Brooklyn Museum Internship
This semester-long internship, which is for credit, at the Brooklyn Museum is designed to develop conversational translation skills while being introduced to art museum education. Students will be expected to be at the museum from 12:30 to 3 or 4:30 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month from March through May. Students will be assigned tours each Saturday either to translate between English and Spanish as a bilingual offering or to lead fully in Spanish. They will also support and provide feedback on each other's tours. Through training offered at the museum, preparation with experienced museum educators and volunteer guides, and independent research, students will hone their translation skills while developing public speaking, presentation, and facilitation competencies. Additional opportunities to write bilingual blog posts or assist in the translation of audience surveys may also be provided.
Students will:
- work with guides in preparation of tours to identify vocabulary they need to acquire;
- discuss pacing and strategy for tours;
- coordinate with guides to find a time to meet according to their individual schedules;
- research and create a Spanish-language tour for the public, and then lead it once and attend the other students' tours; and
- develop public speaking, presentation, facilitation, and translation skills.
Dates Required
- Fridays: January 31, February 7, 14, 21, 1–4 p.m.
- Saturdays: March 7, April 4, May 2, 12:30–3 or 12:30–4:30 p.m. (scheduling pending)
Contact Hours
- Six to eight hours of museum education training (three Fridays, two to three hours each time)
- Five hours at FSAT for three months = 15 hours total for this component
- One hour for each bilingual tour they will translate (two hours) = 23–25 contact hours at the museum
Benefits
Receive three credits in Spanish through the Modern Languages and Literatures Department.
Fall 2019 Interns
Ariel Abolitz and Ruth Benitez chronicled their experience in a series of posts on the official Brooklyn Museum Tumblr:
- Tour Notice
- October 5 Tour—highlights tour in Spanish
- November 2 Tour—the first-ever Ancient Egyptian themed tour with a live translation into Spanish
Application Deadline: January 20, 2020
Please e-mail cover letter and résumé. For details and to apply, contact Associate Professor Vanessa Pérez-Rosario.