the opportunity for Harvard College students to work closely with René Kreichauf, one of our Center’s John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellows. The assistantship will focus on the U.S.-based components of a comparative qualitative research project examining asylum, housing precarity, and displacement in urban contexts.

The project investigates how internationally displaced migrants continue to experience dispossession, state violence, and renewed forms of displacement in cities of arrival while undergoing asylum procedures. Using comparative case studies in Berlin, Boston, and New York City, the research analyzes asylum seekers’ housing trajectories, everyday living conditions, and strategies for navigating racialized policing, immigration law enforcement, and highly unaffordable housing markets. The project is grounded in critical urban studies, migration studies, and political economy, with a particular focus on racial capitalism and state violence.

This position offers advanced training in qualitative research methods, critical urban and migration theory, and collaborative academic knowledge production. The assistantship is particularly suitable for students considering a senior thesis or future graduate study and may serve as a foundation for the student’s own independent research project.

Responsibilities:

• conduct a structured literature review of contemporary academic scholarship on asylum, housing struggles, displacement, racial capitalism, and immigration enforcement in the United States.
• assist with discourse and media analysis of national and local media coverage related to asylum, immigration, policing, and state violence.
• support qualitative empirical research in the Boston area, including preparation of interview guides, assisting with interviews (where appropriate), transcription, coding, and qualitative data analysis.
• contribute to ongoing research outputs, including working papers, conference presentations, and journal article manuscripts (as co-author where possible).

Required Skills:

• interest in migration studies, urban studies, geography, sociology, anthropology, political science, or related fields.
• excellent reading, analytical, and academic writing skills.
• ability to conduct independent research and synthesize complex theoretical and empirical literature.
• strong organizational skills and reliability.
• commitment to ethical research practices, particularly when working with vulnerable populations.

Preferred Skills:

• proficiency in Spanish or another language relevant to migrant communities in the Boston area.
• familiarity with Boston-area neighborhoods, housing dynamics, and migrant or asylum-seeking communities.
• prior experience with qualitative research methods, including semi-structured interviews.
• experience with qualitative data analysis software (e.g. NVivo, Atlas.ti, MAXQDA).
• experience with discourse or media analysis.
• coursework or research experience related to racial capitalism, critical race theory, urban political economy, or state violence.

Length of Project: February 15 – December 15, 2026.

Application Materials

Interested students should submit the following materials as a single PDF:

1. cover letter (max. 2 page) describing research interests, relevant coursework or experience, and motivation for applying.
2. current CV.

Pay: $20/hour.

To submit your application, please send your materials directly to René Kreichauf rkreichauf@fas.harvard.edu with the subject line: Research Assistantship – Multiplied Displacement Under Racial Capitalism in Europe and the United States.