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English Internship Opportunities

The internship program in the English department provides exciting and practical opportunities for students to use their English skills in professional environments. Students gain valuable experience for career development and/or graduate school work, and benefit from personal and writing growth, mentoring, and networking opportunities. English majors may also take the independent study course ENGL 4640: Internship in English, to earn three (3) hours of college credit during their internship. Students must be English majors, have already completed ENGL 1010, 1020, and 2201/2, and have secured their internship prior to enrolling in the internship course. Students should find and secure their own English-related internship or apply for one of the internship positions affiliated with the English Department (please see list below). Students must be given a permit by the English Department Registrar, Bridget Wells, to enroll in the internship course. 

The Experiential Learning Fellowship is available to support CAS students who will be participating in otherwise unpaid mentored research, practica placements, or internships related to their field of study and who meet selected criteria. Click here to learn more. 

You can also watch a recording of our most recent information session here, and you can view the PowerPoint presentation from the information session here. 

Current Internship Opportunities

The National Civil Rights Museum currently has 3 PAID internships available in Collections, Community Engagement, and Education! Apply here: https://www.givepulse.com/group/internships/658959 

Visit https://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/employment for more information. 

The Urban Fellows Program provides local college students and recent graduates the opportunity to intern within the City of Memphis Government. Interns receive challenging projects to complete in areas of the City that they are interested in. Urban Fellows work between 15 and 28 hours per week alongside their assigned mentor(s) and division and these positions are paid $12 per hour. Three internship sessions are hosted a year, one in the spring, summer, and fall. Click here to read more about this position on their website. 

Gnarled Oak Farm is a small, diverse farm located in northwest Mississippi. The farm primarily grows cattle, pigs, and sheep and sells directly to the public. We are starting to expand into flowers and have a line of tallow skin care products. This position is a 20 hour per week position and pays $13 per hour. Click here for more information on the position. Please submit cover letter and resume to gnarledoakfarm@gmail.com.

To apply to any of the below positions, students need only send a brief cover letter to Stacy Early, Adult Program Director, at searly@literacymidsouth.org. The organization is more interested in students' creativity and vision than traditional work experience.

N-ABLE Social Media Intern Job Description:
Literacy Mid-South convenes the Network for Adult Basic Literacy and Education. LMS is looking for a social media intern who can create and post content highlighting adult-learning providers across the city. This includes creating content like graphics, videos, and copy for and posting to multiple platforms. The intern will work with local communications and PR firm, Powers Solutions. The intern will receive $500 for each completed partner highlight. With 6 expected partner highlights, the intern can receive up to $3,000. Interested applicants should have some availability weekdays between the hours of 9-5. This will be to meet with Powers Solutions and Literacy Mid-South and travel to partner locations. Click here to apply.

Social Media Intern Job Description:
10 hours/week, unpaid, remote or in-person work options. Literacy Mid-South is looking for a social media intern who can create a social media strategy. This will also include posting content to current platforms as well as testing out new platforms. The intern can choose a weekly schedule that fits within their schedule, as long as about 4 hours per week are between the hours of 10a and 4p, Monday through Friday. This pilot will be an opportunity to create a comprehensive strategy for the organization as a whole, with an emphasis on the adult learning program and #ShareYourSkill901, a movement to celebrate the skills that make up Memphis. This position will work with a local marketing company as well as LMS staff. Work can be done remotely or in-person at LMS’s office. Intern should have working knowledge of Google Workspace. Working knowledge of Canva would be beneficial.

Writing Workshop Intern Job Description:
10 hours/week, unpaid, in-person work required with some aspects of the work done remotely. Literacy Mid-South is looking for one intern from the University of Memphis English Department each semester to facilitate writing workshops geared toward adult learners who are working to improve their reading and writing skills. The intern can choose a weekly schedule that includes one evening, one weekend, and one virtual workshop option. How these are facilitated, and the materials used are flexible. This pilot program will be an opportunity to create workshops to fit your style and that are accessible and engaging to adult learners who may have not had a good experience in a traditional classroom.

To apply, please send a one-page cover letter and resume to Lulu Abdun, Data and Technology Specialist, @ labdun@allmemphis.org with "ALLMemphis Internship" in the subject line. 

Job description: 15 hours/week, in-person, unpaid. ALLMemphis is seeking a passionate college intern to help accelerate the organization’s impact by assisting with curriculum edits, revisions, and entry into the new curriculum software platform, Ditto Literacy. The primary responsibilities of the intern are to transfer existing foundational reading curriculum elements from PowerPoint format into Ditto Literacy. This involves a keen eye for detail and ideal for an individual who is technically inclined. Other responsibilities include working with the Program Specialist Manager to edit and modify curriculum components to best align with popular science of reading trends. Other areas of potential involvement are working with the External Relations Manager to craft ideas/content for the monthly blog and/or organization newsletter. There are also potential opportunities for the intern to observe at local partner schools with the Program Specialist Team to gain experience with and appreciation for the translation of curriculum creation to curriculum instruction.

The purpose of a Success Coach is to help young individuals become responsible, respectful, resourceful, and capable students. Responsibilities include hands-on tutoring, re-teaching, and mentoring students. Success Coaches develop skills such as decision-making, creative problem-solving, and effective communication that are attractive to employers in every industry. As a Success Coach, you will work at one of our designated partner high schools around the city of Memphis. Success Coaches work during normal school day hours, with some after school and weekend hours available (9-28 hours per week, $16.50 per hour). To apply, visit peerpowerfoundation.org/apply.  

Great Neck Tools is hiring technical writers for their "eCommerce Content Writer" and "eCommerce Specialist" positions to work with their Amazon listings. These are full-time paid jobs for students who have completed their bachelor's degree. There are also internships available for both of those positions for current undergraduate students, paying $18/hour. They are in-person internships, located in Memphis. Great Neck is very passionate about bringing in young people and helping them be successful at their company. Interested students should send their resume to Chloe White - cwhite@greatnecktools.com.

Teach for America's Ignite Fellows lead small group virtual learning with the support of a veteran educator. Ignite Fellows:

  • work 3-5 hours per week for a semester (13 weeks)
    • weeks 1-2: build your skills through onboarding
    • weeks 3-13: partner directly with a small group of students
  • build relationships and foster belonging
  • accelerate learning in elementary reading or middle school math
  • tutor virtually, connecting over Zoom, Teams, or similar tools

While Fellows are not employees of Teach for America, they do receive an award for their service as an Ignite Fellow of $1200 at the end of their Fellowship term. 

Visit Teach For America's Ignite Fellowship website for more information. 

Please send resume and cover letter to Shara Clark, editor-in-chief, at shara@memphisflyer.com.

Job Description: 10-15 hours/week, unpaid, remote work with opportunities for in-person work experience.

The intern will:

  • Report to the editor, managing editor, and associate editor. 
  • Write at least one post for memphisflyer.com per week. (There is some flexibility here. These entries can be hard news, opinion, or arts coverage. The editor will give instruction, feedback, examples, and industry best practices for whichever kind of writing appeals to the intern. There is also an opportunity for some cross-publication work; e.g. Memphis Parent.)
  • Fact check for the Flyer production team.
  • Do some administrative duties — sending email, posting to social media, updating the Flyer’s music and events calendar, and going through older posts to check that the links still work. These duties are not priorities so much as they will help fill hours when immediate assignments aren’t forthcoming.
  • Help build the Flyer’s photo library. We need updated photos of all important Memphis landmarks, and any photo of yours we use will be credited to you online and/or in print if it is used.
  • There is a lot of flexibility with this job. Whatever your interest — technical writing, editorial (opinion) pieces, reporting, arts and culture, we will have work for you!

Visit their internships webpage for more information. 

Internship Forms

More English Department internship opportunities can be found here. 

To browse all internship opportunities at the University of Memphis, login to TigerLink by Handshake here.

English Honor Society students: Click here to view a list of internship opportunities currently offered through Sigma Tau Delta. 

For more information about registering for internships, visit the Undergraduate Catalog. 

Internships Coordinator:
Rachel Kaplowitz Cantrell
901.678.2651
rkplwitz@memphis.edu