Internships

As part of the program of study for the M.A. in public history, students must complete a three-credit internship (equivalent of at least 135 hours). The internship is a vital part of the degree as it provides practical work in the field and helps establish professional contacts. We have found that experience often marks the path to a specific area of historical work.
Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico offer many internship opportunities, including White Sands National Monument, Fort Sumner National Monument, Fort Selden State Monument, the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, Branigan Cultural Center, New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum, Zuhl Museum, and the Las Cruces Railroad Museum.
But these aren’t your only options. Our students past and present have interned across the nation and the world. Highlights include the following
  • Autry National Center of the American West, California
  • Big Bend Ranch State Park, Texas
  • Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Wyoming
  • Elephant Butte Irrigation District Archives, New Mexico
  • El Paso Holocaust Museum, Texas
  • El Paso Museum of History, Texas
  • Falkland Islands Historical Trust, Falkland Islands
  • Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea, Connecticut
  • National Museum of World War I, Missouri
  • National Park Service (many locations)
  • National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, D. C.
  • Pima Air and Space Museum, Arizona
  • Pioneers’ Museum, Colorado Springs
  • Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C.
  • Southeast Ohio Historic Preservation Office
  • Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, Nebraska
  • Union Station Museum, Utah
  • U.S. Bureau of Land Management
  • U.S. Soil and Conservation Service

It’s best to begin thinking about your internship opportunity early and often. Discuss ideas with your advisor and be familiar with job and internship postings from the following organizations:

  • The National Council on Public History
  • National Park Service
  • Smithsonian Institution
  • National Archives
  • American Alliance of Museums
  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum