The History, Anthropology, and Classics Department seeks a student writing intern to assist with projects throughout the academic year. Past projects include writing blog articles and newsletters, conducting focus groups, planning and creating promotional materials for events.
Writing interns will be asked to:
- Conduct research, including personal interviews, archives and online resources
- Communicate with professors, alumni, and fellow students to discover or research relevant articles
- Write and edit with precision and clarity
- Use WordPress to publish blog posts
- Use Google Drive to collaborate with staff and other interns
- Use Canva to create graphics and flyers
- Work independently and within deadlines
- Collaborate on other special projects
Applications for next year’s writing internship are now open until Friday May 6th!
Here’s what Chloe Meredith and I have to say about own experience as interns:
“This internship has been an influential experience for me! As a student, I have developed a number of new skills while expanding upon previous ones outside of the classroom. From my first article, reaching out to recent Alumna Claudia Vinci, to my most recent, The Enrollment Apocalypse, I have expanded my writing skills to consider the needs of the audience, you! I have enjoyed brainstorming ideas with Amy and following our inspirations to create these projects and articles. It has been daunting when trying to pinpoint what is interesting or useful, but I have been supported in exploring and executing my ideas. It has been incredible to network with a number of students, alumni, and professors who have continued to expand my ideas and make these projects come to life. As a senior, I wasn’t sure how much more I could grow, but each day teaches me something new while also allowing me to build new relationships that have a lasting impact. The work feels purposeful and brings me closer to our little community!
The work I do varies day to day, and that’s what I honestly love the most about it. I have learned how to be flexible and open minded. Some days, I’m mastering wordpress and canva, other days I’m brainstorming with Amy and reaching out to professors about upcoming events. Much of the work I do, I learn by experience. I have become comfortable with trial and error as a learning method, especially when it comes to problem solving and making creative choices. There’s no wordpress or canva handbook (although I wish there was). I have to work with the site’s structure to determine the best way of representing each article. In addition to posting the articles, I have learned to edit them. The process of learning to edit continues to present many choices that I have weigh individually, but also collectively as each change impacts the overall direction of the piece.
As someone who longs to be in museums and archives, this internship has helped me gain confidence in my abilities as a researcher and as a liaison between past and future. When I received responses and basic data points, I expanded upon them to make the narrative more accessible for the audience, much like those history researchers I hope to join. People consider research as an independent study of a topic, but this internship has taught me that it is truly a team effort as our individual work comes together to create these stories.”
– Elly Fieffer, Senior History, Political Science, and Classical Studies
“Working as an intern for the History, Anthropology, and Classics department has been one of the most enriching experiences I have ever had at Butler University. When I first started, I had been disconnected from the department due to the pandemic shifting us to online learning, and I was incredibly nervous about getting involved again. I wanted to reconnect with my peers and department faculty, but struggled with how to do that. This internship was the answer.
For the department blog, I reached out to students and faculty to discuss their academic career paths and sought ways to highlight their talent. I was instantly reconnected with the department I fell in love with 4 years prior, and discovered all of the different ways our people celebrate history, anthropology, and classics! It added whole new meanings to the events I saw pop up in notifications, and I found myself actively rooting for others in the department in their academic endeavors. This internship is an investment in the Butler University community, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to become involved again.
Beyond the current community, I sought out Butler alumni from our department, and the skills I learned in searching and networking with people inspired me to pursue a career in recruitment and administration after graduation! Employers have been beyond impressed with how an internship with the department has exponentially expanded my skills with finding talent and connecting people. This internship has made a lasting impression on my career beyond Butler University, and it definitely will for the next set of interns, too.
But the internship’s benefits did not stop there! Despite the fact that for me it started as a writing internship to help with the department blog, through collaboration, our team has adapted to different roles to better help the department. In the more creative direction, I have made flyers for the events in the department and helped put together different methods to get student feedback. Now, I am helping make the bulletin boards for the department, and I am so happy with the direction our team led me. Under Amy’s amazing leadership and with Elly’s incredible help, I have been able to explore the different ways I can use so many untapped skills and interests! This internship has helped me in ways unimaginable, and I will be forever grateful.”
– Chloe Meredith, Senior History, Political Science, and Business Law minor