University of Cincinnati
09/08/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/08/2025 14:41
University Honors Program connects students to original research
University Honors Program connects students to original research
Health Sciences student builds digital research skills through a summer of faculty mentorship
By Lily Davenport Email LilyEmail Lily
6 minute read September 8, 2025 Share on facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print StoryLike
Nikita Minhas, a second-year student at the University of Cincinnati, did not expect that her time as a Health Sciences major and Chemistry minor would include research on the heyday of science-fiction pulp magazines. But when one of the University Honors Program's signature research opportunities, UHP Discover, matched her with Dr. Gary Weissman's ongoing project on the intertwined histories of science fiction and World War II, Minhas embarked on a summer of archival investigation.
Humanities in history
Astounding Science Fiction cover, 1947
Weissman, an associate professor in the College of Arts & Sciences who teaches courses in English and Film Studies-and serves as Undergraduate Director of Film and Media Studies, as well as affiliate faculty in Judaic Studies-is conducting a long-term research project that traces the cultural impact of World War II, Nazism, and the Holocaust by mapping their echoes in SF pulps. During the early- to mid-twentieth century, most SF was published in cheaply printed popular magazines, rather than in book form; despite their lowbrow status at the time, however, those stories reflected the political and cultural environment in which they were written, often in complex and surprising ways. As Weissman observes, such correspondences are rarely direct representations: "there's very few [stories] that have explicit references to Nazism, but many more that will have, for example, totalitarianism represented through something going on on Venus."
Today, digital archives such as the Luminist Science Fiction Periodical Archives and the Pulp Magazines Project preserve the sole surviving records of hundreds of such magazine issues. The task of sorting through these archives would be a massive one even if they were readily searchable; that difficulty is compounded by the digital formats used to preserve the contents. The overwhelming majority of archived pulps are stored in file formats that are reliably legible only to human eyes, such as PDFs and certain image types. Optical character recognition (OCR) technology and machine-learning programs cannot yet render these archives, or the individual periodical issues they contain, searchable. This combination of sheer volume and formatting challenges means that, in order for Weissman's research to progress, someone has to go read through the archives, one issue and one story at a time, and keep a record of what they find. As Weissman notes: "it's this massive archive that can only be searched in a very time-consuming way… it's really a needle in a haystack."
Deep dive
Minhas estimates that, over the course of the summer, she read and catalogued nearly 650 pulp-magazine issues across two major digital archives. In each issue, she read the contents with an eye for anything related to Weissman's list of relevant concepts: "direct or indirect references to Nazism, fascism, concentration camps, death camps, Jews or other persecuted minorities, survivors of camps or persecution, Germans in relation to World War II, and eugenics." After reading, Minhas created digital records for all relevant stories, coding them by topic and keyword, and incorporating additional information about how, and how directly, they echoed their historical moment-a small aside, an extended allegory, and everything in between.
Nikita Minhas
This mix of qualitative coding and interpretive work gave Minhas an opportunity to explore some of her personal interests as well; she searched for SF relating to her chosen field of medicine, as well as to her home country, India, and came across a story from 1905, "The Sultana's Dream," which, in her words, "blends technology with social critique and challenges the reader." Weissman and Minhas agree that the project's demands helped Minhas develop analytical skills that transfer across disciplines, and the two shared an appreciation for the mentor-mentee dynamics that UHP Discover fosters. "I really looked forward to connections with [Weissman]," Minhas said, adding that she especially appreciated the opportunity for "hands-on experience." Weissman, too, stressed "the value and importance of the UHP, and of UC supporting undergraduate research."
A hub for interdisciplinary mentorship
UHP Discover immerses students in full-time research for the duration of the summer. The program, which is exclusive to UHP students and requires a competitive application process, matches students to UC faculty across fields including social sciences, humanities, fine and performing arts, business, and education who are interested in mentoring students one-on-one, and are seeking assistance in conducting their own research projects. Participating students are paid for their time, and attend professional development workshops throughout the summer in addition to their research hours. At the end of the summer, each student gives a formal presentation to a combined audience of their peers, associated faculty mentors, and UHP staff. Because of its time-intensive nature, the program also counts for two out of the five Honors Experiences the UHP requires.
With 36 students completing the program in Summer 2025, UHP Discover is one of the UHP's largest, and fastest-growing, signature Honors Experiences. This year's projects spanned a broad range of disciplines: from an investigation of zoning policies' effects on sustainable urban development, to an exploration of Cincinnati's underground music scene, to an analysis of AI tools' utility in digital learning platforms. While some students come to UHP Discover from majors that are closely aligned with their research matches, many from STEM-oriented majors just as Medical Sciences and Mechanical Engineering are drawn to the opportunities the program offers for interdisciplinary engagement.
In her own words
Watch Nikita Minhas describe her summer of research in the video below!
Learn more about UHP Discover
Interested in pursuing original research with a faculty mentor? Or do you know a Bearcat who would shine in the UHP Discover program? Check out one of the UHP's upcoming info sessions, or sign up for our outreach list to learn more about honors at UC!
Featured image at top: Students at the 2025 UHP Discover presentations. Photo/Lily Davenport
Tags
- School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies
- College of Allied Health Sciences
- University Honors Program
- College of Arts and Sciences
- Next Lives Here
- Student Experience
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