Internships
As part of their participation in Museum Studies, students undertake an 8-credit internship or 2 4-credit internships. Possible internship locations include the Dwight Frederic Boyden Gallery of Art, Historic St. Mary’s City, Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum, Sotterley Plantation, Calvert Marine Museum, St. Mary’s County Recreation, Parks, and Community Services Museum Division, and other nearby cultural institutions. As the International Education programs develop, numerous Museum Studies-related opportunities will emerge for internships, as well as independent studies, St. Mary’s Projects, museum field visits and new Museum Studies courses through exchange programs and study tours. For comparative purposes, students may wish to request the program coordinator to approve two four-credit internships, for example, in two different countries. Students are strongly encouraged to coordinate their internship plans with the chair of the Museum Studies Program and the Career Development Center.
Tudor Place
Tudor Place Historic House and Gardens, a National Historic Landmark in Georgetown, has openings for a number of interns, ranging from Archaeology/GIS to Historic Preservation and developing furnishing plans. Tudor Place, a neoclassical house with a domed portico designed by the Architect of the Capitol and completed in 1816, was built by Martha Washington's granddaughter. Tudor Place is committed to the interpretation of the families -- free, enslaved, and immigrant -- who lived on this property. For more information on Tudor Place internships for 2010, go to: http://www.tudorplace.org/employment.html
Dwight Frederic Boyden Gallery of Art
The Boyden Gallery offers students hands-on opportunities to participate in a broad range of gallery and collections related activities. Each year the gallery hosts six to seven exhibitions, including three student shows. Interns assist with selected exhibitions, ranging from their planning, research, interpretation, marketing, and communication, to installation and evaluation. Student interns also work directly with the college’s art collection, numbered at over 1,600 works in a wide variety of media. All interns contribute weekly to general gallery operations, and interns with a special interest might design a focused project, in conjunction with gallery staff, that draws upon the gallery or collections. For more information, see the Boyden Gallery website or contact gallery director, mebraun@smcm.edu.
Historic St. Mary’s City
Historic St. Mary’s City acknowledges a strong educational mission in its efforts to preserve and interpret Maryland’s history. Our internships are designed to meet the needs and goals of the intern and the museum with mutually beneficial results. Through exposure to different aspects of the museum’s operations, an intern is able to make career choices more intelligently. Historic St. Mary’s City’s intern program provides a hands-on, realistic work experience for those interested in careers in history-related museums, archaeology, museum administration, marketing, and many others.
- The goals of the program are to provide the intern opportunities in the following areas:
- Academic learning and application related to the ideas, concepts, or theories of the intern’s major field of study.
- Skill development specific to the intern’s major field of study, related occupations, oral and written communication, interpersonal relationships, etc.
- Personal development within the areas of self-confidence, self-awareness, self-management, sensitivity and appreciation for diversity, clarification of values, career awareness and development, etc.
The content of each internship is flexible and can be arranged on an individual basis. The following areas are suggested:
- Museum Administration
- Archaeology/Material Culture
- Collections
- Museum Education
- Marketing
- Historic Site Interpretation
- Costume Design
- Research
For further information, please contact: Dorsey Bodeman; Director of Public Programs at Email: dbodeman@smcm.edu or 240-895-4986. Visit us online at www.stmaryscity.org.
The Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum
Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum (JPPM) is a state museum of archaeology and anthropology that preserves, studies, exhibits and interprets for the public and for professional communities the story of the diverse cultures and environments that are located on the property, in the State of Maryland and in the Chesapeake Bay region. JPPM offers year-round public programming which includes educational workshops and programs, heritage tourism events, and tours. JPPM is also the home of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, a state-of-the-art facility for studying, preserving, and storing the artifacts of Maryland's heritage.
Internship opportunities at JPPM exist in the fields of conservation and curation of artifacts for collection and display, exhibit design, educational programming, facilities management, heritage tourism, museum marketing, and museum administration. Major interpretive themes include archaeology, Native American lifeways, colonial lifeways, historical events significant locally and nationally, agriculture, and the changing environment. For more information on JPPM, please visit www.jefpat.org or contact us at jppm@mdp.state.md.us.
