Program Overview | Courses | Internships | Graduation
Internship Overview
Museum Studies at Florida State University requires each student to complete an internship. The internship will enable the student to receive valuable training in the field and a chance to work closely with museum staff on meaningful projects. Internships should be project-driven and include work in one or two areas of the student's interest. Although internships are mutually beneficial to both the student and the participating museum, the primary goal is to offer high quality educational and practical experience to the student.
Requirements
Students register within the academic department of their discipline for a six-credit hour museum internship. Participants must work a total of 320 hours in an approved museum. They are encouraged to schedule their internship after they have taken the program’s two core courses.
Procedure
By the end of the first semester of the program, students should discuss possible internships with their advisor and academic coordinator of museum studies. Students may apply at local, regional, or national museums, or they may consider interning in a museum affiliated with FSU's International Programs. The museum studies academic coordinator can make suggestions for internships at museums throughout Florida, the Southeast region, nationwide or overseas. Students should plan their internships in advance, particularly if they are considering international internships that have early deadlines. Many museums require extensive applications, transcripts and letters of recommendation. Note: International internships require a separate application process with fees and deadlines. Contact Chris Slone at the FSU Office of International Programs at 850/644-3272 for more information.
When a student decides on an internship location, the intern information form should be completed and submitted to the institution where the internship will take place. The internship project contract should be signed and dated and returned to the museum studies office. During the internship it is the student's responsibility to record working hours and activities in the daily log and to keep a journal that elaborates on museum experiences.
At the end of the internship, the student should make three copies of the daily log, journal, museum evaluation form, and final project and submit one of each to; the museum where the internship took place, the student's advisor, and the museum studies office. The original of the student's final project, produced during or after the internship, is to be submitted to the internship professor of record for a grade. Each department within Museum Studies has their own requirements as to what they will accept as the project, be it a scholarly paper, a physical project such as press releases, educational didactics or booklets, or exhibition proposals and designs, to name a few examples.
Internship Documents
Internship Project Contract [pdf]
Journal: A continuous account that describes the intern's museum experience
Evaluation Forms: Forms used by both students and participating museums that provide a written assessment of the museum internship.
Project: Students are required to submit a tangible project in order to be graded by their professor of record for the internship and to receive graduate-level course credit per University requirements
All of the aforementioned paperwork should be submitted to:
Teri Yoo, Academic Coordinator
Museum Studies at FSU
236 Fine Arts Building
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1170
Your certificate will not be released until all internship documents are received by the Museum Studies' office.
