URAP Project Descriptions

(Remote) Global Lives Project: Empathy-building Exhibit Development, Web Development, Data Science, Online Advertising, Art History, Media Archiving, Video Editing, Fundraising

David Harris, Lecturer
Business, Haas School

Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.

REMOTE OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH APPRENTICES - Please do not apply unless you can commit 9~12 hrs/wk (3 units) including mandatory online weekly meetings on Wednesday afternoons (exact time TBA).

Want to gain work experience with Exhibit Development, Web Development, Data Science, Online Advertising, Art History, Media Archiving, Video Editing, Fundraising Interested in how human connection is fostered? Want to learn how to work independently and collaboratively in a non-profit setting? You might be a good fit for the Global Lives Project.

The Global Lives Project is a video library of life experience, designed to cultivate empathy across cultures. We curate an ever-expanding collection of films that faithfully capture 24 continuous hours in the lives of individuals from around the world. We explore the diversity of human experience through the medium of video, and encourage discussion, reflection, and inquiry about the wide variety of cultures, ethnicities, languages, and religions on this planet. Our goal is to foster empathy and cross-cultural understanding.

Founded in 2002, the Global Lives Project is a registered non-profit organization that collects and exhibits footage of the daily life of everyday people from around the world. Our most recent exhibit, Lives in Transit, is a ten-screen video installation featuring footage of the daily lives of ten transit workers from Nepal, Vietnam, Turkey, South Korea, India, China, Colombia, Canada and Spain, and the United States.

Global Lives exhibits have shown in dozens of venues around the world, as far afield as United Nations University (Tokyo), the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, the Harvard Science Center, as close to home at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Berkeley Art Museum, Pacific Film Archive, the Hearst Museum of Anthropology and the CITRIS Tech Museum (Sutardja Dai Hall), and most recently, the Global Museum at San Francisco State University.

During the 2024-252022-23 school year, these physical exhibits will be made accessible to the world with an online release of hundreds of video clips and still images on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and the GlobalLives.org website.

Role: REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL URAP STUDENTS:

This URAP is a student-led initiative of managing a registered non-profit organization with guidance from faculty and board members; therefore, all prospective team members are expected to be able to work independently as well as be quick and effective in their communication with faculty and project managers. Students must be able to take responsibility for their work and complete tasks without always having explicit guidance, as they would in a professional setting outside of school. Students must be comfortable with taking initiative and asking questions promptly to adapt to roadblocks. The more effort that students put in on their own behalf, the more rewarding and skills-building their experience will be.

Please make sure you can commit 9~12 hrs/wk and are available for the mandatory weekly meetings (TBA Wednesday afternoons), as well as other meetings that may be scheduled separately for each team. The descriptions for each type of role are listed below but overall we are looking for students who are passionate about the mission of the project, can take initiative and responsibility, and are willing to learn!

In your application, please indicate ALL of the roles you believe you are fit for. By the end of the application process, you will be assigned to 1~2 roles with a team of other students to work with, led by a project manager.

REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH TEAM/ROLE:

1. Exhibit
You will have 2 main priorities: 1. Creating and editing the Global Lives Open Source Exhibit Kit, a guide for anyone in the world to build their own Global Lives exhibits in their communities, and 2. Brainstorming and pursuing opportunities for in-person exhibits in the Berkeley community and beyond.Planning and facilitating the in-person exhibit at the Haas School of Business on campus.

Required:
Communication and interviewing skills
Attention to detail
Organization
Ability to write clearly
Ability to communicate and collaborate with people outside of the organization
Can find and use information across multiple platforms, expansive spreadsheets, etc.

Preferred:
Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator
Background/experience in art, media, exhibit development

2. Web Development, Data Science, Online Advertising
You will manage a budget of $10,000 per month in Google Ads to draw traffic to the GlobalLives.org website. You will add hundreds of hours of new video clips to the site, test site functionality and performance, and analyze user behaviors and conversions. You’ll use tools including Google Ads, Google Analytics, WordPress and Salesforce.

Required:
Experience with managing basic websites
Strong writing skills

Preferred:
Familiarity with online advertising
WordPress
Google Ads, Google Analytics experience
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator
Familiarity with Salesforce

3. Fundraising and Audience Outreach
You will help direct fundraising and audience outreach for the organization, using both content (newsletters, social media) and data analytics. This includes writing newsletters, drafting Google and Facebook ads related, creating a Facebook fundraising page, creating fundraising messaging and graphics, conducting research on best fundraising practices, writing grant proposals etc.

Required:
Data analysis
Organization
Campaign and content planning
Ability to delegate to and collaborate with other teams
Market research

Preferred:
Familiarity with Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Salesforce, Vertical Response
Background/experience in marketing
Background/experience in grant writing, nonprofit fundraising

4. Media Archiving and Video Editing

You will be responsible for planning and executing an archiving strategy for the Global Lives Project. Over the past 20 years, the Global Lives Project has produced more than 500 hours of video footage in 17 countries, along with dozens of physical exhibits around the world. Our organization is beginning the process of archiving all of the digital and physical assets that we’ve produced over these two decades. You will conduct a thorough inventory of all our digital and physical assets (located in three separate locations around the Bay Area), document and catalog them, and then research long-term plans for an “accessioning event,” wherein all or part of the collection will be transferred to a library, museum or other institution for long-term access. This is a great project for students of Media Studies, Art, Art History, History or others interested in how cultural works are preserved.

Required:
Interest in the preservation of arts, cultural works
Strong detail orientation

Preferred:
Experience with digital photography and video
Background in art history/media studies/library work
Experience managing large amounts of digital media in multiple formats
Ability to travel to storage locations in San Francisco and the peninsula

*Project Manager
Depending on the number of students accepted, we may look for new project managers (PM) during the application process. This role requires the same time commitment but more responsibilities, including leading small team meetings, delegating tasks, communicating with admin/faculty, etc. If you are interested in being a PM, please indicate that, along with the team/role(s) you are interested in.

Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Owen Doyle

Hours: 9-11 hrs

Off-Campus Research Site: remote with occasional on-campus meetings

Social Sciences Arts & Humanities

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