Collaborations for Internship Projects
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During the MA program Film and Photographic Studies, students can be part of an internship. During this internship, students get the chance to explore their field of interest and compliment their studies with experience from a practical perspective.
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Previous Internship Institutions
EYE Filmmuseum, Amsterdam
Impakt, Utrecht
LI-MA, Amsterdam
MOMA, New York
Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
WIELS, Brussels
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Esther Scholte: Research Internship at Nederlands Foto Museum, Rotterdam
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As part of the Research MA Arts and Culture, focusing on Film and Photographic Studies, Esther Scholte had the opportunity to do a 6-month intensive internship at the Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam.
Esther (on the right) stresses the importance of this this internship when she explains, “as a humanities student it is crucial to gain hands-on experience in the field, to add a practical spice to your solid academic background. As an intern I worked at the museum’s collections department, where I was primarily asked to help out in the Daguerreobase project, a European database of digitized daguerreotypes from a myriad of private and public, museum and archival collections.” Esther’s initial task was to come up with a strategy to enrich the database with contextual information. “Yet”, she adds, “in the meantime I examined the histories of some stunning daguerreotypes.” The internship allowed Esther to work together with a varied group of museum professionals including photography restorers, project managers, curators and registrators.
When asked what she gained from the internship, Esther emphasises that she learned what is at stake in such a complex international project, and she had the opportunity of putting academic knowledge in practice. “The insights from my research provided the basis for a funding proposal, so I could actively contribute to the museum’s activities. The whole process has been an adventure, as I did not know beforehand which directions it would take me, especially since the topic I dealt with was very topical. It was exciting to be in the forefront of this new development.”
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Furthermore, Esther learned about the general ins and outs of a middle-sized museum organisation. “Apart from the professional advantages, doing an internship is also much fun!”, she says. This rich behind-the-scenes experience provided excellent insight into the connections between art history, academic research, and the day-to-day practice of museums and heritage. In short, Esther would highly recommend any student to consider doing an internship.
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Are you also interested in doing an internship? Contact the study advisor, Jurjen Donkers, or the Career Services.
