The university's location in historic northwest Georgia and close proximity to Atlanta offers a wide array of excellent internship opportunities. Many of our students have also chosen to intern at museums, archives, and historic sites throughout Georgia, the southeastern United States, and even other parts of the country.
Internships allow students to sample the field of public history, to learn what types of work they enjoy, and to acquire valuable skills and experience that may serve them in future careers. Some of our students have ended up with jobs in the institutions where they interned.
Both undergraduate students and graduate students in the Public History programs and Museum Studies Certificate program are required to pursue an internship in public history to gain hands-on practice in the field and valuable work experience for their resumes. Students studying history or other disciplines, such as anthropology or mass communications, may consider a public history internship as well.
Public history internships are available for undergraduate and graduate students during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Internships are three-credit courses requiring 125 hours of work experience for undergraduates and 150 hours of work experience for graduates. In addition, students participate in online class activities, including weekly discussions, journaling, and submission of a final essay with portfolio component. All internships require preapproval of the faculty sponsor before registration (see application form below). We are willing to work with a variety of sponsorship partners (see our list of previous internship sponsors below), but the sponsoring organization must have a professionally-trained public historian on staff to supervise the student intern.
There are a wide range of internships available in Carrollton and surrounding communities, around the state of Georgia, and even across the country. For more information on internship opportunities or to register for the Public History Internship course, contact Ann McCleary at amcclear@westga.edu for summer internships or Keri Adams at madams@westga.edu for fall and spring internships.