Internships
Gaining experience, preparing for your future
Internships provide you with an excellent opportunity to apply your education and to receive work experience prior to graduating. Through the internship process, you learn more about your strengths and interests. You experience firsthand what it is like to work in a particular profession or organization. This may affirm for you the career path you have chosen, or it may lead you to decide on a different path.
As an undergraduate or graduate history student, you may also receive course credit for completing a semester-long internship. To receive credit, you must obtain a permission form from the department office and enroll in HST 599. Your advisor can also help you navigate the permission and internship process.
Internship possibilities
Listed below are several possible internship opportunities with history-related organizations. This is not an exhaustive list; rather, it is based on past experiences and community partnerships. You are welcome to pursue your own internship opportunity.
Greene County Archives
The Greene County Archives offer flexible, paid internship opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students. You will be expected to work a flexible schedule of 20 hours a week.
To qualify, you must be a graduate or undergraduate history major with at least a 3.0 GPA in history courses taken at Missouri. You must also be enrolled at Missouri State during the semester of the internship. Possible course credit is available. For details, contact Dr. Holly Baggett.
History Museum on the Square
The history department sponsors unpaid internships at the History Museum on the Square in downtown Springfield.
Missouri State Archives
The Missouri State Archives, which houses documents of importance to the state of Missouri, often has internships available. Check its website regularly for a listing of available opportunities. Course credit through HST 599 is a possibility.
Learn to prepare public records for permanent preservation. Clean, repair, process and index 19th century court records. Work with professional archivists learning document handling, preservation techniques, processing, record analysis, arrangement and description.
This program is offered on campus in the Meyer Library - it includes a behind the scenees tour of the State Archives in Jefferson City, MO.
Missouri Historical Society
The State Historical Society of Missouri, which is the premier research facility for studying Missouri’s heritage, has paid summer internships and unpaid academic internships available.
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources often has summer jobs available which could be developed into internships.
Student Conservation Association
The Student Conservation Association offers internships at historic sites, national parks, archives, museums and more to students and recent graduates. Internships typically run from 12 weeks to 12 months. Course credit is a possibility for these internships.