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.
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.
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.
Current Internship Opportunities
The National Civil Rights Museum currently has 4 PAID internships available in Collections, Community Engagement, Event Coordination, and Information Technology! 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 either 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.
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.
To apply, please send cover letter and resume to Paul Garner, TN Regional Organizing Director, @ pgarner@stand.org.
Job description: 10-15 hours/week, mostly VIRTUAL due to the pandemic, unpaid. Interns attend planning meetings while learning and participating in various Stand-supported community projects and campaigns. Other responsibilities and tasks may include copywriting, drafting editorial pieces, and assisting the Communications and Organizing Departments with media, research, and outreach opportunities.
Inclusion Assistants help to support the YMCA's mission in providing accessible and inclusive programming for all children, regardless of ability and background. We are looking for candidates that have a passion for working with children and are willing to learn more about inclusion and supporting children with additional needs. This would be a great position for college students or someone who is looking for a second job.
The pay rate ranges from $15 - $20 an hour, based on experience.
We have open positions at multiple Memphis Shelby County schools, as well as the municipal schools in the area. Before care shifts are Monday - Friday 6:15 am - 8:15 am and after care shifts are typically Monday - Friday, with shift options between 2:45 pm - 6:00 pm. Inclusion Assistants do not need to commit to both before and after care shifts. They can choose one or the other, if they cannot do both.
Part-time employees that work more than 10 hours a week qualify for:
- A free individual membership that is valid at all YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South locations
- Free Before & After School Care for your children
- Free Summer and Holiday Camps
- 50% off All group swim lessons, youth sports, and other non-childcare programs
Click this link to learn more and apply!
Any questions about the position can be directed to inclusion@ymcamemphis.org or 901-737-6091.
Click here to view the Memphis Artists for Change website.
To apply, send cover letter and resume to info@mem4change.org. Successful internship candidates may have a background in: community development, activism, volunteering, social work; art, non-profit, humanitarian, or religious work; teaching, coaching, or mentoring; public speaking, public relations, team leadership; campaign managing, marketing, or branding; community or street fundraising, phone banking, or political canvassing; customer service, hospitality; entrepreneurship.
Job description: 10-15 hours a week; unpaid; remote work with opportunity to attend occasional staff meetings as needed.
Social media and website management duties:
- Developing social media strategies, social media content calendars, and editing & creating content copy for social media and organization website
- Monitoring social media channels and using social media management tools to track brand content
- Creating engaging content copy, developing a template for the newsletter, monitoring channels & website for key/optimal mentions of the organization or website conversion and interaction
Planning duties:
- Executing organization communications campaigns as an integral member of a grassroots org with partners local and nationwide
- Coordinating content copy through organization's communication tool of tracked data from spreadsheets, Google Docs, and Microsoft Office sheets
- Creating briefs, memos, and internal documentation to align teams and move multi-channel projects forward
- Directly engaging with the community on a regular basis
- Participating in learning and professional development to hone marketing skills and demonstrate knowledge in advertising and promotion
- Supporting organizers and organization partners
Please send resume and cover letter to Shara Clark, managing editor, 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
- Internship Agreement Form
- Work Log
- Midterm Supervisor Evaluation Form
- Final Supervisor Evaluation Form
- Midterm Self-Reflection
- Final Report and Self-Assessment
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