History

Internships & Independent Studies

Artifacts, stories, and new perspectives

From Fort Collins’ Avery House to the National Air and Space Museum, there are opportunities for History majors to explore what they love, engage in research, and make connections. Whether students choose to go to graduate school or straight into careers after graduation, internships provide hands on experience in using the skills developed in history courses.

Ready to get started?

To earn class credit in your internship, you’ll need a 3.0 GPA. Most people do their internships their junior or senior year, but it’s never too early to start planning.

Internship Application Form
Internship Guidelines
Internship MOA

1

Talk to our Internship Coordinator

The Internship Coordinator can help you:

  • Find internship resources
  • Find a faculty advisor
  • Navigate the application process
  • Understand and fill out required forms

2

Find a Faculty Internship Advisor

Any faculty member in the History Department can advise your internship. If you enjoy a specific class, talk to that professor about internship opportunities and ask if that person will be your faculty internship advisor.

3

Connect with the Career Center

Many students use Handshake to find internships. The Career Center also has other resources that may come in handy, like helping you build a CV and write a resumé.

4

Take Hist 479 “The practice of Public History”

This course introduces undergraduates to Public History – the kind of history you encounter in museums, documentaries, archives, and libraries. Public History internships are some of the most sought after.

Students in this class apply for internships as one of the assignments, so you will have plenty of support and guidance.

How do I Complete my Internship?

Adam Thomas

  • Associate Teaching Professor
  • Undergraduate Internship Coordinator
  • History Club/Phi Alpha Theta Advisor

Adam.Thomas@colostate.edu

History Office Trailer, 1100 Meridian Ave. Bldg. B

Contact the Internship Coordinator for more information

Internship sponsors – like museums, government offices, or businesses – set the requirements for an internship. Sponsors require a certain number of work hours and might have interns create a product or assist in a variety of projects. These will be set out in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) before the internship starts. Your internship sponsor will also provide an evaluation of your work. If you have questions about this process, contact the Internship Coordinator, name TBA.

If you are taking the internship for credit, your faculty advisor will likely ask for a journal of your activities. The MOA also requires a short reflection story with images, if possible, which is shared on the History Department website.

Explore CSU History Majors’ Internship Stories

Read about internship experiences at CSU, in Fort Collins and beyond. These stories can help you find local and regional groups that have worked with CSU History majors. The stories can also help you think of other organizations to contact about their internship opportunities.

Independent Studies

HISTORY 487

Students who want to enrich their knowledge of a specific theme or aspect of history can pursue an independent study in cooperation with a faculty mentor in the History department. Faculty mentors and students work together to build a research proposal and the faculty mentor guides and supervises the project. If you are interested in learning more about the Independent Study process, speak to your Academic Success Coordinator (ASC) or contact the Undergraduate Studies Coordinator.