Undergraduate Research Internship Opportunities – Spring 2016

Did you know that you can work as a research intern while earning course and the engaged learning credit? Several History faculty members have ongoing projects that they welcome undergraduates to participate in through a mentored internship experience. Internships for the Spring 2016 include working on the Evangelical Gotham website project, The NOLA Oral History Project, a new book on the buccaneers of the Caribbean, the History of Women in Science and Math, Chicago History Museum Making History Award Oral History Project and the Polish Resistance (AK) Foundation Scholarship 

Companion websites allow authors to augment arguments in their published books with additional online primary sources, interactive maps, and image galleries. They also help market and make accessible books to broader readerships. Professor Roberts is looking for an intern or interns interested in working as part of a team to build a website for his forthcoming book, Evangelical Gotham: Religion and the Making of New York City, 1783-1860 (forthcoming fall 2016). This is a great opportunity to gain experience with new digital applications, to learn about public history, and to explore how books are marketed in the twenty-first century. For more information or to apply, contact Prof. Roberts at kroberts2@luc.edu.

The NOLA Oral History Project documents the experiences of individuals who participated in the rehabilitation of New Orleans in the aftermath of flooding from Hurricane Katrina. Transitioning to book form, the project needs interns to execute transcription and fact-checking of interviews before publication. The project thus offers students the opportunity to learn editorial and transcription skills. Students can also learn more about social justice in action by reading through the interviews of people who have dedicated months to years of their lives in rebuilding one of America’s most historic cities. Involving issues of class, so-called race, housing, and the legal system, this project also affords students the opportunities to engage topics of social justice within the urban history context. For more information or to apply, contact Prof. Manning at cmannin@luc.edu.

Professor Donoghue is looking for help on his new book project about the buccaneers of the Caribbean. This is an opportunity to hone archival skills with both digital and paper primary sources, including seventeenth-century imperial and colonial state papers and private correspondence. Work in the Newberry Library will be required.  For more information or to apply, contact Prof. Donoghue at jdonoghue@luc.edu.

Women in science and math have a long and distinguished history at Mundelein College and Loyola University, but their contributions have too often been overlooked or forgotten. The Women and Leadership Archives, located on the third floor of Piper Hall, is looking for an intern interested in researching the histories of women scientists like Sister Mary Therese Langerbeck, a pioneering mid-twentieth century Physics professor. The intern will make their papers and story more accessible on the web and in the archives. This is a great opportunity for a student interested in the history of women, the history of science, public history, or the digital humanities. For more information or to apply, contact Nancy Freeman at nfreeman1@luc.edu.

Since 1995, Prof. Timothy Gilfoyle has conducted oral history interviews with most of the recipients of the Making History Awards, given annually by the Chicago History Museum (CHM) to Chicagoans whose enduring contributions to the city and metropolitan region made them figures of historic importance. The interviews were conducted with audiotape or an audio recorder and have been transcribed. The transcriptions, however, have never been formally processed by CHM and made available to researchers or the public. Student internships for Spring 2016 are available for Loyola History majors interested in processing the interviews, creating an index and finding aid for future researchers, receiving training in working with oral history materials, improving their writing skills, and learning about Chicago and American history. Interns will work closely with Prof. Gilfoyle to select interviews that fit with their personal interests. For more information, click here. To apply, please email Prof. Gilfoyle at tgilfoy@luc.edu.

The Polish Resistance (AK) Foundation Scholarship offers undergraduates an opportunity to undertake a one-semester research-based project under the mentorship of a Loyola Faculty member. The successful candidate will receive a stipend (last year it was $1500). The candidate’s project must examine some aspect of Polish history, the history of the Polish Underground State, and/or the Polish Home Army during World War II. Preference will be given to projects exploring some aspect of the history of the Polish Underground State or the Polish Home Army. An application and criteria for selection can be found on the History Department website. For more information or to apply, contact Prof. Suszko at msuszko@luc.edu