
Humanities Research Intensive
This course, taught over spring break, introduces freshmen and sophomores to the excitement of humanities research. It will prepare you to develop an independent summer research project, to work as a research aide for a Stanford professor, or to apply for undergraduate research grants.
Over seven days, you and your fifteen classmates will take a deep dive into some of the most important methods and questions driving scholarly research in the humanities today. Your laboratory will be the Special Collections archive at Stanford, where you’ll work closely with Professors Elaine Treharne (English) and Caroline Winterer (History) doing hands-on research on ancient and modern books, manuscripts, and other artifacts.
You will learn the following about humanities research:
- How to formulate a solid research question
- How to gather the evidence that will help you to answer that question
- How to utilize Stanford archives, museums, and collections
- How to write up research results
- How to evaluate the research of your fellow students and offer useful feedback
- How to deliver your results in a public setting
- How to write an effective grant proposal
Why Participate in HRI?
Students who complete this course become Humanities Research Intensive Fellows and are eligible to apply for special HRI Fellowships to support follow-up research during the summer or following academic year. In addition, they receive post-program mentorship during spring quarter and ongoing opportunities to engage with humanities faculty and advanced undergraduates. They become part of the broader intellectual community of humanities researchers at Stanford.
Fellowship Details
- Two-unit course. Pass / No Credit. Units count toward spring quarter. (Note: you must be enrolled during spring quarter to participate in HRI).
- Frosh and sophomores only. Transfer students are also eligible if they have completed 1 full-time quarter at Stanford and no more than 1 full year at their previous institution (or transferred in no more than 60 units, not including AP credit) by the time of application.
- Open to all majors, as well as undeclared students.
- Program dates: Spring Break 2025: Sunday, March 23 through Saturday, March 29.
- Contact email: jschweg [at] stanford.edu (jschweg[at]stanford[dot]edu)
- See our FAQ for more details.
Application
To apply, fill out the online application by 11:59 pm on Monday, November 4, 2024.
2025 HRI Faculty

Elaine Treharne is the Roberta Bowman Denning Professor of Humanities and Professor of English, as well as Professor, by courtesy, of German Studies and of Comparative Literature. She is a Welsh medievalist, specializing in manuscript studies, archives, information technologies, and early British literature. She has published widely in this area, focusing on religious poetry and prose, and manuscripts from c.600 to c.1300. She is also the Director of Stanford Text Technologies, and, with Claude Willan, published Text Technologies: A History in 2019 (Stanford University Press). Professor Treharne is keenly interested in the use of digital technologies in the classroom and in research, and a passionate advocate for the Humanities in all areas of life.

Caroline Winterer is the William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, and Professor by courtesy of Classics. She specializes in American history before 1900, especially the history of ideas and the history of science. She is the author of five books, including most recently, How the New World Became Old: The Deep Time Revolution in America (Princeton, 2024), which shows how the idea of geological deep time transformed how Americans see their country and themselves. Professor Winterer has also used new digital technologies to map early modern social networks, including the letters of Benjamin Franklin (a project that won her an American Ingenuity Award from the Smithsonian Institution in 2013), and has curated exhibits of rare books and artifacts. As a teacher and researcher, Professor Winterer sees humanities scholarship as the key tool for exploring the human world: “Everything that makes us human—that falls under the umbrella of the humanities.”
Questions? Email the HRI Fellowship Advisor, Jeff Schwegman: jschweg [at] stanford.edu (jschweg[at]stanford[dot]edu)

Students spring into humanities research over break
Students spring into humanities research over break
Read a spring 2024 Stanford Daily article about the Humanities Research Intensive.

Learn more
Read and watch the video about the inaugural Humanities Research Intensive in the Stanford Report.