Internship Sites

Internship Sites

Internship sites change from quarter to quarter. Here are a few or our current opportunities.

To apply, please see our application page.

Museum of Social Justice

The Museum of Social Justice & Education Center are home to a series of diverse Public Programs and Education Initiatives. Revolving Exhibitions showcase the history of Los Angeles and social change from the perspective of the poor, minorities, and other marginalized groups. This is an excellent internship for students interested in education as it pertains to history.

Activity

Internships will focus on the following two areas, which can be adjusted according to student interests and learning objectives:

1. Museum education projects. Students will develop remote learning modules to accompany our exhibitions. An intern could choose a previous or upcoming exhibition that interests them and develop a project that educators could use in their classrooms. These projects can range from creative artistic explorations of the topic to more traditional worksheets, scavenger hunts, etc. Prospective interns can check out educational materials developed as part of previous exhibitions to get an idea of what they’d be doing. The website is www.hmuseumofsocialjustice.org. See especially the exhibition pages for the Thai El Monte, New Black City, and Goodwill exhibitions. 
2. On-line resources. The Museum attempts to offer helpful information on our website and social media platforms on ongoing social justice struggles. An intern could choose an issue that is important to them, research and curate resources on that topic, and offer them in a useful way to our followers. For instance, a previous intern has focused on talking with children about racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.
3. Interactive exhibition design. On-site interns will help design an interactive component for the upcoming exhibition Deported Veterans. This would be an on-site interactive component that’s part of the physical exhibition, something targeted at youth to help them better understand the issues raised in the exhibition. 

Contact

Website: https://www.museumofsocialjustice.org/

The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles

The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (IAMLA) explores the Italian American experience in the context of the nation’s multicultural mosaic. The 6,000 square-foot museum is located in downtown Los Angeles and features an award-winning permanent exhibition, which is also accessible online, as well as temporary exhibitions, cultural-educational programming, and curricula for educators.

The intern will play a pivotal role in the transition between exhibitions, specifically assisting with the de-installation of the current temporary exhibition and the installation of our upcoming exhibition, Creative Minds: Italian American Inventors and Innovators.

Responsibilities will include:

• Assisting with all aspects of exhibition de-installation and installation processes.
• Updating and maintaining exhibition checklists to ensure all items are accurately accounted for.
• Handling technical aspects of exhibition setup, including the preparation and placement of artifacts.
• Writing detailed condition reports to document the state of items before and after installation.
• Collaborating with museum staff to ensure the seamless execution of exhibition transitions.
• Participating in planning meetings
• Gaining hands-on experience in museum practices, including artifact handling, display techniques, and exhibition design.

This internship offers a comprehensive learning experience in museum operations, providing invaluable skills for students interested in history, museum studies, or cultural heritage. Candidates should have excellent organizational skills, and possess a willingness to engage in both the physical and intellectual aspects of museum work. Please note that this is an in-person internship.

Filmic Technologies

Filmic Technologies is the manufacturer of very quick and easy to use motion picture film scanners. Their website address is: https://www.filmictech.com/

The internship that Filmic Technologies offers would provide an opportunity for students to do online research to learn how to contact State Historical Societies to ask questions about the organization’s archival motion picture collection and what they are doing to preserve and provide access to the films. The information would be collected on an Archival Preservation Survey that I developed. Here is the link to the survey: https://www.filmictech.com/survey. 

Students would also learn about the National Film Preservation Foundation, and read The Film Preservation Guide: The Basics for Archives, Libraries, and Museums, here is the link to the book: https://www.filmpreservation.org/dvds-and-books/the-film-preservation-guide.

The students would also learn about the Community of Archives which are all the non-profit organizations who have received grants for film preservation.

Internship supervisor: Lance Watsky, Archivist

Holocaust Museum LA

Founded by Holocaust Survivors in 1961, Holocaust Museum LA is the oldest museum of its kind in the United States. The founding Survivors insisted that everyone be given the opportunity to learn and no visitor would ever be turned away because of an entry fee. Through programs that value intergenerational dialogue and artifact- based learning, Holocaust Museum LA continues its mission to commemorate, educate, and inspire.

Archival Internship:

The preservation of historical documents and artifacts is a crucial practice in understanding, teaching, and learning from history. Holocaust Museum LA is committed to the preservation and retention of artifacts in both physical and digital format. The Museum strives to make its collection accessible online, transitioning and maintaining a catalogue of primary sources on a digital platform, and providing free public access to this platform as a resource for scholars, teachers and students. The Museum’s online archival database provides digital access to these important resources and receives visitors from around the world.

The Museum’s internship program invites qualified candidates to learn about the Holocaust, as well as the way in which a museum operates, specifically related to the archives. Working virtually or in person, interns will learn and assist with the various methods and steps required to process, digitize, preserve, and catalog artifacts in an environment dedicated to Holocaust history and education. Interns will have the opportunity to work research, organize and catalog both newly donated artifacts, as well as those within the museum’s existing collection.

Duties:

• Record and digitize new acquisitions for the Museum’s collection
• Assist staff in various tasks related to the administration and cataloguing of the physical records relating to the Museum’s archive and collection
• Provide research assistance for Museum exhibits and social media postings as needed

Internship Qualifications:

Required:

• Enrollment in undergraduate or graduate program, preferably with a focus in history, library studies or museum studies
• Interest in archival methods and research
• Strong written communication skills, including a knowledge of editing and composition
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Word and Excel

Preferred:

• Interest in Holocaust and 20th-century European history
• Social media skills
• Fluency in: German, Polish, Dutch, French, Russian, or Hungarian

**Please note, a writing sample is required for this internship: excerpt from a paper written in college**

Contact

Website: holocaustmuseumLA.org

100 S. The Grove
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Fowler Museum

 Project Description: Transcribing Provenance at the Fowler Museum

The Fowler Museum’s Mellon African Art Initiative team is seeking a detail-oriented, organized intern to assist in ongoing efforts to reunite objects with their provenance. The intern will work with the collection of material that came to the museum in 1965–67 as part of the gift from the Wellcome Trust. While the Mellon team has been able to transcribe the provenance for the African material, the works from the Americas and the Pacific still require attention. 

In addition to the 195 internship course requirements, Interns will be responsible for the following:

• Transcribe archival cataloging cards into a spreadsheet
• Research subsequent provenance data points, which could include assembling collectors’ biographies or searching for prior auction sales records
• Participate in discussions with Mellon team about database organization and terminology (e.g. how do we best record provenance?)
• Flag any works needing further attention (e.g. possible candidates for repatriation)
• Attend bi-weekly check ins with Mellon team 

As part of this experience, interns will also have the opportunity to meet with many other Fowler departments to learn about many aspects of labor that go into museum work. Internship will be mostly in-person with limited opportunities for remote work. 

Contact

Website: https://fowler.ucla.edu/

History Education Internship, University Prep Value High School

University Prep Value High School is a small charter high school in inner city Los Angeles. Located in the Pico Union community west of Downtown Los Angeles, they teach in accordance with a values-based practice in a whole-school, whole-child approach. For more information, please see: http://www.upvhs.valueschools.com/

This remote internship is with the social studies department and will involve:

• Developing teaching materials on the histories of local communities
• Helping present lessons
• Mentoring high school students
• Learning about the the social studies teaching field and benefiting from being mentored by an experienced history teacher

Secure your own Internship

In addition to interning with our institutional partners listed above, students can secure their own internships and receive HistoryCorps credit. If you have applied for your own internship, please contact the Center for Community Learning directly to enroll in HIST 195CE. Requirements and the enrollment process are outlined here.

Summer Internships

We do not run HistoryCorps during the summer. However, many students apply for and secure their own internships.

Can I get credit? Yes! Please apply directly to an institution for the internship. If you are accepted, you can enroll in 195CE to get academic credit. The enrollment process is managed by the Center for Community Engagement.  Click here for further details.

Special Programs and Paid Internships

The following opportunities may be of interest to history students. They are not administered by or affiliated with the UCLA History Department.

Getty Marrow Undergraduate Internships

Aiming to encourage greater diversity in the professions related to museums and the visual arts, the Getty Marrow Undergraduate Internship program in Los Angeles supports substantive, full-time summer work opportunities for college undergraduates from backgrounds that have traditionally been underrepresented in the arts. Since the program began in 1993, 161 local arts institutions, including the Getty, have hosted over 3,300 interns, exposing students to career possibilities in the arts.

More information here.

Teach For America Opportunities

More info here.

1. Full-time employment after graduation
   1. Full-time teaching, salary + benefits, alternative path to a teacher certification, all majors welcome, combat education inequity

2. Virtual part-time employment for the Spring or Fall:  https://tfaignite.org/
   1. Part-time tutoring, 3-5 hours a week, 100% through Zoom, 3rd grade reading or middle school math, 12 weeks, $1200 stipend upon completion, all majors and years welcome, combat learning loss
3. Want us to send you these applications or stay updated on paid summer fellowship opportunities or fall opportunities? Sign up here (you can unsubscribe at any time): bit.ly/UCLAContactMe

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