RAship- what exactly does it entail?

[londonite]

Hi

 

I have been admitted to the MA in English Literature at UBC and have been told I have an RAship. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what is expected of you as an RA, and what sort of funding/wage is involved? I never specified whether I wanted to TA or RA- is there a reason for being nominated for one or the other? Sorry for the ignorance- the website doesn't say much and I'm a UK student so not really come across these sorts of graduate employment before. 

 

Thanks

 

[ComeBackZinc]

I have never really heard of an RAship in the humanities; typically an RA in the States is working in a lab, performing duties for the research of a tenured prof. I think you should feel free to email and ask. It's a perfectly appropriate question and you'll get much better information from doing that than from what anyone can share here.

[Roquentin]

I've had half a dozen RAships over the years in the fields of English and History. Responsibilities vary depending on the project you're working on and the faculty member you're working with. Wages also vary from hourly rates to yearly (or multi-year) salaries. I suspect, OP, that if this is an RAship that's come your way as part of your funding package rather than an assistantship that you've arranged on the side, you'll be assigned to a professor at the start of the term who will supervise your work on some of their research. This work might continue for more than one term, or you might be assigned to a different professor/project each term. I suspect that wages would represent a lump sum, paid monthly, rather than a strictly hourly rate, but you would know that better than I. As for the work itself, I've done all kind of things. I've compiled indexes and made annotated bibliographies. I've done archival research, helped populate a scholarly blog, and I've had various editing/transcribing/encoding duties. The work can be tedious, depending on what you're working on, but I've also had some great opportunities as a result of my RAships: paid conference and research travel, publications, the development of secondary research interests, and closer relationships with faculty (which can have any number of benefits). I recommend that you get in touch with your contacts in the department to find out the specifics of your RAship. Enjoy!

[londonite]

Thank you for your helpful comments!