Project Mentor
Dr. Simon Yamawaki Shachter
Department: Sociology
Research Project Overview:
I am undertaking a comparative historical sociology project on the role of immigrant organizations in the creation of cities on the West Coast of the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I am seeking to understand how the many different immigrant groups that colonized the West influenced the formation of the political institutions of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. The immigrant communities include Chinese, Japanese, Irish, Scandinavian, German, and Mexican immigrants, among others.
Role of a SHARE Summer Apprentice:
I have collected many documents from archives across the West Coast. I am now in the process of trying to organize and understand them. A SHARE apprentice will assist in looking through documents, organizing them, and helping me pull out key insights, themes, and patterns that help explain how the cities’ diverse communities relate to their urban outcomes.
Early in the apprenticeship, we will work closely together to look at the general material I have and the gauge the apprentice’s interest in particular cities, communities, time periods, or themes. The apprentice will gradually do more work on their own as they understand the material and learn how to interpret historical documents, leading to substantive check-ins after every ten hours of work. Finally, the apprentice will assemble a summary with findings and references, reflecting our conversations and their discoveries throughout the period.
I will help students learn both historical research methods and sociological ways of thinking about history, such as finding common themes, testing hypotheses through comparison, and applying theories to text. I will also train students on data organization and basic library methods.
Summer Schedule/Time Commitment:
The apprentice can choose to work at their own pace that fits well with their schedule (this could be a full-time job for three weeks, or could be spread across a dozen weeks); the hours per week are flexible. However, there are some weeks that I will not be able to meet (TBD) and I ask that the apprentice does not work too many hours in that time.
Preferred Qualifications:
The student must have taken at least two upper-level (2000 or 3000) courses in sociology and/or history at an A- or above level. The student must be detail-oriented, comprehensive in their analysis, and a quick reader. No prior archival experience is necessary, but a strong interest in some part of the content (ex. certain city, immigrant group, urban politics, etc.) is strongly preferred.
To Apply:
The application opens on Saturday, March 1, 2025. Click here to submit an online application for this research apprenticeship through the Quest Portal. The application deadline is Friday, March 28, 2025, at 11:59pm.
Click here to view an outline of the general application questions. There are no additional questions for this apprenticeship.
Please note:
All students hired for a SHARE Summer apprenticeship must complete a federal I-9 form and present original documents in person to OUR staff as part of the hiring process. Visit this U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services page for more information about acceptable documents. You cannot begin working until this is complete. Students are encouraged to plan ahead for this. For example, if you are going home for spring break, consider bringing original documents back to campus with you.