Graduate Assistant, Hourly
Position Overview
- Interns will participate in a full range of professional staff activities. They will have the opportunity to conceptualize and write for gallery installations and exhibitions when the exhibition schedule allows. All interns will assist with a variety of departmental duties in order to gain a broad understanding of museum operations, including attending various staff meetings and assisting at the visitor services desk.
- The Global and Indigenous Art and Lifeways Intern works on various projects involving the Museum’s collection of art and material culture made by Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania. These research-based projects will contribute to ongoing efforts to document these collections fully and accurately in the Museum’s internal and public databases, and to share them with the public.
Additional Information:
- This internship is an hourly, approximately 20 hours/week, position for 24, 2-week pay periods.
- This position is an 5.5 month (12 pay periods) appointment beginning January 20, 2025 and ending July 4, 2025.
- 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 different internship.
- Interns are also eligible for a $500 travel stipend contingent upon available funding.
- SMA interns qualify for in-state tuition and fee rates and will also receive a tuition waiver for up to 9 credit hours.
Job Description
- Conduct research on objects in the museum collection and assist in cataloging newly acquired works of art.
- Assist with collection research and documentation related to future exhibition projects.
- Collaborate with campus and community partners to develop 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.
- Work with the Collections Manager to document, house, organize, photograph, and conserve items in the collection.
- 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.
- Enrolled in six credit hours of graduate coursework or at least one hour of thesis/dissertation (approval form from graduate program required).
- Strong spoken and written communication as evidenced by application materials and interview.
- Demonstrated computer competency (e.g., Office, Outlook, databases, web skills). Ability to work both independently and in collaboration with museum staff, university faculty, students, artists, and Indigenous communities on team-driven projects.
Preferred Qualifications
- Outstanding written and oral communication skills.
- Interest in a museum career is taken into consideration.
- Flexibility, creativity, initiative, and dedication to social justice.
- Experience with and interest in working with contemporary artists.
- Occasional availability to work weekends and after hours, if needed.
- Background in Indigenous studies, Latin American Studies, African and African-American studies, Indigenous Studies, Anthropology, Art History, History, visual art, or related field.
- Experience working with three dimensional objects and/or archival documentation related to curatorial area.
- Prior experience with relational databases, especially as used for museum collections.
- Competence in Spanish or other language skills relevant to curatorial area.
- Acceptance of Federal Work Study (for eligibility please fill out a FAFSA form through the KU Financial Aid Office).
Additional Candidate Instructions
Please provide the following information in your application materials (CV and cover letter):
- Museum or related career goals.
- Educational experience in relevant fields of study.
- Work experience.
- Brief writing sample.
- Language skills.
- Other skills such as computer use, database experience, matting and framing.
- Provide telephone number and email address where you can be reached.
Contact Information to Applicants
Applicants may contact the Ryan Clasby, ryan.clasby@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.