Internships

To best equip aspiring public historians to face a challenging job market, we encourage our students to volunteer, intern, and gain experience as leaders in projects and activities (whether or not these are history-related). In addition to becoming excellent historians, these experiences allow them to develop excellent communication skills and to assemble a portfolio of evidence of these skills. We encourage them to be proactive in developing a network of professional contacts and becoming informed about their prospects in the field.

The History Department encourages students to design internships that develop their particular academic interests and professional goals. By working on site with public historians and on campus with faculty advisors, students benefit from coordinated mentorship that links classroom and workplace experience. Most importantly, interns hone their applied research skills by completing a project designed to enhance historic interpretation at their internship site.

+-Internship Opportunities

Working at a public history site is a great way to develop professional skills that are necessary to compete for entry-level positions in today’s job market. Recently, our graduate students have interned at the following Philadelphia-area institutions:

Fairmount Park Conservancy
Hidden City Philadelphia
The Heritage Center of The Union League of Philadelphia
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Barbara Bates Center for The Study of the History of Nursing
Villanova Digital Library
Eisenhower National Historic Site
Valley Forge National Historical Park
Independence Seaport Museum
Harold F. Pitcairn Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum
Chester County Historical Society

The Internship Opportunities document below includes contact information for area institutions that are eager to hear from interested graduate students and projects seeking student participants. Students should also keep an eye on the following websites for internship and employment opportunities:

PhilaCulture Job Bank
NCPH Job Listings
AASLH Career Center
AAM jobHQ

For more information about arranging an internship for course credit through HIS 9006, see the Graduate Internships Fact Sheet below, taken from the Graduate Student Handbook. As noted, interns must submit a completed Internship Expectations form, signed by both the site advisor and Villanova faculty advisor, before receiving permission to enroll in HIS 9006. Questions about internships or history institutions in the area? Contact Dr. Whitney Martinko.

Graduate Internships in Public History Fact Sheet

Internship Opportunities

+-Teaching Internships

The one-credit Teaching Internship pairs interested students with faculty mentors to assist in the teaching of an undergraduate history course. Under close faculty guidance, teaching interns help plan the course, lead discussion sections and evaluate student performance.

+-Contact Information