Internships are required and probably one of the most important learning experiences in the program. They are individually arranged in consultation with a faculty advisor, and may be completed at any museum as long as the project meets the criteria.

Internship projects are done in a museum under the supervision of a museum mentor and focusing on a professional level project. Unless part of a paid internship, the time commitment is 50 hours of internship work for each credit hour earned. Authorization is required for registration, and undergraduate students must have completed the appropriate prerequisites before doing an internship.

Planning your internship may seem like a daunting task, and the following materials may be helpful in organizing your project.

Download the Internship Handbook

Download the Internship FAQ

Download the Internship Checklist

Download the Intern Self-Evaluation Form

Download the Mentor Intern Evaluation Form

Introduction

 Below is a basic outline of what is involved in planning an internship.  Please download and read the Intern Handbook pdf above for a much more detailed explaination of the process.

Step One: Choosing a location for your project

Several months prior to the start of your internship, meet with your faculty advisor to discuss your interests, goals, experience, and skills. Identify a focus as well as the basic parameters (where, when, how many credits, etc.).

Many museums have formal internship programs with a variety of projects available. If there is a particular institution you would like to work at, you may contact them directly regarding their internship possibilities and their application procedures. Your advisor can also give you a list of internship coordinators and contacts for area museums.

If you know what type of project you would like to work on, but do not have a strong preference as to a specific museum, you should discuss this with your faculty advisor. Often the faculty will have connections within the museum network in Indianapolis, and may know of an individual or institution which is looking for a student to do the type of project that interests you.

Either way, you should begin this process well in advance of the semester you intend to register for your internship course, so that there will be no delays in the development of your internship proposal.

Step Two: Developing an internship proposal

Your proposal must be approved before the semester in which you register for the internship, so it is important to get all your information organized in plenty of time. The handbook above provides you with a simple checklist of what the proposal must contain.
Important points to note: This proposal is not set in stone! Your project may evolve or change in scope somewhat over the course of the semester, and this is fine. In your final report you will detail this progression. Your proposal document sets forth measurable goals; it defines what you are expecting from your mentor and what your mentor is expecting from you. It will include a basic timetable of when you expect to complete each phase of your project, the specific learning objectives you hope to achieve through completion of the project, a list of "deliverables" which you are expected to turn in to your mentor and your advisor at the end of the project, and a schedule defining when you are expected to be working on the project. Your proposal may need to be revised upon examination by your advisor and your mentor, so allow plenty of time for this.

Download a Sample Internship Proposal

Step Three: Doing the Work

Using your proposal document as a blueprint, you will spend 150 hours working on this internship project at your chosen institution. Touch base with your mentor and your faculty advisor frequently; let them know how you are doing, and if you have questions or concerns! If the project is not going in the direction you had originally anticipated, discuss this with them to see if you need to get the project back on track, or if they would prefer that you refocused your efforts in this new direction.

Step Four: The Final Report

At the end of your project, you will need to produce a final report, including a self-evaluation and an evaluation form from your mentor. The main report includes all of the materials you produced during the project; in addition it will include your own reflections on the success of the project and what you have learned through the experience. You must present a copy of this work to your advisor and to your mentor. There are many project reports from previous years on file in the Museum Studies office--feel free to come in and look through them to get a sense of how to structure and compose your own report.