Partnerships
Our mission is the increase and diffusion of knowledge, so we are always looking to strengthen and expand opportunities for experiential education through partnerships.
Do you represent a college, university, or other organization that is interested in partnering with the Smithsonian in the area of internships and fellowships? We welcome the opportunity to discuss partnering opportunities with you.
Internships
We currently offer two types of partnerships for intern programs based on the length of time interns are available.
For short-term internships, those less than three (<3) weeks, we offer our Open Doors Experience, where students will explore many of the museums and research centers in and around DC. Students will meet curators, conservators and administration professionals who will share their stories about working at the world’s largest museum.
For longer time frames, usually ten (10) weeks or more, we offer our Grand Challenges Internship, where interns are paired with a mentor for the duration of their internship and spend 4 days a week working with them on projects within the mentor’s unit. One day a week the students engage with the rest of their cohort at weekly seminars or other Smithsonian experiences to gain a broader understanding of the Smithsonian.
A few examples of our internship partnerships include:
- Colorado State University-Pueblo
- George Mason University, Digital Public Humanities
- Smith College
- University of Alberta
- University of Houston
- Whitworth University
- East Los Angeles College
- George Washington University
- Project SEARCH
- University of California Santa Barbara
- University of South Carolina
Fellowships
We also partner with organizations to develop fellowship opportunities to support independent research or study. These opportunities can be thematic or open ended.
- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
- American Council of Learned Societies
- Arts and Humanities Research Council UK
- Big Ten Academic Alliance
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- State of Queensland, Australia
For more details on our partnerships opportunities, please see our brochure: Smithsonian Internship/Fellowship Partnerships with Your University.
Fulbright Program
The Smithsonian is pleased to work closely with Fulbright and all of their programs to welcome foreign scholars to the institution and support Smithsonian employees going abroad. This renewed agreement was signed at the April 2019 to strengthen and deepen the collaboration between these two organizations that support the increase and diffusion of knowledge.
In addition, the Smithsonian is actively pursuing named awards with the international commissions. These awards are administered by the home countries to send scholars to the Smithsonian. For more information, see here:
For more information about the Fulbright-Smithsonian partnership, please see our full page here.