The Humanities Program internship enables students to observe and participate in the social and economic contexts of contemporary cultural production. Students gain academic credit and professional experience working in the range of fields represented in Humanities: for example, in museums, galleries and arts administration and in multimedia production and publishing. Internships combine pragmatic work experience with academic study. Interns work 3-18 hours per week with their professional supervisor and meet regularly with a faculty advisor who determines the reading and writing requirements. Students learn about employment opportunities available to humanities majors as they gain professional experience and marketable skills in “applied humanities.”

Because the focus of this course is practical experience in an organization, there is no set curriculum or course outline in the usual sense. Students will, however, develop a reading list, keep and submit a journal of their work experiences, and write a paper of 5-20 pages (depending on the number and kind of credits). They will have a direct supervisor at work (3-18 hours per week) and a faculty advisor at school (1 hour, every other week). The student will develop a reading list with his/her faculty advisor based on the student’s activities at the workplace and the topic of his/her paper. Students will be evaluated by the internship supervisor and by the faculty supervisor; the faculty supervisor will assign a grade based on the internship supervisor’s evaluation and the quality of the written work.

REQUIREMENTS:

  • Interns must be Humanities majors;
  • Interns must have Junior standing or above, and a GPA of 3.0 or above, to enroll in Humanities 3930;
  • Humanities 3930 may be taken for 1-6 credits (48 work hours = 1 credit hour);
  • Interns must find and work closely with a faculty advisor (to be chosen from among the Humanities), and fill out and submit the Arts and Sciences Credit Internship Application for program records. More info about form and petitions here.
  • Internship arrangements must be completed by the course-add deadline in a given semester; summer internship arrangements must be made individually with a faculty advisor and arrangements must be made before the end of the spring semester;
  • Interns must document their work quantitatively and qualitatively, and provide an initial letter of expectations and a final letter of evaluation from their direct supervisor;
  • 3 credit hours of Humanities 3930 may be counted toward the upper division Humanities course requirement for majors if taken for credit, or credit hours can count in an outside area if appropriate;
  • Internship hours must be taken pass/fail, unless a minimum writing requirement of 20 pages is included in the course design (NB: pass/fail courses cannot be counted toward any major requirement in the College of Arts and Sciences).

Please contact David Ferris David.Ferris@colorado.edu, for more information concerning the internship program The Humanities Program offers.