Overview: The history internship will allow students to integrate academic and experiential learning and to acquire experience in such fields as museum and archival work, living history, historical tourism, the collection and preservation of historical materials, education, historical archeology, and historical research and writing, as well as in other areas compatible with student interests and career plans. Students enrolled in the course for 3 credit hours will log at least 120 on-site hours and will complete all student responsibilities indicated below.
Eligibility Requirements: Senior or second-semester junior status—At least 24 credits in history, including HIST 208 (Intro to Public History) and HIST 209 (Research and Writing in History)—Minimum 2.5 GPA for seniors and 2.75 for second semester juniors.
Learning Objectives: At the completion of the internship, students will be able to
Demonstrate competency in the skills and knowledge relevant to the internship responsibilities.
Practice professional and ethical behavior in the work environment.
Synthesize academic and experiential learning
Assess the intellectual and ethical issues involved in presenting history to the public.
Department Chair Meeting: In a timely manner prior to the beginning of the internship, students are required to meet with the Humanities and Public History department chair to review the internship course content and student responsibilities and to set all relevant deadlines.
Course Content and Student Responsibilities: Students will be evaluated on a Pass / Fail basis on their performance and learning and on how well they meet the course objectives through the following tasks:
—Project Proposal: At the beginning of the internship, students will submit a written project proposal to the Humanities and Public History department chair, the supervising faculty mentor, and the internship sponsor to include a description of internship activities and responsibilities, a list of goals and objectives, and suggested criteria upon which the internship should be evaluated. This proposal must be approved by the department chair, the supervising faculty mentor, and the internship sponsor.
—Daily Journal: Students will keep a daily journal of their work experience with entries submitted weekly to the faculty mentor. Journal entries will include hours worked, tasks performed, successes and problems, a brief description of skills or knowledge learned, and reflection on how the experience relates to the 4 course learning objectives.
—Work Evaluation: Students must complete the required 120 hours and must obtain a satisfactory written evaluation of their professional and ethical performance by the site supervisor.
—Portfolio: At the end of the semester, students must submit an in-depth, hard copy portfolio to demonstrate fulfillment of the course objectives. This portfolio must be professional in quality and include, at a minimum, documents such as the following:
(1) Log of hours worked
(2) Daily journal
(3) Work products and descriptions (or photographs of “immovable” work products)
(4) A critical essay (5 pages, double spaced minimum) appraising the internship experience and demonstrating the ability to synthesize academic and work experience and to evaluate practical and ethical issues of presenting history to the public.
—Practice Presentation: One week before the History Forum presentation, students will make a practice presentation before the department chair and other HIST 450 class members.
—History Forum Presentation: At the end of the semester, students will make a formal poster, Powerpoint, or similar presentation of their internship experience to the History Forum
Faculty Responsibilities: The internship program will be coordinated by the Humanities and Public History department chair or a designee. All members of the history faculty, including the chair, will be eligible to mentor individual student internships.
The Humanities and Public History department chair or a designee will assume the following responsibilities: Meeting with students before the internship semester to discuss goals, criteria, and appropriate internship sites and again at the beginning of the internship to review the project proposal—Assigning faculty mentors based on student wishes and on faculty expertise, work load, and interest—Overseeing agreements with the sponsoring institutions.
Faculty internship mentors will be compensated based on the per student independent study rate and will have three major responsibilities: Meeting with students before the internship semester to discuss goals, criteria, and appropriate internship sites and at the beginning of the internship to review the project proposal—Supervising Students: Faculty mentors will monitor progress, assign and direct projects, papers, and/or presentations, and evaluate students’ internship experiences—Overseeing Internship Sites: Faculty mentors will maintain regular contact with sponsoring organizations through e-mail and/or telephone communications and, if feasible, on-site visits.
Employer/Sponsor responsibilities: The internship employer or sponsor will assume the following responsibilities: Providing credit-worthy work experience to be specified in writing and signed by the employer/sponsor, internship mentor, Humanities and Public History department chair, and student—Designating a staff member to supervise the intern, verify the hours worked, and maintain contact with the faculty mentor—Providing training and supervision to ensure an authentic and meaningful learning experience for the students.
DEADLINES: See Humanities & PHIST Department Chairperson for detailed information on all deadlines relating to HIST 450 (Public History Internship).
