Below are a list of projects I am currently working on. If you are interested in working with me on one of these projects and believe you have the skill set to be helpful and the intellectual curiosity to learn from the experience, reach out. Email works, but office hours are even better. In the late Spring when I am recruiting research assistants for the Fall I typically send out an application by email or SpartanLearn. Other times of the year feel free to inquire, but there may or may not be opportunities depending on the project. Most successful applicants for research assistants meet the minimum criteria for an independent study in Political Science.
Applicants who can combine their applications with funding proposals for the Undergraduate Research Initiative, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, APSA Small Research Grant, or other external funding opportunities will be given preference. As these opportunities have varying deadlines, you are encouraged to plan ahead and let me know of your intentions to apply in advance.
A successful term in the Fridy Lab will result in research paper presented at a relevant conference or external grant application submitted for funding. A very successful term will result in a peer-reviewed publication. Because papers and publications take time, students are encouraged not to wait until very late in their academic careers to begin exploring opportunities. Given the right project, I am willing to work with students from first year to last.
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CURRENT PROJECTS:
* Comparative Chieftaincy - Along with a computer science professor, I am working on a project to map Ghanaian traditional areas and attach information on their informal institutions to be used in a comparative chieftaincy project. This project is in the early stages so there are a lot of entry level research assistant opportunities here like coding and secondary literature analysis.
* Electoral Cleavages – Sub-national election data from Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Côte d'Ivoire going back to independence is combined with census data to discern why a prominent North/South cleavage occurs in some countries but not others. Data needs some cleaning an updated analysis but it is all there. This project is kind of old but has a lot of promise.
* Environmental Politics - I began a project on environmentalists in developing countries and have a presentation and paper out of the project, but there is likely quite a bit more data to mine. An ambitious and interested student could take this in multiple directions.
* Nangodi Institute – Small research institute located in rural northern Ghana interested in hosting student funded research grants. Researchers at the institute have a wide array of skills so as long as your research can be done in northern Ghana or Burkina Faso the discipline of the research can very likely be accomodated.
* Wildlife Preserves - Along with several faculty in biology, I am working on a large camera trap project in Ghana's Red Volta Reserve. This project is still pretty new so a lot of the work is coding and preliminary hypothesis formation. It might be interesting to students who have interdisciplinary interests.
* Miscellaneous – I have not had great success with student-initiated projects. It is rare for an undergraduate to have a depth of theoretical background and access to innovative data necessary to produce a publishable project from scratch. It is not impossible though. If you think you have something cool and think I could contribute in meaningful ways, feel free to pitch it.
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ALUMNI:
Allison Bednar (2020/21)
"REDD+ and Its Effectiveness in Conserving Africa's Forests"
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the MPSA.
Joellen Callahan (2023/24)
"Predicting Environmental Activism in the Global South"
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the SPSA
Ariana Ferraro (2019/20)
"Burkinabè Personality Traits and Support for Vigilantism"
Paper accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the MPSA.
Julia Ingram (2019/20)
"Class and Access to Governance in Burkina Faso"
Paper accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the MPSA and subsequently published as a book chapter.
Cheyenne Lee (2019/20)
"Gender and Perceptions of Security among Burkinabè"
Paper accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the MPSA.
Grace Magnacca (2023/24)
"Predicting Environmental Activism in the Global South"
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the SPSA
Caroline Petty-Kane (2023/24)
"Predicting Environmental Activism in the Global South"
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the SPSA
