This summer, I will be working in academia as a research assistant for economics professor Dr. Nicola Fontana at Trinity College Dublin. Dr. Fontana focuses on political economy and economic history, particularly in urban areas and Italy. The project I will be working on most directly examines mass migrations during Italy’s fascist period and the motivations for and effects of these movements. I have some prior experience studying the fascist period, but my work primarily focuses on the Nazi regime in Germany and underground fascist movements in Britain. Before I am able to contribute to this project in a significant way, I will have to familiarize myself with the history of fascist Italy and the major actors at play during that period. This is a challenge that comes with nearly all research projects in academia. He also has a project regarding the shared housing market (Airbnb and Vrbo) in urban areas. I have no experience in this field, and therefore will have a steep learning curve to catch up enough to assist Dr. Fontana in his research. Luckily, I will not be focusing on this project very heavily and will dedicate most of my time to investigating his project on fascist Italy.

My past academic experience is exclusively in the fields of history and political science. Although these are both areas of focus for Dr. Fontana and his project, the procedures and methods will be different in for research in economics than I am used to. This is an adjustment I will have to make quickly to most effectively support Dr. Fontana and the rest of the research team that is already acquainted with these methods.

In this industry, especially in the social sciences of economics, political science, and history, creativity and strong analytical and writing skills are needed to produce and articulate independent ideas or challenge the assertions of others in unique ways. The language barrier in academia is significant in determining what a researcher is able to access and analyze. As an English-only speaker, I am limited to focusing only on English-speaking countries or data and sources that were either taken in English or have already been translated into it. This will be a challenge for me this summer, as Dr. Fontana focuses heavily on Italy and its surrounding region. He is fluent in Italian which allows him to access almost all of the records relevant to his research, but I will have to find ways to support him by engaging with numerical data or English sources. Working in academia in a predominantly English-speaking country allows me to take full advantage of the University’s resources, despite the difficulties in the execution of the project.

Academia is already considerably more globalized than most other fields in that researchers from around the world interact with each other professionally as though they were all working around each other. Dr. Fontana’s team is scattered around the globe with researchers based at the University of California Los Angeles, Harvard University, and universities throughout Italy, his primary region of focus. Where a researcher is located, particularly in the social sciences, is determined by a combination of access to data and records relevant to one’s area of study and an institution looking to fund and promote their work. Universities hire professors to broaden the breadth of courses and research they offer, which often requires hiring people like Dr. Fontana to work in Dublin despite studying a region on the other side of the continent. Because of this, Dr. Fontana and other researchers like him must travel regularly to access the information they need to produce high-quality articles, books, and reviews. The struggle in academia is finding the balance between an institution that is willing and capable of supporting your work and making the most of the resources available in your area of study. 

Due to the universalized nature of academic research, working in Ireland presents very few unique challenges compared to research in America or other English-speaking countries. However, Trinity College has been in operation for more than four hundred years and has a prestigious research reputation, particularly within Ireland. Because of this, there is pressure for researchers at the University to meet its high standards and continue the tradition of excellence. As always, it is important to gain an understanding of how to access the records and data available as a researcher. I will need to take time to investigate Trinity’s system and the sources that Dr. Fontana wishes to use so I can learn how to more effectively and efficiently complete my tasks as his assistant.