Student participation is vital to the mission and impact of the WashU & Slavery Project

WashU & Slavery Project Scholars

Student research is advancing understanding of WashU’s connections to slavery while cultivating critical thinking, collaborative research experiences spanning the disciplines, and capacities for leadership in addressing legacies of slavery in St. Louis and beyond. See some examples of student projects below and on the project news page. Our scholars program was created to increase student participation and contributions, to broaden the scope of involvement, and to coordinate this participation with project priority areas. 

There are two specific opportunities for participation in the WashU & Slavery Project Scholars program:

1. Immersive Learning Opportunities: Scholarships (up to $2,500) to offset the cost of participation in study abroad and other immersive learning opportunities specifically contributing to understanding local to global community histories and legacies of colonialism and slavery, and strategies of reparative justice. For more information visit our Immersive Learning Opportunities page.
2. Research & Interpretive Assistance: Paid semester-long undergraduate ($13/hr) and graduate ($15.25/hr) student research assistant positions and internships working alongside project scholars, faculty and staff, with a focus on key areas outlined below. These positions are semester-long but eligible for renewal.

Each of these groups will work with the project organizers, other faculty, staff and project scholars to inform and advance research, interpretation and reparative interventions. All funding recipients will be recognized as Project Scholars and are required to share experiences and insights facilitated by WashU & Slavery Project support. Click the "Apply Here" button (right) to submit an application for the WashU & Slavery Project scholars program. Note: applications are accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed by the project steering committee. Support will be offered according to project fit and funding availability as applications are received and reviewed over the fall and spring semesters.

Current Priority Areas for Research & Interpretation

WashU & Slavery Project Scholars can explore a broad array of topics and methods relevant to the project objectives of understanding and addressing the history and legacy of colonialism and slavery, especially as relates to the institutional history of Washington University in St. Louis. We welcome Project Scholar applications imagining engagement with these questions in critical, expansive, and creative ways. However, as our capacity to support student research and interpretation is limited we identify priority areas for recruitment of these assistants. Applications to pursue research and interpretation outside of these areas should identify faculty or staff who have agreed to help advise the proposed effort. Currently, we are prioritizing recruitment of Research & Interpretation scholars to contribute in the following areas:  

• Stories of Resistance - Scholars will contribute to researching and creating public-facing interpretation of the stories of people who resisted enslavement in greater St. Louis, especially where there are ties to Washington University’s historical entanglements with slavery, such as by creating Storymaps about abolitionists and freedom seekers including William Wells Brown and Moses Dickson, or contributing to the preservation and memorialization of sites, facilities, and programs connected to the history of the Underground Railroad through the National Park Service Network to Freedom Program.

• WashU People & Fields - Scholars will advance research on Washington University’s founders, benefactors, and officials (e.g., administrators) and their relationship to slavery, including through research in WashU Libraries' University Archives and other archival collections. Study of these foundations may include the early history of our schools, academic units, community partnerships, faculty and students.

• Mapping & Place-Based Interpretation - Scholars will examine histories of the St. Louis community and WashU campus landscapes as they relate to slavery and colonialism, and contribute to developing interventions that educate, memorialize, and promote healing. Scholars will use digital mapping platforms to advance analysis of the history and legacies of slavery in greater St. Louis, such as by mapping sites of enslavement and its wake, tracking patterns of enslaver street names, and developing campus and community tours, exhibitions, memorials and other place-based interpretation.

• Digital Humanities - Database Development - Scholars will use research and digital humanities methodologies to contribute to public-facing databases that allow for more complete understanding of the history of enslavement and the slave trade, including such projects as Slave Voyages, the Saint Louis Integrated Database of Enslavement, and Freedom on the Move.