IHR Paid Internships: Summer 2021

Opportunities for research experience and career development, thanks to the generosity of donors to the IHR.

We are delighted to announce three paid internships for early-career historians, to be held between late July and the end of September 2021. Apply by noon, 15 July 2021. This programme has been made possible thanks to the support of some of our generous donors.

Are you an early-career historian? Please consider applying! The deadline for applications is 12 noon, UK time, Thursday 15 July. For details of eligibility and how to apply, please see the bottom of this post.

1. Mapping London Jewish Histories: Victoria County History x Layers of London

How can we use existing content across volumes in the Victoria County History of England / British History Online to map and interpret histories of Jewish communities in London? This internship will draw on VCH content to create a new collection in the IHR-based digital history project Layers of London, building on some earlier work undertaken by previous interns. The intern will:

• Work with the existing dataset which links VCH excerpts to grid references
• Visit and photograph sites (featured in the VCH content) in London, if possible, and source other suitable images
• Create and upload the records, with links to VCH on BHO, to Layers of London

In addition to the bursary, this internship will include an additional £150 expenses fund for fieldwork travel (to be approved in advance). It may also be possible to provide access to an IHR digital camera. This bursary could be held remotely, but would require some travel to London (national and local Covid-19 restrictions permitting).

2. History & Policy: Development and Engagement

History & Policy (H&P) promotes better public policy through a greater understanding of history. H&P is a national network of 500+ academic historians and an independent forum for the expression of historical perspectives on today’s policy issues. In February 2021 H&P returned to its original home in the IHR, with Professor Philip Murphy as Director. This internship will help develop H&P at the IHR. The intern will:

• Maintain and update the History & Policy website
• Deal with queries from the H&P email account
• Provide editorial and publishing assistance for H&P policy papers and opinion pieces
• Assist in soliciting policy papers and opinion pieces, and in devising policy-engagement events on topical issues

This bursary could be held remotely.

3. A History of English Places: VCH Smartphone App Interpretation and Engagement

In January 2020, the Victoria County History (VCH) launched a new smartphone app, ‘A History of English Places’, in partnership with developer Aimer Media. The app is a new location-based way to access VCH content on British History Online, along with historic OS maps. It has already been downloaded over 4000 times. In summer 2021, the VCH will collaborate with the Council for British Archaeology as part of their Festival of Archaeology, focused around the new app. This is a great starting-point to engage the public more widely with the ‘History of English Places’ app. The intern will:

• Create short ‘photo essays’ showing use of the VCH smartphone app in situ in different locations, perhaps along existing walking routes. These would be published initially on the IHR Blog, then archived on the IHR website, accessible from the VCH smartphone app page
• Potentially, if feasible, curate short walking routes, linked to app content for historical interpretation
• Engage with partners, including charities, heritage and conservation groups, and community / local history groups, to produce content for their websites / social media and / or to support them in using the VCH App to create content of their own

In addition to the bursary, this internship will include an additional £150 expenses fund for fieldwork travel (to be approved in advance). It may also be possible to provide access to an IHR digital camera. This bursary could be held remotely, but would require some travel to create content (national and local Covid-19 restrictions permitting).

Bursary and Timing

Each internship will be supported with a total bursary award of £1500 (paid as £500 at the start of the project, £500 at a midway review point and £500 on completion and approval of the project). Objectives and milestones (including the midway review) will be agreed with the project supervisor at the start.

Internships should ideally be held during the period from late July 2021 to the end of September 2021. The internship will not require full-time work over the summer period, and there is flexibility around how each intern would like to organise the time they spend on their project (for example, alongside part-time work or studying commitments). This should be agreed with the project supervisor at the start.

Eligibility

We encourage any early-career historian to apply. We define ‘historian’ broadly and are keen to receive applications from those based in a range of different disciplines and professional contexts, if you consider your main area of work to be ‘history’. We aim to be as inclusive as possible and are using no strict definition of ‘early career’: we simply ask that you declare in your application that you identify as an early-career researcher / professional.