The Morgan Library & Museum Academic Year Internships

The Morgan Library & Museum welcomes applications for its 2025-2026 academic year internship program. The program will provide an introduction to the variety of career opportunities available in museums and special collection libraries. Each intern will be assigned to a department relevant to their interest and work with departmental staff on timely topics in that area. Interns will also have the opportunity to learn about the Morgan, and the museum and special collection fields more generally, through professional development opportunities such as facility tours and meetings with museum leadership.

These are on-site, paid internships for schedules of up to 14 hours per week. Please see detailed application instructions below. The Morgan especially seeks to provide opportunities to candidates from backgrounds historically underrepresented in the museum and special collection libraries fields. Please note that professional development programming will generally be scheduled on Wednesdays, and so priority will be given to applicants able to be at the Morgan on Wednesdays.

For the academic year 2025–2026, internships are available in the following areas:

Ancient Western Asian Seals and Tablets
This internship within the curatorial department of Ancient Western Asian Seals and Tablets provides an immersive and practical experience tailored for students aspiring to pursue careers in art, art history, archaeology, libraries, or museums. Working closely with the department head, the intern will actively contribute to two ongoing departmental projects: organizing and preparing a collection of modern seal impressions for archival purposes and organizing digital and physical images of seals and impressions. The intern will handle archaeological objects and work with archival materials connected to Edith Porada, including photographs. They will have the unique opportunity to receive specialized training in ancient seal carving and the art of creating seal impressions.

Communications and Marketing Internship
The Communications and Marketing Department is seeking a creative and motivated intern to support our social media and marketing initiatives. This role is perfect for someone eager to build their skills in real-world marketing, content creation, and online engagement. The intern will help create content for our major exhibitions, including Renoir Drawings and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Treasures from the Mozarteum Foundation of Salzburg, as well as assist with our College Ambassadors program and research projects as needed.

Graham S. Haber Cultural Heritage Digital Imaging Internship
This internship will provide an introduction to the Morgan’s digital imaging studio and training with professional digital imaging equipment. The intern will learn to create archival quality digital images of rare materials in the Morgan’s collection, which spans from Ancient Western Asian seals and tablets to contemporary drawings and photography, while also learning the crucial role of digital imaging in museums and special collections, cultural heritage imaging standards, and the many uses of a wide variety of images produced.

Imaging and Rights Internship
This internship offers a unique opportunity to gain experience in Imaging and Rights. The department provides access to the Morgan’s rare collections via digital surrogates, and clears rights and permissions for various uses. The successful candidate will assist with an inventory of analogue image assets and paper files, in addition to assisting with Morgan publications and exhibition related projects, organizing images and tracking spreadsheets, assisting with color proofing and maintaining image and copyright credits. The intern will also update descriptive metadata in image files and will ingest these prepared image files into the Morgan digital asset management system (DAM). This requires accessing databases, embedding metadata into image files, and after DAM ingest, reviewing, revising and correcting data when necessary.

Modern & Contemporary Drawings Internship
The Department of Modern and Contemporary Drawings department seeks an intern to work directly with and be mentored by the curatorial team. An integral member of the department, their responsibilities will include ongoing collection research in libraries and archives, identifying collection items that need imaging and updating artist files, writing short descriptions and wall labels, as well as conducting future exhibition research. The candidate should have knowledge of and interest in modern and contemporary art and be available two days per week.

Printed Books and Binding Internship
The Department of Printed Books & Bindings is seeking an intern for the 2025/2026 Academic Year. The successful candidate would work directly with the Astor Curator as a curatorial project assistant. Working on an upcoming exhibition dealing with the history of ragtime music and Black cultural production in the Jim Crow era, the internship will entail assisting with a wide range of project work involved with the curatorial process. This work includes but is not limited to research activities, catalogue preparation, liaising with outside stakeholders, strategizing approaches to cultural sensitivity, and organizing and updating electronic records in The Museum System (TMS). If the candidate is not familiar with TMS or other such systems, this internship offers the opportunity to learn museum collection and asset management software in a professional setting. In addition, this internship will provide the successful candidate with the chance to work with the Department of Printed Books & Bindings in the reorganization of collection spaces and other forms of departmental documents and records management.

Public Programs Internship
This internship in Public Programs offers an opportunity to assist in the production of the Morgan’s exhibition and collections-based programs, including concerts and other live arts, film screenings, lectures, symposia, workshops, and other public programs. The candidate should demonstrate a keen interest in the history, literature, and visual and performing arts. The intern will assist with house and stage management in our 264-seat theater, light board operation, live sound, and recording, and will liaise with the public during rehearsals, set-up, and program implementation. Additionally, the candidate will provide administrative support including creating signage, printed concert programs, and data collection. The schedule will include weekday and evening hours (approximately one or two evenings per week) with occasional weekends.

Reference Collection Internship
The Reference Collection Academic Year Internship will provide an introduction to the behind-the-scenes operations of a special research library. Under the guidance of the Head of the Reference Collection, the intern will participate in the daily workflow of the department, which will include the shelving and labelling of library materials, shifting library books and maintaining order in the collection, and a special project involving the collection. The candidate should have an interest in art, history, or literature.

School, Youth & Family Programs Internship
The School, Youth & Family Program intern participates in the Morgan’s school, family, and teen programs, including the Morgan Book Project and exhibition programming. The candidate should demonstrate a keen interest in the field of museum education and in the visual arts, attention to detail, and solid writing and communication skills. The intern will assist in the weekly implementation of school programs, including set-up and clean-up of classes, the maintenance of program supplies, and administrative support. The candidate will observe the Morgan’s school programming and be trained to teach school tours, including onsite and offsite events. The candidate will additionally participate in family and teen workshops. Some weekend and evening hours will apply; the internship hours will include the first Saturday of every month for September 2025–May 2026.

Eligibility:

• Current enrollment as an undergraduate or graduate student.
• Strong interest in a career in the museum or library field.
• Eligibility to work in the United States (international candidates must be eligible to participate in a paid internship program in the United States).
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

The Morgan requires all employees, including interns, to have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.