Apply Now for Folklore Graduate Student Folk Arts Internship in New York State Folk Arts Program

Applications are now being accepted for a Folklore Graduate Student Folk Arts Internship, supported through the Internship program of New York Folklore and the New York State Council on the Arts. 

The Folklore Graduate Student Folk Arts Internship provides opportunities for graduate students in folklore to learn first-hand about public folk arts programming and field research while completing a project that will benefit both the host organization and the folklorist intern. This program, involving mentoring by a senior level folklorist within a cultural agency, has introduced many public folklorists now employed in the field to the challenges and opportunities of working within the public sector. For a participating folk arts program within an organization, the internship provides an opportunity to interact with students immersed in the latest folklore scholarship at the graduate level.

Any student enrolled in a masters or doctoral graduate folklore program may apply.  Folklorists who have graduated from a graduate folklore program in the past two years may also apply.

The duration of this internship is 10 weeks, 30-35 hours per week. It will preferably occur from mid May through August, 2022.

A stipend of $5,000 will be provided to the intern.  The work will involve occasional travel, so a driver’s license and access to a car will be needed.

Interns will be expected to undertake a special project linked to their learning program for graduate study which will also benefit the host organization. This year one internship is available, to be hosted by Arts Westchester, located in White Plains, New York.  Arts Westchester is a multi-arts agency that it the county-designated arts council for Westchester County, NY.  It has had a folk arts program since 1992 which engages in grassroots collaborations with local artists, community leaders and organizations, produces festivals, concerts, and hands-on educational programs for the general public.  All of the folk arts programs are community driven and based upon fieldwork, relationship building, and long term ongoing partnership.

To apply, submit a resume’ or CV and a letter describing the potential benefits of the internship for the applicant’s career goals as a public folklorist. For current graduate students, please reflect on the internship’s relationship to your graduate learning program. The application letter should also indicate how previous experiences in programming, field research and/or administration would contribute to the organization hosting the internship. Following the internship, the intern and the host organization are both required to submit a report evaluating the internship.

About the internship:

• Arts Westchester is engaged in a Heritage Ambassador program – a community scholars training program serving three distinct Westchester Communities: Ecuadorian, Paraguayan, Ghanaian.  It also supports a summer performance series and a “Arts of House Ballroom” initiative that focuses on the documentation and presentation of the expressive traditions of the Black LTBTQIA+ Ballroom community in the NY-Metro area.
• The intern will specifically support the Heritage Ambassador program through attending all Heritage Ambassador training sessions and assisting the Director of Folk and Traditional Arts, Aaron Paige, as well as the consulting partner, Los Herederos, Inc. in conducting these trainings.  The intern will provide documentation expertise to the community scholars as they conduct interviews and documentation projects within their respective communities.
• Additional fieldwork conducted by the intern will provide documentation support for all Westchester Roots programs, including several cultural festivals, as well as a number of performance programs held in Westchester County.

About the Folk Arts Program at Arts Westchester:
Arts Westchester is the most active presenter of folk and traditional arts in Westchester County.  While the folk arts program touches many, its services and resources are directed to the most underrepresented and systematically disadvantaged in the county, including Black/African American, Latine/x, migrant, refugee, and LGBTQIA+ communities.  Annually, the Folk Arts program produces exhibitions, festivals, concerts, and educational programs through grassroots collaborations with local artists, community leaders and organizations.  Program staff conducts ongoing field research into community-based arts, history, and culture and they document folk arts in a community-accessible collection.  They also provide services to traditional artists, cultural organizers/leaders as well as community youth in the form of production/programming consultation, professional development, technical assistance, as well as training in ethnographic research and documentation.

Applications must be received by midnight on Sunday, March 17th and decisions about the successful candidates will be made by March 29. Applications must be submitted electronically to Laurie Longfield at New York Folklore llongfield@nyfolklore.org.  Additional information can be obtained by contacting Ellen McHale, Executive Director of New York Folklore, emchale@nyfolklore.org.