Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP)
URAP Curatorial Assistant, Paris Grae Bailey, presenting with Dr. Qamar Adamjee at the exhibition opening for “In Plain Sight, Jewish Arts and Lives in the Muslim World.”
Offering an opportunity for UC Berkeley students to earn academic credit and gain experience in the arts
The Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP) at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life offers a unique and intensive opportunity for UC Berkeley undergraduates to immerse themselves in the work of a collections-based museum. Working closely with our curatorial and collections team, apprentices learn invaluable research skills by engaging directly with primary sources from the global Jewish Diaspora. URAP students gain hands-on experience with the Magnes’s rich holdings—which include rare objects, documents, photographs, books, manuscripts, and artwork. Specifically, apprentices conduct in-depth research (in-house and online) to contextualize and fact-check collection items, and they learn museum best practices for collection assessment and cataloging, assisting with inventorying, digitizing, and re-housing materials. Apprentices contribute to impactful projects spanning collection research, exhibition preparation, and print and online publications.
This apprenticeship is designed to involve Berkeley undergraduates more deeply in the research life of the University, operating in a dynamic, collaborative environment. You will interface directly with scholars and museum professionals, exploring and adopting cutting-edge digital humanities tools and perspectives. Ultimately, you will deepen your knowledge and skills in areas of special interest, experiencing firsthand what it means to be part of an intellectual community engaged in leading-edge research.
Visit the URAP website to see current research openings at the Magnes.
“As well as being the meaningful, historical connection to my Jewish heritage… the [URAP] apprenticeship has introduced me to various museum practices and techniques concerning collection cataloging — especially in the digital sphere, researching and fact-checking.”
— Ana former URAP student at the Magnes
URAP Research Projects
Out of the Mailbox: UC Berkeley Undergraduate Research on the Magnes Postcard Collection
On May 7, 2025, the dynamic team of seven UC Berkeley students enrolled in the Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program with Magnes Curator and Prof. Francesco Spagnolo during the 2025 Spring semester, presented their work investigating (and inventorying) thousands of postcards in the permanent collection.
Object lesson: The bounty of the cypress
Part of UC Berkeley’s Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP), Paris Grae Bailey served as an assistant curator for In Plain Sight: Jewish Arts and Lives in the Muslim World. Working with exhibition curators Prof. Francesco Spagnolo and Dr. Qamar Adamjee, Paris shared her work on this project at the opening event.
Q&A with Student Research Apprentice Derick Lietzow
Meet Derick Lietzow, one of UC Berkeley’s Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) students from the 2023/24 academic year working with material culture at the Magnes.
Q&A with Student Research Apprentice Phil Hanna
Meet Phil Hanna, a URAP student who worked with Magnes curator Francesco Spagnolo for four semesters, deepening his knowledge and skills in areas of special interest, while experiencing what it means to be a part of an intellectual community engaged in research.
The Magnes: A Student Manifesto
URAP student, Lauren Cooper (UC Berkeley ’16), reconstructs her work at the Magnes over the years, 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.
Arthur Szyk in the Digital World
For In Real Times. Arthur Szyk: Art & Human Rights (1926-1951), nearly 100 URAP students spent three years digitizing the 450 piece Taube Family Arthur Szyk Collection and deconstructing more than 50 of Szyk’s works for two interactive workstations. As part of the project, Tamara Berkover (UC Berkeley, 2020) created a video that showcases the process and methodologies used.
Launch of URAP at the Magnes
In the Spring of 2013, the initial cohort of URAP students at the Magnes worked with the curatorial team on the publication project Jewish Worlds: 100 Objects from The Magnes Collection, and the research project, Saved by The Bay, conducted in partnership with the UC Berkeley Department of History,.
Hear from the Students
Find out why students love UC Berkeley’s Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) opportunities at the Magnes Collection! This video was recorded by UC Berkeley Undergraduate students working with Curators Francesco Spagnolo and Shir Kochavi at the Magnes during the Academic Year 2020-2021.
