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BFSA Community History Internship

Applications for the Spring 2025 internship will open on November 11, 2024.


The History Department proudly supports the Black Faculty and Staff Community History Internship.

The Black Faculty and Staff Community History Internship is an opportunity to learn how to navigate archives and special collections while centering the experiences of the Black community at the University of Utah. The internship is a one semester position and requires a 9 hour per week commitment, student is not required to be a History major. 

The BFSA Community History intern will review primary source documents from the University Archives and Special Collections related to Black faculty and staff at the University of Utah from the 1950s through the 1990s. The intern will work under the supervision of a Special Collections Librarian and the Historian of the BFSA to create a project based on questions that arise from reviewing the documents. The format of the final project is flexible – research paper, podcast, walking tour, digital exhibit, virtual game, etc.

In consultation with co-supervisors, Shavauna Munster and Rachel Ernst, the intern will propose a research project that focuses on University of Utah Black faculty and staff who have served at the institution. This research topic will be largely based on the student's interests and collections available in the archives and Special Collections. The intern will have the option to have the project included in the France Davis Utah Black Archive. 

Questions may be submitted to BFSA Historian, Shavauna Munster - shavauna.munster@utah.edu  

This internship is a collaboration between the University of Utah Black Faculty and Staff Association, History Department, and the Marriott Library Special Collections.

  • Formulate historical questions and articulate a viable research project using historical methodologies. 
  • Understand the role of an archives and special collections in research and higher education. 
  • Understand how academic training as a historian can be applied in professional workplaces and to advance the work of public history institutions and organizations. 
  • Provide students with an opportunity to apply analytical, interpretive, and creative skills developed in coursework to history-oriented projects.

This internship comes with a $1,600 scholarship and is eligible to receive 3 credit hours towards a History degree. 

Applications for the Spring 2025 internship will open on November 11, 2024.


Applications must include a 500-word statement of interest and a copy of transcripts. 

All projects will be archived in the BFSA Community History Internship collection in the France Davis Black Utah Archive.

Spring 2024
Lexie Durfee, Podcast
Introduction to U - link coming soon

Fall 2023
Kiya Green, infographics
The History of Black Faculty in the School of Dance

Spring 2023
Hillary Curd, walking tour
The First Black Faculty Walking Tour

Fall 2022
Callie Avondett, digital exhibit
"Resignation is an Unacceptable Solution:" Black Faculty and Staff at the U during the Black Campus Movement

Shavauna Munster

Shavauna Munster
BFSA Historian
History Department

Rachel Ernst

Rachel Ernst
Special Collections Research Librarian
Marriott Library

 

Last Updated: 11/1/24