Internships in Museum Studies

Harvard’s Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments (CHSI) is one of the three largest university collections in the world for teaching and research in the history of science and technology. Through CHSI's museum, the History and Science concentration offers motivated concentrators the opportunity to work with scholars, curators and designers on new exhibitions (often undertaken in association with other museums at Harvard and beyond) that are regularly developed and displayed for the public in our temporary exhibition space.

Internships for concentration credit are available on a limited basis to juniors and seniors wishing to have a serious semester-long opportunity working on a professional exhibition. Students who are accepted to the internship program enroll in History of Science 91r, Supervised Reading and Research, and are supervised over the course of the semester by a curator, along with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. In addition to helping to produce an exhibition, students must produce a brief (5-7 page) report about the exhibition’s significance.

If you are interested in exploring the possibility of a for-credit internship that will teach you curatorial skills and exhibition design, you can contact Prof. Rebecca Lemov. You should aim to do this before the start of the semester in which you hope to do the internship.

There may also be limited (paid) opportunities for summer internship work through the SHARP summer research program. Ask for details.

To get a better sense of what an internship for credit with CHSI might mean, feel free to browse the online websites associated with previous exhibitions, some of which have won international recognition:

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