Berkley Public Practice Intern
Position Overview
Interns will participate in a full range of professional staff activities. All interns will assist with a variety of departmental duties in order to gain broad understanding of museum operations including attending various staff meetings and assisting with museum-wide responsibilities through service opportunities, for example serving at the Welcome Desk or a Study Center.
The Public Practice Intern serves as the interface between the Spencer Museum and surrounding communities in Lawrence and across Kansas to deepen and sustain connections with the museum and foster a sense of belonging. The intern works on various projects in tandem with curatorial, public practice, and education teams in a highly collaborative setting. They will have the opportunity to work with communities to conceptualize and write for gallery installations and exhibitions and plan programmatic events. Both research-based and community-collaborative practices will be utilized to write proposals and contribute to ongoing efforts to interpret the collection with community input. The intern will also help in documenting this research in the Museum’s internal and public databases to share broadly when appropriate. The 2025-2026 Intern will assist with community-curated exhibitions, events, and other programming in collaboration with Indigenous communities and contemporary artists. The public practice intern also works on special projects based on current needs as assigned.
Per the State of Kansas, student employees may hold concurrent appointments not to exceed maximum appointment and hours worked levels. However, concurrent student appointments must be of matching FLSA designation (exempt/salaried or non-exempt/hourly).
The Public Practice Intern serves as the interface between the Spencer Museum and surrounding communities in Lawrence and across Kansas to deepen and sustain connections with the museum and foster a sense of belonging. The intern works on various projects in tandem with curatorial, public practice, and education teams in a highly collaborative setting. They will have the opportunity to work with communities to conceptualize and write for gallery installations and exhibitions and plan programmatic events. Both research-based and community-collaborative practices will be utilized to write proposals and contribute to ongoing efforts to interpret the collection with community input. The intern will also help in documenting this research in the Museum’s internal and public databases to share broadly when appropriate. The 2025-2026 Intern will assist with community-curated exhibitions, events, and other programming in collaboration with Indigenous communities and contemporary artists. The public practice intern also works on special projects based on current needs as assigned.
Per the State of Kansas, student employees may hold concurrent appointments not to exceed maximum appointment and hours worked levels. However, concurrent student appointments must be of matching FLSA designation (exempt/salaried or non-exempt/hourly).
Job Description
Programming and Community Engagement (90%)
- Participate in community curated exhibitions, primarily through programming and events.
- Work with communities to conduct research and gather stories to drive interpretation of objects in the collection and to identify new works to add to the collection.
- Assist in writing proposals and cataloging interpretive materials and newly acquired works of art.
- Participate in and organize events and programs in collaboration with museum staff, students, contemporary artists, the local community, Indigenous community, and museum partners.
- Work with and support contemporary artists.
- Develop new strategies for engagement related to continuing outreach initiatives.
- Contribute to projects relevant to enhancing the Museum’s capacity to be a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible place for learners of different backgrounds, interests, and abilities.
- Maintain familiarity with current exhibitions/events/objects on display and assist with tours.
- Attend relevant lectures and other events on campus and in the community.
- Participate in intern meetings and activities and contribute to a collaborative intern project.
- Perform other duties and special projects as specified.
Required Qualifications
- Must be a University of Kansas graduate student seeking a master's or Ph.D. degree.
- Strong spoken and written communication as evidenced by application materials and interview.
- Demonstrated computer competency (e.g., Office, Outlook, databases, web skills).
- Enrolled in six credit hours of graduate coursework or at least one hour of thesis/dissertation (approval form from graduate program required).
- During the semester term of the appointment, the student hourly must be enrolled in no fewer than 6 credit hours. For summer periods the student hourly must: 1) have been enrolled in no less than 6 hours in the past spring semester or 2) be pre-enrolled in upcoming fall semester in no less than 6 hours or 3) be enrolled in summer session or 4) be admitted to study in the upcoming fall semester. Student Hourlies may be undergraduate or graduate students. (Exceptions granted for GRA/GTA/GA appointments DO NOT apply to Student Hourly appointments)
Preferred Qualifications
- Outstanding written and oral communication skills.
- Interest in object-based teaching and learning.
- Flexibility, creativity, initiative, and dedication to social justice.
- Experience with and interest in working with contemporary artists.
- Availability to work occasional weekends and after hours, if needed.
- Willingness to work both independently and in collaboration with museum staff, university faculty, students, artists, and diverse communities on team-driven projects.
- Interest in Indigenous studies, visual art, and/or a career in a museum, cultural center, or related field is taken into consideration.
- Prior experience with relational databases, especially as used for museum collections.
- Acceptance of Federal Work Study (for eligibility please fill out a FAFSA form through the KU Financial Aid Office).
Additional Candidate Instructions
- This internship is an hourly, approximately 20 hours/week, position for 24, 2-week pay periods.
- This position is an 11 month (24 pay periods) appointment beginning August 11, 2025 and ending July 10, 2026.
- This position is also eligible to participate in the university health insurance program. Visit http://policy.ku.edu/graduate-studies/benefits-for-GRAs-GTAs-GAs for more information.
- Students may apply for one or more positions.
- Students who previously have held an SMA internship are also eligible to apply again for the same internships or a different internship.
- Interns are also eligible for a $1,000 travel stipend contingent upon available funding.
- SMA interns receive a tuition waiver for up to 9 credit hours for both the fall and spring semesters.
Contact Information to Applicants
Applicants may contact the public practice internship supervisor, Sydney Pursel, sydneypursel@ku.edu, or Jennifer Talbott, jtalbott@ku.edu, with questions. Please complete all areas of the application, including all application questions. Applications will not be accepted without all questions answered.
Advertised Salary Range
$19.31 per hour
Work Schedule
20 hours per week
Anticipated Start Date
Monday August 11, 2025