Undergraduate Research

Accepted students will earn 6 credit hours of POLS 387R: Directed Research (3 credits in the Fall and 3 credits in the Spring). It may be repeated up to four times, for a total of 12 credit hours over four semesters. Students who would like to repeat the fellowship must reapply in the Spring semester for enrollment in the Fall.

Only one 3 credit POLS 387R course (or one POLS 399R: Directed Research) may be used as an elective towards the Political Science major or minor, or towards the International Studies major. POLS 387R does not fulfill the RSCH requirement.

Questions about the fellowship should be directed to Prof. Alex Bolton at abolton@emory.edu.

The Center's research fellows are a small group of motivated students with a strong interest in collaborating with faculty and Ph.D. candidates on law and social science research. Students are matched with affiliated and visiting scholars who are drawn from all social science fields, but also include scholars working in truly interdisciplinary fields. Thus, students are exposed to a wide range of scholarly fields and approaches. 

Accepting a fellowship is a commitment to participate in all of these activities for the duration of a school year. Participation will entail approximately 8-10 hours per week.

Admission to the CLSS Fellowship program is selective.  Students must have completed POLS 208 and have a cumulative and major GPA of at least 3.5.

In extraordinary circumstances, applicants who have not completed POLS 208 but have a comparable combination of coursework in research design and research experience may receive consideration and will be asked to provide documentation of this experience at the time of application. Applications open in March of the spring semester for participation in the following academic year. Application materials should be emailed (in PDF format) to Prof. Matt Baker (matthew.e.baker@emory.edu) by no later than Friday, May 16, 2025 and must include:

• A completed application form
• An unofficial transcript
• A personal statement (maximum 1 single-spaced page) describing the applicant’s research interests and career goals
• A faculty reference (Note: applicants do not need a letter of recommendation – just a faculty who can serve as a reference)

Accepted students will be notified of their admission to the program and enrolled in POLS 387R before the close of add/drop.

This course offers 3 credit hours of independent research study credit. It may be repeated up to four times, for a total of 12 credit hours over four semesters, but only one 3 credit hour POLS 399 course (or one POLS 387R: Directed Research CLSS) may be used as an elective toward a Political Science major or minor, or toward the International Studies major. POLS 399 does not fulfill the RSCH requirement.

Students should expect to offer 8-10 hours of independent research assistance per week. Faculty and student pairs are encouraged to discuss and develop clear research expectations. 

Students will be assessed on:

• The faculty mentor’s evaluation of the student’s performance,
• A summary of the student’s research activities, and
• The student’s self-evaluation

Participation in POLS 399 is by permission only. Students must complete the following before the conclusion of the Emory College add/drop period for the semester:

• Identify a faculty member or advanced graduate student to work with. Students are responsible for approaching the faculty mentor and submitting all enrollment requests.
• The student must complete the POLS 399 Enrollment Request Form at least 24 hours before add/drop closes. Faculty/Graduate student supervisors must confirm your enrollment via email to the Director of Experiential Learning (matthew.E.baker@emory.edu) at least 24 hours before add/drop closes.
• Once the student receives permission from the Course Director, the Undergraduate Program Coordinator will enroll the student.