The History Department of Ghent University and of the University of Antwerp collaborate to organize internships in the field of public history for students of History.
At UGent students can take up an internship in their third bachelor year (second semester) and in their master year (first semester). At UAntwerpen students can take up an internship only in their master year (full year course). The design and goals of the internships are identical for both institutions.
If you or your organization is interested in taking on an intern, then please send an email to ipg@ugent.be for more information.
What does the internship consist of?
The internship takes place in an organization or institution that is active in the broad domain of public history.
During their internship the intern must complete two main tasks:
- The intern must make an analysis of the working of the organization or institution in which they have undertaken their internship. The analysis must address the policy and aims of the institution, its activities, and involve interviews with colleagues and so on.
- The intern participates in the working of the organization by carrying out a specific task that is assigned by the internship supervisor of the institution providing the internship. This is someone who is responsible for policy in the institution in question. The task is to be determined in cooperation with the internship supervisor of Ghent University ( in this case, the teachers of the Public History research seminar, Gita Deneckere and Bruno De Wever). This results in an ‘internship activity plan’ that is decided upon before the start of the internship by the student and the teachers.
The student must spend approximately 150 hours on the internship. The 150 hours is the entire time allotted to the internship. This means that the student must be able to complete all his or her tasks within this time frame, including the report that must be written for the university. The internship is thus divided into 120 hours for the participation and work at the institution where the internship is undertaken and 30 hours for the analysis of the internship and the institution itself.
When do the internships take place?
The internship must be done during the first semester of the academic year (October to December). The intern should submit his or her report on the 31st of December.
Concrete goals of the internship
1. The analysis of the function of the institution, organization or medium that is active in the broad domain of public history (30 hours).
- Make an overview of the most important public history activities (in large institutions this can be limited to a specific segment of the work of the institution, and in institutions that have existed for a long time this overview can also be limited to a specific period in time).
- Analyze the important policy documents (mission statement, yearly reports and so on).
- Interviews with those responsible for the policy of the institution.
- Make a report in which the findings are tested against the literature.
2. Participate in the working of the organizations, institutions and mediums of public history (120 hours).
- The completion of a specific task determined by the responsible from the institution together with the educational institution.
- Make a report on these activities.
This part of the task is intended to enable the intern to gain practical experience. The tasks can be very varied. They can be linked to the public work of the organization, but this does not have to be the case and it can also be a research task for example. The form of the internship can also vary: the internship can take the form of a specific service the requires the intern to be present at a specific time and place, or it can be a ‘back office task’ in which the intern must achieve a specific result within the given time frame, but in which physical presence at the workplace may not be required. The time that the student spends on the report will depend on the specific task undertaken during the internship. In the first instance the report will be limited to an ‘activity report’ detailing the activities undertaken. In the second it the report can form part of the task itself.
At the beginning of the internship the intern must communicate the details of the assignment (the internship activity plan) to the supervisor (the lecturer at the university). If problems arise the internship supervisor should contact the internship coordinator at the university.
Internship contract
The internship can only begin if there is an agreement between the institution giving the internship and Ghent University. An ‘internship agreement’ must be singed. The intern will deliver four copies of this document to the institution in which he or she will undertake an internship before commencing. The agreement will then be brought to the internship coordinator at Ghent University and then to the head of the university’s legal department. The internship supervisor at institution concerned will then receive a signed copy of the contract via the intern.
The ‘internship agreement’ (article 5) mentions a ‘risk analysis form’ and a ‘work post form’ that must be included in the contract. The student will provide these forms to the internship supervisor of the institution in which he or she is undertaking the internship before commencement. These forms should be included as an attachment to the ‘internship agreement.’
Evaluation
The student will be evaluated on the basis of the following:
- The two reports that he or she will hand in to the internship coordinator at Ghent University (see above).
An evaluation provided by the internship supervisor at the institution where the internship has been undertaken. This evaluation is to be sent to the internship coordinator at Ghent University after the term of the internship has come to an end. The internship coordinator will contact the internship supervisor.
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