Internships

For students interested in receiving practical, hands-on experience during their studies, we offer a number of courses and archival or institutional internships designed to introduce students to the fields of archives, museums, and historic sites. Internships, over the years, have included:

  • working with the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network, researching and producing articles on the Anglophone history of the Eastern Townships;
  • working in the Eastern Townships Resource Centre Archives (located on campus) to produce fonds or other archival records;
  • working for the Sports Centre in producing a history of the Bishop’s men’s and women’s basketball teams for display in the teams’ locker rooms;
  • working for the Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society to produce an exhibit for display in their temporary exhibits room at the Uplands Cultural Centre;
  • producing the videos for this web page as the department’s social media intern.

We also offer research internships for students who are interested in: expanding their particular research pursuits beyond the class essays, working with professors on their research projects, preparing for graduate studies.

Internships Opportunities for Winter 2025

Below is the list of internships available for Winter 2025. Enrollment in internships is done manually by the chair of History, so please contact Dr. David Webster at david.webster@ubishops.ca if you are approved to be enrolled for an internship. Remember an internship counts as a professional history course!

Internships are broken down below as archival internships (HIS 391), followed by research internships (HIS 392), teaching internships (HIS 377) and the global studies internship (HIS 376). There are no pre-requisites to apply for an internship, but the research, teaching and overseas internships are recommended for more senior students. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions!

Research and Writing with the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network

Needed: one student

The Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network is looking for one student to conduct research on topics mutually agreed upon regarding the history of the Anglophone communities in the Eastern Townships. The student will also be expected to produce articles, based on their research, for publication in the QAHN’s magazine, Quebec Heritage News.

Competencies developed: advanced research and writing skills; working independently; possible interviewing skills; public relations.

Competencies required: experience with researching and writing historical essays beyond the first year level; ability to manage time and meet deadlines; ability to work independently; possible ability to travel within the Eastern Townships.

Career pathways: MA programs, working in museums and other heritage industries; journalism; public relations; research, analytical and writing positions within a myriad of institutions or places of employment, including the federal and provincial civil service.

If interested, contact Dr. David Webster for further information at david.webster@ubishops.ca.

Departmental and Social Media Intern

Needed: one student

The student would work with the Chair of the Department of History to communicate program events and activities and to raise its social media profile. The student would be responsible for making regular posts to the Department’s Facebook page, updating the department’s web pages and doing other tasks, as discussed with the supervisor and agreed to by the student. These other tasks could include writing a blog, posting items on Instagram or Snapchat, making videos, helping to arrange, and to send out announcements of, events, guest speakers or activities etc.

Competencies required: experience with various social media platforms, effective written communications skills, experience with research and interviewing, ability to work independently and take initiative.

Competencies developed: increased knowledge of communications skills within social media contexts, increased research and writing skills, time management.

Career pathways: MA and other graduate programs in history, public history and heritage, communications, public relations.

If interested, contact Dr. David Webster for further information at david.webster@ubishops.ca.

Archival Intern at the Eastern Townships Resource Centre (on campus)

Needed: three students

The student will learn about archival procedures and processing through readings and hands-on experience and/or undertake digitization and community outreach projects.

Competencies required: ability to work collaboratively with ETRC archivists; time-management; willingness to learn about digitization, social media outreach and have the ability to communicate with external individuals and organizations. Ability to concentrate on details and be methodical.

Competences developed: increased knowledge of archival practices and thus of research skills; increased knowledge of documentary history as it pertains to the Eastern Townships and increased understanding of “historical value”; increased knowledge of digital techniques and social media; human and social relations.

Career pathways: MA and other graduate programs in history, archival and library sciences, research and data management, community and social outreach.

If interested, contact Jazmine Aldrich at jaldrich@ubishops.ca.

Archival Intern, Timor Solidarity Archive & Online Activist Archives

Needed: one student

The student will help increase content on the the Activist Archive Canada and/or Timor International Solidarity Archive (TiSA), an online archival project created at Bishop’s by students working with David Webster. The task involves scanning, describing and entering metadata for documents relating to human rights work in support of East Timor (Timor-Leste) from 1975 to 1999, and/or the history of Canadian non-governmental organizations. Both online archives use the Access to Memory (AtoM) archival software platform. Instruction in use of AtoM is provided. Students should be familiar with how to read, understand and summarize historical primary sources. Some work with video archives may also be included in this position.

Competencies developed: primary source analysis, reading comprehension and writing skills, archival practices, digitization.

If interested, contact Dr. David Webster for further information at david.webster@ubishops.ca.

Research Internship with Gordon Barker

Needed: two students

The History Department is tentatively proposing an eight-day student trip during the academic year 2024/2025. The destinations under consideration include Fort Sumter, the Charleston African American Museum, a South Carolina plantation, and the Port Royal Experiment (Freedmen Project Heritage Site) in the South Carolina Sea Islands. Returning from South Carolina, the Department is considering possible stops at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello plantation in Virginia and the Gettysburg Battlefield heritage site in Pennsylvania.

The intern would be responsible for developing alternative itineraries, communicating with staff at heritage sites under consideration and with hotels and transportation companies, preparing cost estimates for review, possibly suggesting financing arrangements, organizing briefing sessions for interested students, and attending meetings with faculty and possibly BU administrators.

If interested, contact Dr. Gordon Barker at gordon.barker@ubishops.ca

Research Internships for Mae Sot Educational Project History

Needed: 1-2 students

The Sherbrooke-based Mae Sot Educational project (MSEP) has been working with refugees from Burma who live in Mae Sot, Thailand, since 2004. MSEP has agreed to work with the History department on a booklet and/or web publication commemorating the organization’s 20 years of work. This is a project in community-based history. One or more students will work with MSEP under Dr. David Webster’s supervision to (1) help prepare MSEP files for donation to an archive (2) analyze MSEP publications (3) conduct and analyze interviews with volunteers from Bishop’s and Champlain who went to Thailand and with overseas partners, and/or (4) assist in writing the 20-year MSEP history.

If interested, contact Dr. David Webster for further information at david.webster@ubishops.ca.

Students are invited to apply to teach and work with refugee youth from Burma. The internship is based in Mae Sot, Thailand, and carried out in cooperation with the Mae Sot Educational Project. There is an additional application process for this internship, with applications due in January 2025. Placements in Thailand in Summer 2025 with preparatory work in Winter semester. This course can be done for 3 or 6 credits.

If interested, contact Dr. David Webster for further information at david.webster@ubishops.ca.

Students sharing their internship experience

I spent my 2019 Winter semester completing an institutional internship with the Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society (LAHMS). My job was to solicit photograph donations to the LAHMS archives. In my hunt for old photographs, I visited local retirement facilities, contacted community organizations, and interviewed with local media. I gained practical experience in the archives field by working with their photograph index, searching through their collection, and corresponding with archivists across Canada who had embarked on similar projects. The stories that accompanied the photographs were captivating and it was fascinating to learn more about history of the community just outside of Bishop’s!

Jazmine Aldrich '19
Jazmine Aldrich ’19 – Completed an HIS institutional internship for credit with the Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society (LAHMS)

My experience in the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN) internship during the Winter semester, 2019, allowed me to develop my historical knowledge and mobilise it to benefit the Quebec anglophone community within and beyond the Eastern townships. Throughout the semester I conducted self-directed thematic research of five unique regions of Quebec with anglophone heritage. I presented my findings in an interactive format for readers of QAHN’s five online publications. I also researched and wrote an article on the Sherbrooke Winter prison for Quebec Heritage News, QAHN’s quarterly heritage journal. The prison is a fascinating heritage site that has yet to be restored by the Quebec Government. It could greatly benefit the Townships community in the future through both education and tourism. I was able to meaningfully contribute to Anglophone knowledge of the Prison as much information on it is only provided in French.

Duncan Crabtree
Duncan Crabtree ’20 – Completed an HIS institutional internship for credit with the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network (QAHN)