Undergraduate Public Humanities Internships
Undergraduate Students: Apply Now
Available to Undergraduate Students
Deadline: October 16, 2026
Funding Amount: $1,000
Restrictions
Open to Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors with a major or minor in the College of Arts & Letters. Preference will be given to students with a major in Arts & Letters.Purpose
Public humanities bridge the gap between scholarly production and public engagement, fostering collaborative efforts to explore the world and our uniquely human place within it. This internship offers students the opportunity to use their humanities skills in service to their community while learning how knowledge is produced through the lives, actions, and experiences of community members.
The Undergraduate Public Humanities Internship is a competitively awarded training internship for high-achieving undergraduate students interested in using their expertise in Arts & Letters to engage with and serve their community. Internships will be awarded to students in areas ranging from public writing, archival work, public memory, and museum studies to non-profit administration, education, and working with at-risk youth and adults.
Students will explore one enduring question over the semester, through their work and their experiences with the public and each other. This will culminate in a final poster or presentation that students will deliver at our Day | Merton Symposium. (Details about deliverables will be finalized with the student and internship director in coordination with community partners. It will focus on student experiences and will not require outside research.)
Requirements
- Interns will engage with their community partner no more than 65 hours over the course of the semester. (Excluding the first week of classes, spring break, and exam week, this comes to 13 weeks of service with the community partner or roughly 5 hours a week.)
- Interns will receive a stipend of $1000 and support for coordinating transportation if needed.
- Students will meet the first week of classes for training as a cohort.
- Students will be required to meet monthly (lunch provided) to discuss their experiences with the program director and each other with a focus on the enduring question the students highlighted at the beginning of the program.
- Students will be required to complete a final poster that they will present at the Day | Merton Symposium.
Application Instructions
Proposal Application Materials
- Application form through Submittable.
- A personal statement (2-3 pages) that discusses:
- Your interest in the public humanities (for more on what we mean by public humanities, see the linked document here)
- Relevant skills and classes (including work experience)
- Educational and career goals
- A letter of recommendation from a Notre Dame professor familiar with your academic work.
- Selected candidates will be asked for an in-person interview.
Proposal Preparation and Submission
All proposals should be double-spaced, with one-inch margins and 12-point Times New Roman font. Include page numbers (bottom center) and embed any figures or images within the project description with captions. Footnotes, endnotes, in-text citations, and the bibliography should use a discipline-appropriate citation style.
Evaluation Criteria
Student applications will be evaluated for relevant experience, commitment to the public humanities, and proven reliability. Preference may be given to graduating seniors, but all eligible students are encouraged to apply.
Questions and Additional Information
For questions or additional information contact Dr. Lindsay Paturalski (lpatura2@nd.edu), Assistant Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Grants in the Franco Institute.
For additional information and best practices, see the Before You Apply page for undergraduate students.
Timing: Academic Year