Many museums across the country pride themselves on their robust internship programs. Internships are a chance for students to learn about the cultural industry, gain valuable skills, and, for students of Museum Studies, earn credit towards their degrees. Stimulating and dynamic internships are also essential to ensuring that the cultural sector is cultivating top talent and attracting young professionals who are prepared to make an impact.
With the ongoing coronavirus closures, however, the state of many museum internship programs is uncertain. Many museums expect to be closed into the summer, potentially disrupting the ability to bring interns on-site. As a result, museums may be considering initiating remote internship programs, which can be beneficial students while providing museums much-needed extra help. However, this is completely new territory for many organizations across the country.
On April 30, 2020 over 1,500 people joined Brendan Ciecko (CEO @ Founder @ Cuseum), Ahva Sadeghi (CEO & Co-Founder @ Symba), Phyllis Hecht (Director, M.A. in Museum Studies @ Johns Hopkins University), Sierra Van Ryck deGroot (Education Programs Manager @ Poster House), & Meagan Mahaffy (Education Associate & Internship Coordinator @ Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum) as they discussed how museums can successfully launch and manage remote internship programs in the age of coronavirus.