Internships
HUMANITIES INTERNSHIPS through the Donald and Frances Powell Undergraduate Humanities Internship Program:
The Undergraduate Humanities Internship Program places Northwestern University students in Chicago-area humanities, arts,
and cultural institutions, such as:
The Chicago Humanities Festival,
Chicago Historical Society,
Illinois Humanities Council,
Guild Complex, Newberry Library,
Art Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art,
Lyric Opera, Looking Glass Theatre,
Red Moon Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre,
NU Press in Evanston
The program is designed to help students explore the diversity and vitality of the arts in Chicago by fostering an
interdisciplinary, hands-on approach to developing research projects connected with the work of Chicago arts institutions.
Students from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, from the School of Communication, and from the School of Music
have participated in the humanities internship program. We have had faculty from all of these schools and Medill School of
Journalism act as mentors to our interns.
Typically the internship entails about 10 hours of work per week during one quarter in the Chicago host institution; it
carries one academic credit and can count towards the Humanities minor. The research project is supervised by a
Northwestern faculty mentor, who assigns a reading list and writing or other assignments. The intern keeps a job
journal of work at the host institution, reviewed by the faculty mentor. The main project will normally be a 20+ pp.
research paper on a well-defined scholarly topic stemming from the internship. One intern working at Northwestern
University Press translated a short story from the Spanish, wrote a short theoretical paper on the art of translation,
and read her translation at the 2002 ALTA (American Literary Translators Association) annual conference in Chicago.
Research paper topics have included: Kurt Vonnegut and the Abstract Expresssionists; The Development of Chicago House
Music; The Basics of Taoism; Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde: A Study of Staging through Time. Other types of project
are possible, subject to Institute approval. We have had websites, a painting, a series of short stories based on interviews,
and a photo essay, for instance.
Grades are assigned by the faculty mentor on the basis of the student's interaction with the host institution and academic
work (job journal, final research paper, etc.).
Commuting costs will be reimbursed by the Institute at the end of the quarter.
DEADLINES: The Institute internship program functions on a rolling basis, as do many, but not all, the organizations we work
with. Ideally, in order to register for the Humanities Internship HUM 390-0 you need to start the internship process in the
beginning or middle of the quarter BEFORE the internship quarter. You register for the internship as you would for any
other class or Independent Study, either during Advance Registration or during Drop/Add Week.
Some organizations, such as the Art Institute and MCA, have their own set deadlines, so you should always check
institutional websites for details and updates.
For more information about the Humanities internship please click here.
For more information about the Internship Program, please e-mail Department Assistant Beverly Zeldin-Palmer b-zeldin@northwestern.edu
