The ILR Undergraduate Research Fellows Program provides ILR undergraduates with the opportunity to work with a professor during academic year 2026-2027. This program was developed in response to numerous requests we have received from undergraduates for research opportunities and in the hope that it will facilitate one-on-one student/faculty interactions. Students participating in this program will receive an hourly pay of $17.00 per hour for up to 10 hours a week. Awards will be made on a one semester basis with renewal possible for the second semester.  Students may not earn credit for the research project during the semester or year they are being paid as a research assistant.

Who Controls Prison Discipline? The Struggles over Solitary Confinement and Prison Closures in New York, 2010–Present

This project investigates the legal, political, and labor dynamics shaping prison discipline and carceral change in New York State, with a focus on the 2025 NYSCOPBA correctional officers' wildcat strike and the contested implementation of the HALT Act (2021). The research analyzes legal dockets, legislative testimony, collective bargaining agreements, and policy records to understand how multiple institutional actors — including correctional officer unions, civil rights organizations, the legislature, and the courts — compete for control over prison discipline. Research assistants will contribute to content analyses of primary-source materials, help build and maintain databases of legislative and policy records, and support the development of case-study materials on labor relations in the carceral state.

A second, related line of inquiry examines prison closures in New York from 2014 to the present, exploring how the closure of correctional facilities affects rural upstate communities and local economies. This component involves assembling and analyzing a database of current land uses of closed prison sites, cataloging legislative bills targeting prison closures, and investigating local property taxation patterns around New York prisons. Together, these two research streams offer undergraduate RAs a rich, interdisciplinary experience at the intersection of law, labor studies, political sociology, and criminal justice policy. — with Professors Gali Racabi and Devin Wiggs

To apply for this Fall 2026 research opportunity, please click Apply below.