What do Pell Grants, International Houses, Sister Carrie, and an oral history of a WWII Army Air Corps veteran have in common? All are subjects of internships undertaken by this fall semester’s ten undergraduate interns. HIST 398, the History Undergraduate Internship, allows undergraduates to earn 3 credit hours and to satisfy Loyola’s Engaged Learning requirement in return for interning at a local institution or with a faculty member.
Several undergraduates are working directly with faculty and staff on research projects this semester. Junior Abby Peck is learning from Kathy Young, University Archivist, how to process collections in University Archives. Her blog vividly illustrates her work cataloguing the Dorr Felt Collection, an extensive assemblage of newspaper clippings and ephemera put together by an early twentieth-century Chicago industrialist. Senior Liam Brew is working through another archival collection – several dozen drawings by nineteenth-century Jesuit artist Nicholas Point – under the direction of Professor Steve Schloesser that will be featured in the summer 2014 LUMA exhibition commemorating the Bicentennial of the Restoration of the Jesuits. Recovering the life of Point, a missionary to the Native peoples of the west, and putting his works in chronological and geographical order is no small task as Liam’s blog so engagingly demonstrates. Junior Madiha Rizvi is working with Professor Elizabeth Shermer on an important question: how it was decided that more student loans would be given over grants (such as the Pell Grant) to undergraduates in the United States. Her blog reveals the ways in which historians adjust their research projects as they seek out sources and discover new questions. Sophomore Jill Kreider is also studying a topic related to universities: the International Houses that were founded to promote hemispheric friendship. Working with Professor Dina Berger, Jill will be traveling to archives around the city uncovering information about the place of Latin American nations in International Houses and documenting it in her blog.
Two undergraduate interns are learning how history can be taught to primary and secondary school students this semester. Senior Mudassir Muztar is moving towards his goal of becoming a high school teacher by interning at Mather High School. Mudassir’s blog details his observations of how an experienced history teacher tailors his pedagogical approach and content for high school students. For anyone interested in secondary education, Mudassir’s blog is a must-read. Interning with the Chicago Grassroots Curriculum, Junior Nikki Jarvis is helping develop a set of six textbooks on the African history called “Great Migrations: From Africa to the Americas” for a younger audience: elementary school students. Nikki’s blog nicely shows how curriculum development requires far more than writing: communication and organizational planning are just as essential to the process.
Thanks to the generous support of the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office, the History Department is able to offer a handful of internships with stipends as part of the History at Work Fellowship program. Two undergraduates participating in this program are interning at the Pritzker Military Library. Sophomore Kyle Jenkins’s blog shares his experience helping library patrons, creating a “Discovery Page” for the Pritzker website on the topic of Merchant Marines, and learning the importance of social media networking. Senior Andrew Prior’s blog talks about the joys and challenges of transcribing an oral history of a WWII Army Air Corps veteran. Over in Andersonville at the Swedish-American Museum, Junior Andrea Marshall is also learning about oral history; only her audience is Chicago’s Swedish-American community. Ever wonder what goes into undertaking an oral history? Check out Andrea’s blog for a nice discussion of the process. Finally, Senior Liam Grogan is delving into two fascinating aspects of early twentieth-century Chicago: the 1919 Black Sox Scandal and the publication of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie as an intern at the Chicago History Museum. Read Liam’s blog to learn more about his fascinating internship responsibilities, which include composing tweets in the voice of Shoeless Joe Jackson!
It’s not too early to start thinking about internships for the spring semester. More information can be found about HIST 398 on the department website and the Loyola Undergraduate History Internships blog. Remember, as well, that there are 10 openings available for the History at Work Fellowship program for the spring semester. Please be in touch by email (kroberts2@luc.edu) for more information or to set up a time to talk in person.
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