Undergraduates
The Richards Center is deeply committed to undergraduate education, especially introducing Penn State students to the history major and supporting professional development opportunities for students interested in working in the field.
Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry Internships
Thanks to the generosity of Larry and Lynne Brown, the Richards Center sends Penn State undergraduate students to intern at Gettysburg National Military Park and Harpers Ferry National Park each summer where they get hands-on experience in public history. There are two different internship opportunities at Gettysburg National Military Park. Interns work with either interpretive operations or with the museum service branch. The interpretive operations intern assists National Park Service staff at the information desk and fields questions from visitors around the park, as well as designs and conducts their own interpretive tour. The primary responsibility of the intern in the museum service branch is to perform varied aspects of archival and museum management from processing/cataloging, to working with exhibits, to answering reference inquiries, to re-housing historic objects. The Harpers Ferry National Historical Park internship is especially suited to education majors. The intern at Harpers Ferry prepares, developes, and delivers education programs that interpret the park's significant history stories to students K-12 grade. Interns at each park will complete an assigned research project to further the educational mission of the park.
Selection of each summer's Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry Intern is made in the fall for the following summer. Students who are interested in applying for the internship must have a 3.0 grade point average, submit a one-page statement of interest stating why they would like to work at Gettysburg or Harpers Ferry and how they think that experience will further their history education, and provide a letter of recommendation from a faculty member in the Department of History. For more information about the Gettysburg or Harpers Ferry Internship, please contact the Richards Center.
Historic Sites Internship
The Richards Center also sponsors an internship that enables a Penn State history major to work at a historic site or museum in their own hometown. Historic Sites Interns agree to provide their own housing, with the Center providing a stipend. Interested students must consult with the Director of the Richards Center in setting up this opportunity, and a suitable person must agree to be the intern supervisor at the site.
To date, students have served at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Heinz History Center, Lancaster Historical Society, Friends of the National Parks at Gettysburg, Camp William Penn, and Fort Delaware. For more information about this opportunity, please contact the Richards Center.
Research Assistants
The Richards Center employs highly qualified history majors as research assistants for the faculty and staff of the Center. Research assistants are appointed at the discretion of the director.
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| Gettysburg Intern Caitlin Kostic |
Richards Center Research Assistants Amanda Fellmeth and Kristen Campbell |
