Public History Internship

Goal

The purpose of the program is to give students interested in public history a chance to work for historically minded institutions while earning academic credit. The program is predicated on the idea that experiential learning is crucial to mastering the practice of public history. Moreover, the program strives to provide a professional network for students and institutions. 

Prerequisites

SHSU undergraduate students can participate in the program after taking Public History HIST 3388 (now HSTY 3301). Graduate students can enroll after obtaining permission from the History Department.

Undergraduate Student Responsibilities

The program requires that a student serve a partnering institution for a minimum of 80 contact hours during the summer semester enrolled in 3302: “Applied Public History.” The site supervisor will confirm the student’s hours. The University expects the students to be reliable, dependable, and engaged during their internship. The student acknowledges that they will work with the partnering institution to best serve the institution’s needs, though clerical duties will not make up the majority of the internship. The student will write an assessment of their experience and keep a log of the work done during their internship. 

Graduate Student Responsibilities

Graduate students have a minimum of 120 contact hours with the institution. They enroll in the summer offering of HIST 5388. They otherwise have the same expectations and responsibilities as stated above. 

Institutional Responsibilities

The partnering institution agrees to provide the student with a broad overview of the various tasks and responsibilities associated with the operation of their organization. A specific individual at the internship site must be identified as the intern’s supervisor. The student, supervisor, and professor of record will agree to a contract that defines the goals of the internship at the beginning of the semester. The supervisor will submit an evaluation of the student intern to the professor of record at the end of the internship orally or in writing. The institution agrees that they will provide students with the chance to take on public history duties, for example, educational support, research projects, object curating, maintenance of historic buildings, writing projects, etc.

University Responsibilities

Each intern will have a professor of record, who will be the contact person for both institutions and student interns throughout the internship. The professor will meet with the institutional supervisor as needed either in person or online throughout the semester. If needed, the professor may remove a student from an internship.

Stipend

For Summer of 2026, we anticipate being able to provide a $2,000 stipend for every student placed in an internship. The stipend is released at the end of the internship period, which is August 1.

Paid Internships

In addition, many internships offer pay. These paid internships have an application and selection process done by the granting museum or historical site. We will help you with this process!

Background on the Program:

Since 2016, the History Department has placed 50 students in internships with museums and historical organizations across Texas and beyond. 15 of these students have gone on to careers in the field. 

Locating Internships

We have partnerships with 16 institutions in Texas. There are opportunities further afield as well, including the opportunity to find paid internships. The curious student should contact Dr. Zach Doleshal about what specific institutions would work best for them.