From Art History to Archival Curation: How Grad Internships Turn Niche Research into Professional Skills

As an intern for the James Ford Bell Library, graduate student Caleb Allen reflects on the merit of interdisciplinary research. This project combines Allen’s background as an art history student and an archivist to curate both a tailored exhibit and an interesting internship. Though this project is different from other archival work Allen has done, he says there is much to be learned from pursuing your interests—even when they don’t precisely line up with your career trajectory.

Describe the project you’re working on

My primary responsibility is helping to plan out an upcoming exhibition in the James Ford Bell Library's lobby in 2027 as part of an international celebration of the birth of cartographer Abraham Ortelius.

This internship has, in part, drawn on prior skills I have developed during my previous life as an archivist, as well as current skills developed as an art historian in training. In order to curate a show like this, I have spent countless hours in the library catalog identifying rare books and other works on paper which relate to Ortelius himself, as well as the larger intellectual world of which he was a part. While I study intellectual life of sixteenth century Europe, my research focuses largely on anatomy and theatre, so this helped to flesh out my understanding of this particular milieu.

This experience has also shown me just how much overlap curating has with archiving, and why it is that curatorial jobs often require both experience in archives/libraries as well as a high-level research degree. In order to capture the importance of someone like Ortelius for a more general public, one needs to possess a good breadth and depth of historical knowledge, as well as a flexible disposition since smaller institutions like the Bell can only work with what it is that they hold in their collections. Some of this is intuition, but so much of it comes from the years and years of historical learning one acquires in the course of earning a PhD.

In spite of all of this, one of the bigger surprises here is the fact that one cannot escape using Excel as an organizing tool! It is everywhere in the world of libraries, museums, and archives!

How did you find your internship? What tips do you have for others seeking similar opportunities?

I talked my way into this internship! However, for that to be an option at all, I had to cultivate relationships with people at the Bell Library. This was facilitated, in part, by my actively participating in lectures, workshops, etc. with the UMN Center for Premodern Studies, as well as attending similar activities at affiliated institutions, such as the Newberry Library in Chicago. 

It helps to be able to demonstrate what your interest is in doing a particular type of work, what you bring to the table, and (perhaps most importantly) be clear about what you want to learn by working with institution X or person Y. Knowing all of this would have been so helpful in prior internship and job searches earlier in my professional life, but these are things best learned through direct experience.

In short: participate in the communities you are a part of, engage with people in those communities, and do not be afraid to let your interests guide what it is you do, even if it does not quite seem like there is a direct connection between the deeper aspects of your research and a viable path to an internship or job.

What are your top takeaways from your internship experience?

I have learned that curating is well within my reach, as it overlaps heavily with my previous professional experience. It has also been great to discover that my PhD research is a pretty serious value-add for the sort of curating I am interested in, so perhaps I can despair less about the process involved in getting the degree, even when certain aspects of it get a bit hairy. Lastly, there is just no escaping Excel!

This story was edited by Rory Schaefer, an undergraduate student in CLA.