26 Council on Undergraduate Research SUMMER 2016 • Volume 36, Number 4 Abstract Undergraduate research can add significant depth to short- term study abroad, an academic practice that has experi- enced dramatic growth over the past decade (Institute of International Education 2015). Although some studies point to potential benefits of this shift from semester-long or year- long study-abroad to shorter experiences (e.g. Anderson et al. 2006; DeLoach et al. 2003; Mercer 2015), the constraints of short-term trips present numerous obstacles to achiev- ing a culturally rich experience (e.g. Kehl and Morris 2007; Lemmons 2015; Ritz 2011), particularly for students work- ing in the social sciences. Based on extensive experience evaluating and leading short term course-trips in Southeast Asia, this article makes the case that undergraduate research, when properly supported, can be a central strategy in im- proving the quality of short term study abroad programs. Such research experiences are likely to remain superficial in the absence of strong, institutional partnerships within the host country. Strong partnerships can make undergraduate social research plausible and productive under the difficult constraints of a short-term program. Strategies for identify- ing and collaborating with appropriate institutional partners for culturally rich, short-term experiences are presented, and approaches to assessment of the outcomes are discussed. Undergraduate research can add significant depth to short- term study abroad, a practice that has experienced dramat- ic growth over the past decade, eclipsing semester-long and year-long programs as the avenue through which most American university students experience international edu- cation (Institute of International Education 2015). Although some studies point to potential benefits of this shift (e.g. Anderson et al. 2006; DeLoach et al. 2003; Mercer 2015), the constraints of short-term trips present numerous obsta- cles to achieving a culturally rich experience (e.g. Kehl and Morris 2007; Lemmons 2015; Ritz 2011), particularly for students working in the social sciences, where rapport and relationship-building remain central to most research goals. As an experienced practitioner of short-term study abroad in Southeast Asia, I have sought to advocate for student research practices that may overcome some of these obstacles (Barkin 2015). I argue that undergraduate research, when support- ed by extensive pre-departure inquiry and post-program follow-up, is central to improving the quality of short-term study abroad programs. Further, I explore the institutional partnerships that make such research possible, particularly in the social sciences. Among the obstacles to conducting substantive research during short-term programs abroad, the most daunting may be a lack of adequate language skills among undergraduates, which is compounded by insufficient time to gain entrée and build local relationship networks. Secondly, brief peri- ods abroad often translate to less support for the self-directed exploration that helps students develop a more holistic sense of the local constraints and exigencies that could productive- ly influence or challenge their initial research assumptions (Anderson 1989; Barton 2001; Street 2014). However, the development of individual student research projects has, in my own experience, proven an essential means to fostering deeper engagement during short-term field courses (see also Jenkins and Healey 2015; Shabalina and Sjoberg 2010). In addition to the experience of social research, my colleagues involved in study abroad design and I have found such proj- ects can foster more enduring connections to cultural con- texts in the host country. However, these connections are likely to remain superficial without the involvement of local partners, such as universities and non-governmental organi- zations, which can facilitate and promote deep engagements for visiting students. Developing such institutional part- nerships and an environment that allows for substan- tive student research while abroad for short periods can be challenging. Below, I discuss some of the successful strategies we have employed in collaboration with partner organi- zations in Southeast Asia and the Henry Luce Foundation’s Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment to facilitate ethnographic, cul- turally and environmentally oriented research projects, our approach to assessment, and the outcomes we have observed. Focus CUR Undergraduate Research on Short-Term, Faculty-Led Study Abroad Gareth Barkin, University of Puget Sound University of Puget Sound and Atma Jaya University students on a site visit in Central Java.