Students and The Magnes Collection

The Magnes partners with UC Berkeley’s Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) to provide opportunities for Cal students to work with faculty on our world-renowned research projects. A URAP student at The Magnes works closely with Curator and Professor Francesco Spagnolo and Assistant Curator Shir Gal Kochavi to deepen their knowledge and skills in areas of special interest, while experiencing what it means to be a part of an intellectual community engaged in research.

“As well as being the meaningful, historical connection to my Jewish heritage… the apprenticeship has really introduced me to various museum practices and techniques concerning collection cataloging, researching and fact-checking.” – Ana UC Berkeley Sophomore

Meet our Students

With student research apprentices and assistants from a wide variety of majors including Political Science, Comparative Literature, Environmental Science, Pre-Med, History, Business and Computer Science, The Magnes offers an experience that enriches the broad range of studies at UC Berkeley.

The Magnes: A Student Manifesto

Lauren Cooper BA ’16 reconstructs her work at The Magnes over the years, and offers a veritable student manifesto describing what it means to work and explore, week after week, the wonders of one of the great Jewish museum collections in the context of a research university.

“Francesco and Shir really make research a creative and imaginative endeavor and I feel super grateful to have both of them as mentors” – Kayla UC Berkeley Junior