Internship
| Module title | Internship |
|---|---|
| Module code | AHVM004 |
| Academic year | 2025/6 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Professor Tom Trevor (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 4 | 7 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 16 |
|---|
Module description
This practice-based module enables you to arrange a work placement with an external organisation in the museum and gallery sector, or with one of the corporate and institutional bodies that support contemporary art practice. You will be responsible for initiating contact and setting up your internship, with support from the module convenor and employability team in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. This opportunity provides you with ‘hands on’ experiential learning while you benefit the partner’s operation in undertaking graduate-level activities on its behalf, enabling you to apply skills learned through the MA programme and build professional experience. Assessed through a placement portfolio and a critical essay, this module allows you to gain significant work-based knowledge and skills in a reflective way.
The general form of the internship must be developed with the MA supervisor well in advance. You may work collectively with other students, as a group, to deliver an internship project, with pre-agreed delegated responsibilities, subject to approval at the outset. However, each student will be required to submit their portfolio of work undertaken and the associated critical essay individually, including a clear outline of their role within the internship team. If you work as a collective, your practical contribution to the internship will still be assessed individually, along with your portfolio and written text.
This module is not suitable for non-specialist students.
Completion of AHVM001, AHVM002 and AHVM003 is a pre-requisite to undertaking the module.
It is not recommended for interdisciplinary pathways.
Module aims - intentions of the module
This module aims to guide you through the process of obtaining and getting the most from a work-based placement in the museum and gallery sector. It will provide a focused, structured context to link theory and practice through a process of experiential learning. Designed to be shaped around your particular interests and professional background, this module will complement and extend your current and future professional skills and opportunities. By working with an external partner organisation, you will develop professional curatorial skills in exhibition-making, as well as time management, communications, team-working and/or content-creation.
In Term 1 we will run a series of workshop sessions to help you with the skills required to find, select and flourish in your work placement, including CV writing, interview training and making speculative applications. In Term 2 we will then run sessions that enable you to reflect on and raise day-to-day issues within your placements, and to give you the opportunity to share and discuss your experiences with your peers and tutor.
For this module you will complete a minimum of 50 hours of work experience with an employer of your choice to be undertaken in the second half of Term 2. The work placement can take place in person or remotely, or through a combination of both. Although you will be responsible for independently setting up the work placement, you will have support from an academic adviser and will be able to draw on the Faculty’s existing network of art industry partners. The specific programme of work in each placement will be negotiated in advance between the University and the partner organisation in question.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Describe and assess the participation in the contemporary art world of the designated internship organisation
- 2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the practical and theoretical approaches to work in this organisation
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Apply knowledge of international contemporary art and curatorial practice to professional tasks assigned to you
- 4. Employ appropriate critical / technical language and terminology, and knowledge of curatorial conventions, in oral and written communications associated with the professional tasks assigned to you
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Work effectively as part of a team in a vocational setting
- 6. Demonstrate competence in undertaking professional tasks associated with the creative industries sector
- 7. Evidence self-direction and reflection in reviewing the progress of the internship
- 8. Show initiative and sustained participation in the internship
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
A 50 hour (minimum) work placement (up to 150 hours).
Workshops:
- Introductory Sessions with consideration of potential work placement hosts
- Building Your CV
- Speculative Applications
- Interview Skills
- Team-Working
- Placement Development
- Developing Reflective Practice
Formal monitoring of the progress of the internship will be conducted via tutorials, with particular reference to the student’s logbook as a basis for discussion. Informal meetings with the partner organisation’s nominated mentor/supervisor and/or the University’s tutor for this module may also be scheduled when necessary.
Every student will make a seminar presentation about their internship, addressing their peers and tutor(s). For summative assessment the work produced during the internship will be assembled in a portfolio, including the logbook. This will be complemented by a critical essay evaluating and reflecting upon the experience of the internship.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 140 | 150 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 7 | 4 x 90-minute workshops, 1 x 60-minute seminar |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 1 | 1-30 minute induction with the partner organisation and 1 x 30-minute supervisory meeting during the placement |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 2 | 1 x 2-hour symposium, reflecting on the internship |
| Guided Independent Study | 140 | Research to support work undertaken on placement and preparation for seminar presentation, as well as reading and preparation for logbook, portfolio and critical essay |
| Placement | 150 | Activities undertaken on placement |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logbook and/or online blog recording the progress of the internship | 2500 words | 1-4, 6-8 | Written feedback will be provided by supervisor |
| Seminar presentation | 30-minute oral presentation (PowerPoint presentation and hand-outs used by individual/group in presentation submitted to tutor(s) at the end of presentation) | 1-7 | Oral feedback in class, written feedback from tutor(s) |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio of the work completed during the internship | 50 | 2500 words | 1-8 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow up |
| Critical essay evaluating and reflecting upon the experience of the internship | 50 | 3000 words | 1-3, 6-8 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow up |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio of the work completed during the internship (2500 words) | 2500-word (guideline) portfolio of the work completed during the internship | 1-8 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Critical essay evaluating and reflecting upon the experience of the internship (3000 words) | 3000-word essay evaluating and reflecting upon the experience of the internship | 1-3, 6-8 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Basic reading:
- Altshuler, B.(ed.) Collecting the New, Princeton University Press, 2005
- Baverstock, A. How to Get a Job in a Museum or Art Gallery, A & C Black, 2010
- Bhandari, H.D. and Melber, J. Art/Work: everything you need to know (and do) as you pursue your art career, Free Press, 2009
- Bolton, J. Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development, Sage, 2014
- Boud, D. et al. (eds.) Reflection. Turning experience into learning, Routledge, 1985
- Collins, H. Creative Research: The Theory and Practice of Research for the Creative Industries, AVA Publishing, 2010
- Davies, R. Introducing the Creative Industries, Sage, 2013
- Flew, T. The Creative Industries: Culture and Policy, Sage, 2011
- George, A. The Curator's Handbook: Museums, Commercial Galleries, Independent Spaces, Thames and Hudson, 2015
- Guillet de Monthoux, P. The Art Firm. Aesthetic Management and Metaphysical Marketing, Stanford University Press, 2004
- Hartley, J. et al. Key Concepts in Creative Industries, Sage, 2012
- Helyer, R. The Work-Based Learning Student Handbook, Palgrave, 2015
- Kolb, D. A. Experiential Learning, Prentice Hall, 1984
- Melber, L. Teaching the Museum: Careers in Museum Education, AAM Press, 2014
- Stevens, G. & Luke, W. A Life in Museums: Managing Your Museum Career, AAM Press, 2012
- Thornton, S. Seven Days in the Art World, Norton, 2009
- Williams, K. Reflective Writing, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
- Association of Art Historians Careers in Art History, 2013 (download from http://www.aah.org.uk/ciah)
- Roger Greenaway: Active Reviewing Guide Experiential learning articles + critiques of David Kolb's theory http://www.reviewing.co.uk/research/experiential.learning.htm#ixzz4lwwjdaIk
http://www.reviewing.co.uk/research/experiential.learning.htm#axzz4lwwZ59fr
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | AHVM001 and AHVM002 |
| Module co-requisites | AHVM003 |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 16/09/2019 |
| Last revision date | 10/04/2024 |
