Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) Program: AY2025-26 Recipients

Each year, funds are awarded as a small number of competitive grants to full-time faculty by the Graduate Student Association (GSA), the Office of Graduate Studies (OGS), and The Office of Research and Creative Scholarship (ORCS). These funds are given to faculty for the purpose of hiring graduate students for training and research programing during the academic year. Through this program, we hope to encourage long-term growth in graduate research assistants.

The Office of Research and Creative Scholarship is pleased to announce the faculty awardees of this year’s Graduate Research Assistantship (GRA) Program:

Led by Thomas Vogel (PI) and Carol Ferrara (co-PI), the Creativity@Emerson initiative is dedicated to emboldening and elevating creativity across Emerson College. Carol Ferrara is a sociocultural anthropologist and assistant professor in the department ofMarketing Communication. Graduate assistants will be gaining significant qualitative and quantitative research design and practice experience along with the possibility of co-authorship and strong researching skills.

Screening Women Filmmakers

Maria San Filippo is an Associate Professor in the School of Film, Television and Media Arts. San Filippo is currently working on a proposal for the first edited volume on international women’s film festivals for Bloomsbury Press, tentatively titled Screening Women Filmmakers: A Global History of Women’s Film Festivals. The book will explore festivals from 1972 to the present across six continents. Professor San Filippo will employ a graduate student to conduct crucial research to identify, locate, and verify biographical details and assist with proposal preparation, contributor contracts, and other scholarly publishing procedures.

AI in Publishing and Public Libraries

Sarah Cole is an Assistant Professor of Writing, Literature and Publishing and is currently researching how independent academic publishers are adapting to Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI). Professor Cole’s graduate assistant  will receive training in academic research methodologies and AI ethics, including conducting a professional literature review, developing a data set, and synthesizing complex findings with the potential for co-authorship on a scholarly publication.

Oral Histories of Female and Nonbinary Broadway Conductors and Music Directors

Sariva Goetz, Associate Professor in the department of Performing Arts and Head of Musical Theatre, is currently working on the final phase of a book and digital archive under contract with the University of Illinois Press based on oral history interviews with female and nonbinary Broadway Music Directors and Conductors. Professor Goetz’  graduate assistant will conduct archival research, assist with interview transcription, fact-checking, and securing permissions for the oral history content.

LI+TLE Lab Research Assistantship for Language Sampling

Rhiannon Luyster, Assistant Professor in the department of  Communication Sciences and Disorders, is currently working on a project that will be a continuation of her ongoing research program, LI+TLE Lab. This program is dedicated to collecting and analyzing natural language samples from parent-child interactions, focusing on children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The graduate assistant’s role will primarily include transcription, coding, and basic analysis of new and existing language samples. They will be trained to use sophisticated coding systems like SALT (Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts) with the possibility of co-authorship on peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. 

Communication self-efficacy in deaf or hard of hearing college students

Maryam Salehomoum, Assistant Professor in the department of Communications Sciences and Disorders, is working on the first phase of a multi-year study examining the communication self-efficacy (CSE) of deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) college students. Her  graduate assistant will be assisting with the systematic literature search, screening articles for relevance, extracting data, and managing the citation system (Zotero) while being trained in conducting systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and research ethics (IRB/CITI certification).

Experimental Filmmaking: HANDMADE FILM, research and translation support

Kathryn Ramey, Associate Professor in the School of Film, Television and Media Arts, is working on an upcoming book and film related to experimental, analog, and handmade cinema. Her  graduate assistant will conduct language translation (Spanish/Portuguese to English) while also gaining skills in securing permissions for publication and advanced editorial work.

Unmaking the Digital: Art, Labor, and Algorithmic Culture in the Arab World

Pelin Kivrak, Assistant Professor in the School of Film, Television and Media Arts , is working on a manuscript, Unmaking the Digital: Art, Labor, and Algorithmic Culture in the Arab World, which examines digital media and algorithmic culture in the Middle East. She will employ a  graduate assistant to assist with editorial and production activities including final copyediting, proofreading, preparing the index, securing visual permissions, professional translation (English to Turkish), and assisting with manuscript design and formatting.

The Midway in Sunlight and Shadow: A 21st Century Guide

Marc Fields, an Associate Professor in the School of Film, Television and Media Arts, is working on a hybrid documentary and installation focusing on the history and future of the Midway Plaisance in Chicago, the site of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. His graduate assistant will develop skills in documentary production including archival research, video editing, graphics software, studio production, and working with emerging technologies like XR (Extended Reality).