The “Mapping Freedom” Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program invites a select group of undergraduates interested in digital humanities to help develop a free visualization tool for educational use and public engagement. They will learn about the use of mapping technology, including geographic information systems, to understand better the transformation of society and the definition of citizenship during the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction.

Participants will work with world-class faculty and graduate student mentors in digital humanities, computer science, geography, and library technologies to map the granular process of emancipation in Mississippi to develop new visualization tools that reveal freed-people’s paths to citizenship. This immersive eight-week program was inspired by the need for sophisticated, but user-friendly mapping technology for non-expert users in K-12 and college classroom and in public history. The historical focus on emancipation is somewhat familiar to most students, but how that process evolved for the nearly half-million enslaved Mississippians in the 1860s and 1870s is widely unknown.

This REU program offers students the incredible opportunity to develop as researchers while working with top scholars at an R-1 university to develop new, free mapping technologies that the field needs. Selected students will deepen their understanding of this period and, as a team with leading scholars at an R-1 university, including in a GIS lab, to develop as researchers as they enhance their understanding of this period and demonstrate how similar computer-based methods can be applied to problematic periods of history.

Applicants must provide a personal statement (approx. 800 words) describing their interest in digital humanities and how they see this REU opportunity advancing their future education and career, one letter of reference, an updated resume or CV, and an updated college transcript, either official or unofficial, in PDF format.

• Applicants must have a 3.0 or greater cumulative GPA, and be interested in digital humanities.
• Applicants currently in bachelor’s programs must be anticipating graduating either in or after December 2024.
• However, individuals graduating from an associate’s program in spring 2024 and entering into a four-year bachelor’s program in fall 2024 are permitted to apply.
• Applicants must be either U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or permanent residents of the U.S.
• We strongly encourage applications by undergraduates from communities who are underrepresented in digital humanities, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This includes women, BIPOC students, first-generation students, student-veterans or active military personnel, and those from underprivileged backgrounds.
• If selected, participants cannot hold another obligation—such as an internship, part/full-time work, or enrolled in a course during the program's duration.