Walking through New York's Soho neighborhood, it's hard to argue that the starving artist-bohemian lifestyle exists today in urban America. Yet internships in the arts, which often pay little and require interns to relocate to urban (read: expensive) areas, can easily leave interns wondering whether it would have been smarter to take ECO 102 instead of THR 201.
Of the 519 internships reported by undergraduates in the Career Services 2003 Internship Survey, only 3.85% of students surveyed interned in the arts.
While their investment banking brethren were living it large in the big city, art interns, at least, were working in more creative and rewarding environments...right?
For Nikki Muller '05, the answer is a resounding "yes."
This summer, Muller worked under the head music dramaturge of Theater Freiburg, an opera and musical theater company in Freiburg, Germany. A comparative literature major working for a theater certificate, Muller was able to use the research from her Junior Paper to help compile program notes and offer suggestions for an opera at the theater.
Muller found the internship through the German Department's work-study program, which also reimbursed Muller for her plane fare to Germany. Muller's boss, the head dramaturge, was a member of the class of 1981.
Though Muller had to "do a lot of photocopying, make trips to the library and do online research," she said the amount of busywork was limited. As an additional perk, Muller was able to see as much free theater as she wanted.
Internships in film, publishing, theater, the art world and fashion, like other summer jobs, have their ups and downs. What first appears to be a glamorous gallery job could turn out to be a glorified position for the official summer coffeemaker or photocopier. Most jobs, however, do not to transform their interns into full-fledged minions, but require a mix of menial tasks and valuable experience.
Megan Gething '06 spent this past summer working as an assistant to the head of publicity and marketing at the Grove/Atlantic Publishing Company. Gething had worked for the company in the past, "so when the head of publicity and marketing found that her assistant was quitting unexpectedly, she asked me to fill in until her new assistant started," Gething said.
Gething's role "involved a variety of tasks from the mundane and tedious to stuff that really gave me insight into what the business is like," she said.
Though Gething enjoyed the experience, she was also discouraged by some aspects of her job. One such task was writing press releases.
"One needn't know very much about the book to write what is considered a good press release," Gething said. "Very often one can follow a standard template, repeating clichéd sentences full of superfluous adjectives in order to try to 'sell' the book to a particular audience. In the world of marketing, obtaining — and possibly manipulating — the words of the right critic and emblazoning the quote on a book cover is standard fare. Literary prizes and honors cease to have any meaning except as marketing tools."
While Gething gained insight into the publishing industry through her internship, she also became aware of the industry's flaws.
"The experience made me aware that if I do enter this field, I had better be prepared to do so with a degree of cynicism," Gething said. "In fact, marketing may not be for me."
The Humanities Council offers summer grants of $3000 for internships in writing, publishing and journalism. According to the Humanities Council's website, "Since many internships are unpaid or only modestly remunerated, these grants are designed to help defray some of the expenses associated with the summer."
"We don't have funding for internships per se," comparative literature Professor Eileen Reeves said, "but we do fund research projects leading to the fall or spring term JP or to the senior thesis, as well as some language study."
Jeff Nunokawa, departmental representative for the English department, said no funds were available to support student internships.
According to Ronnie Hanley, the Department Manager for Classics, the department awards money for summer travel and study.
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