UofM Receives Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Grant
The University of Memphis (UofM) has been awarded a significant $4,999,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to support a transformative paid internship program for undergraduate humanities and humanistic social sciences majors, directly addressing critical barriers faced by students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, in securing high-quality internships.
Is your organization interested in hosting a UofM intern? Complete this interest form.
What does this mean for students and faculty?
- Paid Internships: · Paid Internships: More than 100 students a year will have the chance to gain real-world experience through paid internships, mostly at non-profit and community organizations. Internships during academic terms will involve 12 hours per week of work for 12 weeks and $3,000 in pay for that work. Internships during the summer will involve 24 hours per week of work for 10 weeks and $5,000 in pay for that work. Thus, these paid internships have a compensation rate of $20 per hour.
- Extra Support: Students will also receive help with transportation and professional attire and may request support for child or elder care to ensure they can focus on their internships.
- Faculty Development: The grant will also support faculty by providing resources for developing new courses and conducting career guidance sessions, ensuring they can provide the best support to students.
Why is this important?
Unpaid or low-paid internships can often be a barrier for students, especially those from underrepresented groups. By providing paid internships and essential support services, this grant will empower students to gain practical experience, develop professional skills, and enhance their career prospects. By investing in paid internships and student support, the UofM is proactively bridging the gap between academic achievement and career readiness.
How can students apply for paid internships?
The College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) welcomes applications for grant-supported humanities and humanistic social sciences internships through our Experiential Learning Fellowship position posting in Tiger Link. Note that the compensation amount and work requirements are higher than those listed in the posting for students eligible for support using funds from the Mellon Foundation grant.
Eligibility: Undergraduate students must have a declared major in one of the following to be eligible for an internship funded by the Mellon Foundation.
- African and African American Studies
- Anthropology
- Earth Sciences concentration in Geoarchaeology
- Earth Sciences concentration in Geography
- English
- History
- International Studies
- Philosophy
- Political Science
- Sociology
- World Languages and Literatures
Additional Selection Materials and Criteria:
- Applicants should be in good academic standing.
- Preference will be given to eligible students who have reached junior or senior academic standing.
- Either:
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- A description of the relevance of an internship placement already identified to the applicant’s academic program and career goals
- A description of skills and knowledge from the applicants' academic program that they would like to exercise and further develop in an internship
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Selection Process: Awardees will be pre-reviewed for eligibility by the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office. Internship supervisors will select interns from eligible applicants. All applicants will be informed of placement decisions.
Positions are posted on Tiger Link; you can find the direct link to the application here. Applications are accepted each Fall, Spring and Summer semesters.
Available Humanities Experiential Learning Opportunities:
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- Special Collections: Located on the fourth floor of McWherter Library, Special Collections preserves and organizes historical documents related to Memphis regional history and culture including, but not limited to, University Archives, the Civil War and other conflicts, Civil Rights, and the African American community and culture.
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- Government Publications: As the Federal Regional Depository Library for the state of Tennessee and a depository for Tennessee state documents, the University Libraries Government Publications team is committed to providing access to federal and state government information.
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- Information Access Services: These comprise cataloging, collection management, interlibrary loans, and library information systems. The purpose of Information Access Services is to provide and promote information resources that foster academic success and support the University of Memphis community.
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- Digital Commons- The University of Memphis Digital Commons is the institutional repository of the University of Memphis meant to promote digitized collections for greater visibility of scholarship for the University of Memphis community.
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- Research & Instruction- The University Libraries Instructional Services team is committed to promoting information literacy: locating, evaluating, and using information to fulfill research and information needs.
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- Music Library- The Music Library is located in the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music Building on the first floor in room 115. The Music Library houses music resources and provides a complete range of services for faculty and students.
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- Health Sciences- The Health Sciences Library (also known as Baptist Memorial Health Care Library) is housed on the second floor of the Community Health Building, located at 4055 North Park Loop, on the University of Memphis Park Avenue Campus. The collection includes books, journals, and media focusing on nursing, audiology, and speech-language pathology. Related areas of interest in the collection include special education, linguistics, laryngology, otology, neurology, psychology, and sociology.
- Lambuth Library- The Luther L. Gobbel Library (also called the Lambuth Library) is located on the Lambuth Campus in Jackson, TN and is a branch of the University of Memphis Libraries.
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- Digital Projects/Preservation Intern: Work onsite and in collaboration with librarians and archivists at the Memphis Public Library as part of the DIG Memphis Digital Archive. Work on digital project initiatives, including digitizing archival material for preservation, processing digital reproductions and supplying metadata for digital objects in accordance with MPL’s internal workflow, using archival materials to conduct primary research, and synthesizing primary and secondary sources into public-facing history writing.
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- This is an opportunity for students to help conduct primary source research to document seismic activity in the Central and Eastern United States using historical records.
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- Planning and Development Department, Planning Intern - Assist with data collection and cataloging to support incentive administration. The capstone project can be sidewalk condition surveying or asset mapping for an internal operations app. Basic surveying and GIS experience are a plus.
- Marketing, Communications and Events Department, Marketing Intern - Assist in creating marketing materials for the events newsletter, business newsletter, and social media platforms.
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- Opportunities are available for: Social Media internship, Marketing and Communications internship, Public Policy and Advocacy Internship, and Fundraising and Development Internship.
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- Interns will assist the AutoZone Liberty Bowl staff in various areas: Artwork and design of our year-round materials, Communications/Public Relations, Digital Media/Marketing, Event Management and Sales & Ticketing. Interns will also help plan and execute events associated with the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, including the game itself. Interns will also assist with other AutoZone Liberty Bowl events and initiatives during their term.
- Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology - Collection Assistantships
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- Collection Audit: Long-term project to inventory and update cataloging of the collection. Interns would get exposure to all the major tasks of collections management: Object handling, working with registration and catalog systems, photography and documentation, condition assessment and reporting, and making appropriate storage and conservation decisions. Capstone projects could range from a portfolio of reports to creating physical storage to in-depth provenance research or a process paper.
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- Exhibitions: Design and Installation: Help with physical design, the creation of labels and didactic texts, the creation of mounts and other exhibition furniture, and the installation of the objects. A capstone project could be a portfolio of work, a case independently conceived and installed by the student or a process paper.
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- Interpretation and Public History: Assist in updating and creating didactic and interpretive paneling, interpretive brochures, in-museum activities for different demographics, and docent scripts. Capstone projects could be a portfolio, a packet of educational or community-engagement materials, or a research paper on public interaction with our collection. This would be appropriate for a student who has taken some Egyptology classes, any student interested in a museum career, or a student working with the incoming Public History faculty.
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- Visual Arts of Mexico - Exhibition Assistant: AMUM’s permanent collection includes a variety of visual arts from Mexico dating from the pre-Columbian era until the 20th century. The museum plans an upcoming exhibition featuring art from Mexico, including Mesoamerican artifacts, hand-colored lithograph facsimiles from the Durán Codex, textiles, and Mexican Folk Art. The intern is responsible for assisting AMUM’s staff in researching these artworks, curating a successful educational and visually engaging exhibition that will stimulate a stronger knowledge of and appreciation for Mexican art and culture, and making this exhibition’s didactic content.
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- Artists as Witnesses - Exhibition Assistant: AMUM is developing an upcoming exhibition titled Artists as Witnesses, featuring artworks that capture historic events in the artist’s contemporary time. The intern is responsible for assisting AMUM staff in compiling artworks from the museum’s permanent collection that fit this theme, researching the artwork, associated artists, and historic events, and curating the exhibition. This exhibition aims to educate the public on different periods of history through the artist's perspective, as seen in their work. Some of these artworks include Samuel Crone’s painting of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, épinal prints from the Napoleonic period, Harpers Bizarre newspapers, and the Untitled screen print of the photograph "Birmingham Race Riot" by Andy Warhol.
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- Editorial assistant: Communicate with undergraduate students who are current or prospective journal authors.
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- Content creator: Produce written and visual content to promote the journal to undergraduate students.
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- Content strategist: Develop plans and strategic approaches to effectively communicate informative content to undergraduate students.
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- Marketing Coordinator: Execute promotional campaigns to promote the journal to undergraduate students.
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- Social Media Coordinator: Manage the journal’s social media accounts by posting engaging material and leveraging online platform functionalities (e.g., tags, hashtags, mentions, etc.).
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- Social Media and Public Relations (1 position available) This would be an excellent position for any communications major. The primary job would be creating posts, running campaigns, and interacting with our online community.
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- Editorial Assistants (2 positions available) Reading submissions for the online and print journals. Editing pieces selected for publication, helping out the brand manager with administrative tasks
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- Bilingual Internship - Interns will help teachers with lesson preparation and classroom management, as well as support student learning through small group instruction. They will also help with school event planning and logistics. Time commitment is 12 hours or 20 hours a week for 15 weeks.
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- Academic Internship - Gain hands-on experience, engage directly with diverse communities, and contribute to initiatives that make a meaningful impact. Interns will work closely with World Relief staff and clients to enhance learning opportunities and support vital community programs. Duties may include English language tutoring, digital literacy assistance, providing transportation to clients to educational programs and helping clients learn to navigate grocery stores and understanding food labels.
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- Bilingual Internship - Interns will assist with hands-on care for rescued dogs, including transportation to the vet and medication administration. They would also help create bilingual (Spanish/English) social media and email content. Time commitment is 12 hours or 20 hours a week for 15 weeks.
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- Data and Research Intern - Interns will conduct data research, including interviewing program participants about their experiences in the program. The intern will also compare aggregate data and assist in drafting a report to be presented at Girls Inc. Town Hall meetings.
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- Communications and Marketing Intern - Playback Memphis is seeking an intern skilled in communications and marketing to support ongoing social media, e-newsletters, donor communication, and event collaterals.
- Property Power and Preservation
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- Program Intern - Gain hands-on experience in historic preservation, grant research and writing, project coordination, and community engagement. Interns will be able to work on projects such as the Griggs Business College Renovation Project and other culturally significant sites, supporting our efforts to secure funding, engage with local stakeholders, and promote educational programming that preserves and shares these important histories.
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- Program Intern - The ImagineU Summer Entrepreneurship Accelerator program is a unique, immersive and intensive 12-week entrepreneurial experience in which students learn and live the early-stages of their entrepreneurship journey. This program emphasizes diversity and inclusion. During the program, students will identify problems at the intersections of their passion, experience and knowledge, and will start a company with other students around the most compelling and feasible opportunities identified in the early stages of the program.
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- Marketing Intern - Epicenter Memphis has multiple events throughout the year that will need videography and content creation support. They are seeking an intern who could create short-form and long-form promos and recap videos. The intern could potentially have the opportunity to work on more graphic design as well.
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- Client Onboarding - Send a welcome package to new clients, including essential business planning tools and resources. Ensure all materials are up-to-date and tailored to client needs.
- Training Coordination - Assist clients in identifying relevant training opportunities, including self-paced VOD courses. Register clients for training sessions and provide necessary follow-up information.
- Client Follow-up - Conduct regular follow-up with clients to confirm business progress. Encourage client participation in TSBDC surveys and gather feedback on services provided.
Is your organization interested in hosting an intern?