EURēCA! Student Assistant in Indigenous Politics Research at University of Colorado Denver

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The EURēCA! Student Assistants Program provides introductory opportunities forCU Denver undergraduates to engage in research and creative activities.

StudentsMUSTcomplete the self-paced EURēCA! Presentation and Quizzes in Canvas (30min) or meet with a EURēCA! advisor before applying for all EURēCA! positions.

University of Colorado Denver Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

CU Denver Department of Political Science/ This position is fully remote.

This project, Indigenous Political Behavior in Chile, examines how Indigenous and non-Indigenous Chileans respond politically to state-led Indigenous land policies. Over recent decades, Chile has implemented two major programs addressing the historical dispossession of Mapuche land: one that subsidizes land purchases for Mapuche individuals and families, and another that returns land directly to Mapuche communities. Using municipal-level electoral data, voter registration records, and an original panel dataset tracking land transfers, this project investigates whether these land policies have shifted partisanship and voter registration patterns among Mapuche and non-Mapuche populations.

The research assistant will work directly with the principal investigator to support this project's data and literature foundations. This is an early-stage, PI-led project, so the research assistant will have close, hands‑on involvement in shaping the dataset that underlies the study, and close mentorship by the PI.Learn More

The research assistant will conduct research on Indigenous political behavior in Chile, examining how state land restitution policies affect voting patterns among Mapuche and non-Mapuche populations. This work‑study employee will be involved in the literature review, archival data transcription and dataset construction, gaining direct experience with the methods used to study political behavior and public policy in a comparative context.

Duties may include conducting literature searches on Indigenous political behavior and land restitution policy, transcribing archival municipal‑level electoral results, coding electoral and land transfer records for inclusion in an original panel dataset, and quality‑checking coded data for accuracy. These tasks directly support the principal investigator's research on whether Mapuche land back policies alter partisanship and voter registration, and give the student hands‑on experience with archival research methods and original dataset construction in political science.

Critical thinking applied to political science research; learning how to build a literature review and academic literacy; archival research and data coding methods; attention to detail in transcription and quality control; database building and management; written skills.

• Strong work ethic
• Organizational skills
• Ability to work independently
• Working knowledge of Excel.

• Knowledge of Spanish

~ 7 hours/week(dependent on work-study award amount)

Flexible but weekly meetings on Mondays or Wednesdays

This position is available for Fall 2026 and Spring 2027, employment may continue arro-Rodríguez’s discretion. Please reach out tovanessa.navarrorodriguez with any questions about the position. If both mentor and mentee agree, students can apply to continue with EURēCA! for a second year.

Offers for this position are contingent on a current work-study award.

• First complete  FAFSA or CASFA and confirm work-study eligibility with the CU Denver Financial Aid office.
• Once confirmed, attach email from Financial Aid stating potential work-study eligibility.
• Following interview and position offers, the EURēCA! Office will provide Work-study Authorization forms to confirm final work-study award amounts before formal offer letters.