History Museum Fellows Program

Program Overview

The History Museum Fellowship Program (HMFP) engages undergraduate students in exploring the museum and public history fields as potential careers. Through a competitive application process, selected fellows participate in a 12-week spring semester seminar cohort and summer internship experience at the Minnesota Historical Society. In addition to professional skills building, and career exploration, fellows will learn about contemporary themes, challenges, and best practices impacting today’s professionals with a particular emphasis on Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion (DEAI) and community engagement.

Weekly in-person classroom seminars (12 weeks)

Fellows will be introduced to various careers and functions within the museum and public history fields. In addition, the accompanying curriculum will examine challenges, best practices, and contemporary conversations focused around purposeful DEAI and community engagement. Sessions will frequently host MNHS staff and, at times, broader museum professionals to provide content expertise through grounding seminar learnings in real world experiences and case studies. Seminar sessions take place at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul on Tuesdays from 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm.

Paid internship at the Minnesota Historical Society

Fellows will complete a summer internship with the Minnesota Historical Society following the seminar experience. The internship provides between 10 - 20 hours weekly of professional work experience from June 1 to August 31. Fellows will work across a variety of projects and departments that will allow participants to apply their learnings from the seminar and directly engage with DEAI and community engagement work happening within the organization. 

Eligibility

History Museum Fellowship Program participants are selected through a competitive application process. Eligibility is limited to undergraduates who are currently enrolled in a program or have graduated within the last year. 

Application process

MNHS is currently not accepting applications for the History Museum Fellows Program. Please check this page in the future for program updates.

For questions, contact Jack Matheson at jack.matheson@mhns.org.

The History Museum Fellowship Program at the Minnesota Historical Society is made possible by generous funding from the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.