US History Scene Summer 2018 Internships

US History is pleased to announce its summer internship and fellowship programs:

  • Historical Writing and Research Internship Program
  • Pop Culture History Digital Internship
  • Bancroft Library – U.S. History Scene Fellowship in Digital History (in partnership with the University of California Berkeley) 

Historical Writing and Research Internship Program

U.S. History Scene, a multimedia history education project founded by Harvard historians, is currently seeking undergraduate and graduate applicants for its Summer 2018 Historical Writing and Research Internship Program. Interns will gain valuable writing and publishing skills through the process of writing, submitting, and editing original multimedia research articles, book reviews, and classroom lesson plans.

All interns will work one-on-one with our Editorial Board to gain experience in primary source research, editing, and publishing. We will assist interns in applying for stipends or university credit, and we partner with universities around the United States to ensure that interns are compensated for their public history work. Internships can be performed via telecommute from your home university.

To apply: Interested undergraduates and graduate students should submit a resume/CV, unofficial transcript, and a writing sample to Summer Internship Director Stephanie Beck Cohen at Editors@USHistoryScene.com by March 23, 2018. Applicants are also asked to submit a list of five original topics they would be interested in working on; these topics are not binding, but help us understand applicants’ research interests. Special consideration will be given to students working on underrepresented historical perspectives. Applicants will be notified of their application decision by April 6, 2018.

For more information, please contact Stephanie at Editors@USHistoryScene.com. Please feel free to forward our e-mail to your department list serve or interested students.

Image: Jr. High Students participating in a Harlem at Harvard day organized by U.S. History Scene

Pop Culture History Digital Internship

U.S. History Scene, a multimedia history education project, announces its Summer 2018 Pop Culture History Digital Internship. The Pop Culture History Digital Interns will delve into the nuances of American Pop Culture digital materials, primary sources, and material culture in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and gain experience in promoting USHS curriculum through our social media channels. The intern will work one-on-one with our co-founder and editorial board to gain experience in creating digital source databases, integrating multimedia (like historical songs, theater programs, films, etc.), and in methods of promoting public history resources to a variety of audiences.

By the end of the internship, the Pop Culture History Intern will gain professional experience in refining their critical thinking skillset as a historian as well as an introduction to the tools necessary in pursuing academic and public history careers, as well as venue for publishing the work they do over the summer.

To apply: Interested graduate students should submit a letter of interest highlighting relevant social media/public history work, a resume/CV, unofficial transcript, and a writing sample to Summer Internship Director Stephanie Beck Cohen at Editors@USHistoryScene.com by March 23, 2018. Applicants will be notified of their application decision by April 6, 2018.

Bancroft Library – U.S. History Scene Fellowship in Digital History 

The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley and U.S. History Scene are pleased to announce competitions for a new fellowship: The Bancroft Library-U.S. History Scene Fellowship in Digital History.

The aim of this fellowship program is to familiarize scholars with emerging digital technologies and digital archival collections, including the digital publication of original scholarly research. The fellowship will introduce history graduate students to specialized skills, methods, and professional networks for conducting digital research using online digital primary source collections at the Bancroft Library, aimed at innovating K-12 history education and curriculum development.

Eligibility for Awards:

The fellowship is designed to support qualified doctoral students in the humanities or social sciences from any recognized institution of higher education in the United States.

Size of Awards:

The fellowship will include a stipend of $1500 to support 6-8 weeks of research and writing to be paid by the Bancroft Library at U.C. Berkeley directly to the fellow. Residency at the Bancroft Library is not required.

Scope of Eligible Projects:

Fellows will advance digital research practices with primary sources housed at Bancroft Library, identify new sources that should undergo digitization for public access, and receive peer-reviewed digital publishing training through U.S. History Scene for public education. The fellowships will result in digital publication of articles and curriculum plans related to their research topics to be presented on the Bancroft Library and U.S. History Scene websites. This is a virtual fellowship, allowing scholars a flexible schedule through telecommuting to participate (although residency at the Bancroft Library is welcomed). To accommodate this flexibility, primary sources will be digitized and sent to researchers directly from the Bancroft Library for their research use.

Topics that fellows might explore include:

  • Native American life and culture
  • Pacific exploration, maritime history, and empire
  • Mapping and settling the West
  • Missions and cross-cultural exchange
  • The Gold Rush
  • Overland trails
  • Mormons in the U.S. West
  • Mexican-American War, Civil War, & Reconstruction in California
  • Native and African American Slavery in the Early American West
  • Formation of National Parks
  • The U.S. home front during World War I & II
  • Organized Labor & Unionization
  • Environmental History / Natural Disasters
  • Railroads and Transportation History
  • Water, Oil, and Mining
  • Land Grant Acts
  • The Great Depression & Dust Storms
  • The Great Migration
  • Major social movements of the 20th century: Civil Rights, Black Power, Chicano Movements, Feminism & the Women’s Movement, Disability Rights, GLBT Rights
  • The West in the Cold War
  • Chinese Exclusion
  • Japanese Internment
  • Role of military & the federal government
  • Mass Culture in the U.S. West
  • Frontier & Western Mythology

Applying for Awards

Applicants should submit a C.V. and a research statement indicating the scope and purpose of their proposed research, identifying relevant holdings of The Bancroft Library that will support their research. The digital application form, along with documentary evidence of current enrollment at a college or university, and two letters of recommendation must be sent by March 23, 2018 to editors@ushistoryscene.com. Awards will be announced TBA.