OK, so first I have to admit something: I waited to write this entry til almost all my internship application deadlines had passed! No sense in publicizing to potential competition, right? But we’re almost into March, which means I feel pretty safe about writing this for anyone trawling the Internet for suggestions for next year.
First of all, remember that I’m a history and comparative literature major who eventually wants to be a history professor. What this means is that there really aren’t a ton of internships that are directly in my field. Unlike my friends in engineering or business, who have recently gotten big payoffs from their time spent networking with representatives from big-name companies like Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse, IBM, Johnson and Johnson, Morgan Stanley, et al…there’s not really a big “history company” that hangs around the College of Liberal Arts courting interns.
That’s not to say that there isn’t support for undergrads in the liberal arts looking for summer internships — far from it! The history department even has a staff member whose job it is to coordinate internships and provide that kind of guidance. Still, though, it’s not like there’s a standard list of companies to which you’re expected to send your resume. You’re going to have to create some of your own opportunities.
This is especially true if you are looking for something a little out of the ordinary. The most obvious career-relevant internship for a history major is to do some sort of museum work, whether it’s being a docent and interacting with guests, or doing behind-the-scenes archival and cataloging work. In the past, I’ve done a little bit of both: cataloging for a small house museum in my area, and spending last summer as an exhibit interpreter at Landis Valley Museum, which was an internship through the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission.
I had a great time last year, and I know that I’ll always want to be involved with museums, but I’m pretty sure that I want to be a professor and historian. So when I was looking for internships this summer, I tried to concentrate on other opportunities other than just museums.
One of my top choices would be the Gilder Lehrman Summer History Scholars Program in NYC, which gives you a chance to work with historians in the field, do work in their Yale-affiliated archives and perhaps even publish! This one seems to be the most prestigious, not to mention the best funded — they cover room, board and travel, and throw in a stipend, which rocks. (In contrast to science and engineering, most liberal arts internships are unpaid. Get used to it — you’re in it for the love of it.)
Also in NYC, I’ve applied to the Margaret Sanger Papers Project, which is in the process of compiling, editing and indexing all of Margaret Sanger’s articles, correspondence, speeches, etc and publishing them in a number of volumes. This one sounds pretty awesome too, especially with my interest in women’s history. Another archival position that I’ve applied to is the internship at the PA State House of Representatives. This one would be awesome because I could live at home and take the train into Harrisburg every day — and still actually make some money!
I did apply to two museums — the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh and the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian. The Heinz museum is the biggest history museum in PA, and so that would be a really neat opportunity…not to mention the chance to eliminate the “long-distance” from my long-distance relationship for the summer, hehe. Also, as awesome as it would be to work at the Smithsonian (and it would be) there are quite a few factors there that would complicate the situation, like the fact that the NMAH is closed to visitors while they renovate…not to mention finding a place to live in MD or VA on a very limited budget. Depending on whether I get any aid from the Honors College or the College of Liberal Arts, there’s the distinct possibility that I may be finding a part-time job on top of any unpaid internship anyway, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Finally, if none of these actual internships work out, I also applied to an archaeology program being offered through Penn State Outreach. They’re doing work on the site of a nineteenth-century homestead in the area, which sounds fascinating, not to mention totally different than anything else I’m trying for. In addition, I think that I would come out from the program with credit for two anthropology classes, which, along with some of my other credits, would definitely enable me to get an anth minor. The downside is that of course I have to *pay* for the credits, and the program is only half of the summer. So I’d likely be in State College, competing for summer jobs with all of the rest of the college students and high-schoolers also in town. Could get tricky. On the other hand, though, I’d be in State College enjoying copious amounts of summer hangouts with a good many of my friends. Could be a recipe for amazing!
So, in any case, we’ll see. I hope to hear back from most of these by late March/early April. With any luck, I’ll get to post about my decision-making process then, and not about trying to find a waitressing job at home. Kind of strange to think that this is really my last year looking for an internship…next year at this time I’ll be thesis-panicking and doing the grad school app thing. That can take its sweet old time getting here, let me tell you…
). To be sure, I want to keep in touch with my companions. However, the reason I went to Chile is to get to know *Chile*, not necessarily the other gringos. So, it’s with bittersweet feelings that I leave my new friends behind and venture forth into the Chilean world.
Recent Comments