Museum Studies Blog at Tufts University

Mazinaakizige: The Mazinaakizige program is an effort to engage American Indian high school students in meaningful programming that allows them to directly engage with photography and cultural representation. High school students are offered semester long positions that meet weekly and teach professional skills while also developing students’ artistic portfolio.  In 2016, Mazinaakizige will have 6 participants for the semester.  The final product of this program will be a traveling photography exhibition throughout American Indian communities in Minnesota.

Fellowship Programs via DICE: The three unique Fellowship Programs at MNHS engage undergraduate students and challenge them to explore careers in historical interpretation and cultural preservation. The programs aim to further diversify the museum field with indigenous/culturally diverse professionals.  Each program pulls from a different pool of students and touches on unique colleges and universities.

Student Responsibilities:

• Attend and provide support for all Mazinaakizige programming days
• Correspond with students about important dates and help collect and import student information into program databases
• Recruit college students from a variety of campuses for Fellowship offerings at MNHS
• Assist with data collection and analysis for reports and workshops and in preparation for departmental meetings
• Other duties as necessary, including but not limited to: attending weekly departmental meetings, data entry, brainstorming program ideas, support for department run focus groups, meeting with potential donors, screening applicants for summer programs.

Knowledge intern is expected to gain:

• Knowledge behind the scenes planning and implementation of DICE programs
• Increased knowledge of the museum field and careers available within it
• Familiarity with the MNHS and its varying departments and program offerings
• Best practices in youth development programming and youth work theory
• Increased awareness of the operations and partnerships of a large public institution
• Extensive experience working with diverse communities and underrepresented populations
• Experience with data collection and knowledge of program reporting process

Student Responsibilities:           

Editorial

• Meet with the Editorial staff to learn about department functions
• Fact-check journal articles
• Coordinate a social media crowd-sourcing project for potential photos to be used in a book
• Research and create spreadsheet detailing characteristics of other state historical society magazines/journals
• Conduct photo and art research for book covers and interiors, including permissions and ordering
• Attend acquisitions meetings
• Conduct library and Internet research for potential books/anthologies/reprints

Marketing

• Meet with Marketing staff at the beginning of the internship to learn about department functions
• Research markets, new books, and available print and online marketing tools for the industry
• Research and compile annotated list of blogs and other online sites related to Minnesota history
• Brainstorm marketing ideas with the Marketing department
• Assist with mailings and organizing back issues of Minnesota History

Administrative

• Attend staff meetings; meet with the Press Director and other divisional staff to learn the business

Knowledge intern is expected to gain:

• Knowledge of the MHS Press overall business, strategy, and function
• Experience in aspects of working with Editorial and Marketing functions of MNHS Press