Internship Course Requirements and Form

INTERNSHIP REQUIREMENTS

The purpose of an internship is to explore ideas, acquire experiences, and engage in practices that can help prepare you for professional work.

All internships are graded as Pass/Fail. In order to earn a passing grade, all interns are expected to work for 40 hours per academic credit (that means 120 hours for a three-credit course) and to work on a significant project that meets a need at the internship host institution. Full Time History Department faculty must approve your project before you begin your internship. In addition, students must accomplish the following:

  1. Complete this form with your internship supervisor BEFORE registering for academic credit (HIST 391 for undergraduates and HIST 790 for graduate students). Provide a copy to your internship supervisor and your UMBC faculty advisor for the internship credits (typically Dr. Melissa Blair). Keep one copy for yourself.
  2. Develop a short reading list with your internship supervisor and/or faculty adviser. Appropriate reading lists will be 2-3 articles for undergraduates 4-5 articles for graduates. The readings should help you reflect on your professional responsibilities, explore the internship field (museums/archives/preservation organizations, etc.) more critically, and/or learn about best practices.
  3. Produce 3 short pieces for the UMBC History Intern Blog over the course of your internship during which you reflect in a thoughtful way about your work, integrating ideas from your readings and telling readers about your project. Undergraduate blog posts should be about 300 words each. Graduate blog posts should be about 500 words each.
  4. Prepare a short presentation for students and faculty in the Department of History about your internship. Your presentation should be about ten minutes long and focus on your project:  What did you do? How did it fit in with the organization’s needs? What did you learn? Presentations will usually take place in the final third of your internship semester.

Contact Dr. Melissa Blair at mfblair@umbc.edu for more information.

Download the Internship Form here.