For Undergraduates
Notre Dame Annual Field Museum Internship
Overview
In cooperation with the Chicago Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, the University of Notre Dame Anthropology Department has established a summer internship program open to anthropology majors and minors. You might consider this great opportunity for this coming summer. This internship is intended to help promote our department's goals of increasing the number of our students pursuing a Ph.D in anthropology, and while planning to obtain a Ph.D after graduation is not a requirement for this internship, it will obviously help your candidacy.
Internships are 10 weeks, timed to the UND summer schedule. Students will be supported with a stipend to help defray costs associated with transportation, housing, and meals. Please note: graduating seniors are ineligible to apply.
Intern Duties
The students selected for the Field Museum internships in Chicago work with the Museum's staff on their priceless collections, including tasks like helping with new acquisitions, and will come to see museum work from the inside. Interns will report directly to the Head of Collections and Registrar in the museums’ Department of Anthropology, and will have the opportunity to work with museum curator(s) on specialized research projects. To see the types of projects on which curators are currently working, please review the Field Museum web site by clicking HERE. Students are encouraged to gear application materials toward current research that sparks their interest.
To read about the experiences of previous interns please see the section below entitled "Previous Intern Stories."
Applying
Applicants for the Chicago Internships should submit a letter of application (describing why you would like to be an intern at the Field and your qualifications), curriculum vitae (NOT a resume), and at least one letter of recommendation, and transcript (a photocopy of an official transcript is acceptable) to Field Museum Internship, Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (drop applications off to Eileen Barany in 611 Flanner Hall).
The Internship Selection Committee is unable to consider incomplete application packets and/or application packets submitted after the deadline. Letter(s) of recommendation are a vital component of the application packet and MUST be submitted along with all other required materials for consideration. Graduating seniors are ineligible to apply.
Submission Deadline: 5 pm Monday, February 20, 2012.
Click HERE for information about creating a curriculum vita and additional application material hints.
The Field Museum offers additional internship opportunities. Please visit the Field Museum web site for more information.
Previous Intern Stories
Enjoy the comments below from our summer 2011 and 2010 Field Museum interns.
Ellen Kozelka - Field Museum Intern, Summer 2011
"During the first part of my internship at the National Museum of Natural History, I engaged in library research and laboratory study investigating the early history and archaeology of Mongolia. While agriculture is acknowledged as a component of early empires on the steppe, very little specific archaeological data has been accumulated to judge its relative importance in different regions. I helped Dr. Rogers compile data for chronological studies and process simulations. I also conducted a Google Earth survey to verify the GPS coordinates of sites from previous fieldwork. Finally, I edited a journal article before submission and orchestrated basic collections work. During the second part of my internship, Dr. Rogers and I traveled as part of a larger team conducting archaeological survey to identify a new long-term research area. We travelled extensively across southeast Mongolia taking GPS coordinates, mapping architectural features, photographing evidence of agriculture, and visiting ongoing archaeological projects.
This experience had a profound impact on my scholarly development and reaffirmed my desire to attend graduate school for Anthropology. During my time at the Smithsonian, I learned how archaeologists conduct both museum-based research and archaeological fieldwork. Before travelling to Mongolia, Dr. Rogers supportively guided me in preparation for our fieldwork. While in the field, Dr. Rogers, Dr. Honeychurch, and Dr. Wright all supportively supervised as I made my own interpretations of the empirical data. Furthermore, by assisting Dr. Rogers edit and submit a journal article for publication I learned how fieldwork is translated into scholarship. The chance to learn from such knowledgeable and encouraging scholars was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I intend to show my gratitude by composing a senior thesis and eventually attending graduate school."
Elizibeth "Liz" Olveda - Field Museum Intern, Summer 2010
"Some people see museums as places that are stuffy and static, but this could not be further from the truth. During my internship at the Field Museum I was able to experience the programs, challenges, questions, projects, and initiatives that museum staff must work with on a daily basis. Above and below the halls of exhibits are teams of people working out the logistics of traveling exhibitions, accessioning new artifacts, and dealing with the conservation of delicate materials. Interning at the Field Museum gave me access to all these non-public spaces and activities.
For me, every day at the Field Museum was a little bit different. I worked under Chris Philipp, a collections manager for the Anthropology department. I spent much of my time either working in the records room or working directly with artifacts in a storage/work space. As someone with a passion for history, I was thrilled to spend time looking through old catalogue books, photos, and files in the records room. Being able to handle delicately crafted cultural artifacts in the work space was not a bad way to spend an afternoon either. One of my favorite things about interning at the Field Museum was being invited to different curatorial meetings, exhibition meetings, department meetings, and staff lectures. By attending these various meetings an lectures I was able to learn more about issues in the museum and about the various research and projects being conducted by the curators. One day at work I spent an hour sitting inside the Maori house and sacred marae in the museum as Dr. Terrell, the curator of Pacific Anthropology, explained how the Maori of New Zealand used such spaces (essentially, a marae is a place where people encounter one another and explore their differences and shared experiences) and how he hopes to involve the Chicago community in this practice. His passion for his work and his desire to connect communities through the use of a distinct sacred space were truly inspiring. Now, looking back, I could not think of a better way to spend an hour as a student of anthropology."