Smith College / Smithsonian Institution Internship Program s1

Smith College / Smithsonian Institution Internship Program

Research Project Proposal

Name of Supervisor(s): Fath Davis Ruffins

Department or Office: Division of Home and Community Life Museum/Unit: NMAH

Phone Number: 202 633-3730 Email Address:

1. Please provide information on your research and/or the work of your office:

Within NMAH, the Division of Home and Community Life focuses on the architecture, food ways, and life ways of Americans. This division incorporates collections such as Ceramics and Glass, Costume, Textiles, Domestic Life (home furniture and furnishings; toys, games, and dolls; kitchenware; architecture, etc.). In addition, this Division holds collections documenting the life of American racial and ethnic groups, immigration, religion, folkways, and related forms of material culture. Within this division, I have a particular specialty in African American History and Culture as well as in ethnic and immigration history.

Over the next few years, I am leading a Smithsonian-wide project: the Smithsonian Immigration/Migration Initiative (hereafter SIMI). This initiative is planning a major exhibition in the Museum of American History (opening spring, 2016), a Folklife Festival (summer, 2015) an international conference on migration and material culture, and other programs. The internship will involve becoming part of the SIMI team and being exposed to workings of a large-scale Smithsonian project.

2. Describe the project (include duties, nature and scope of the work), and indicate any particular academic background or specific courses needed as preparation:

In 2013, I will be involved in the development of the Immigration/Migration Project which is a Smithsonian-wide collaborative effort to explore, analyze, and present the cultural history of immigration and migration in the American past. Another way to describe this project is that we are working on the history of the “peopling of the United States.” The student could decide to concentrate on the history of a particular cultural group or investigate a particular set of ideas about patterns of migration in the American past and present.

This is an opportunity to get involved in the planning of a major exhibition at the ground floor. Our working title for the exhibition is Routes/Roots: The Nation We Make Together. The exhibition development team will be developing the comprehensive interpretive plan for the full-scale exhibition. This will be an exciting internship for someone who is interested in public history, which is how (in this case) the American experience will be interpreted by a significant public institution. We will be considering the geography, cultural history, settlement and displacement patterns, cultural identities, and other elements of specific regions of the United States.

This internship is bested suited to someone who is majoring in American History, American Studies, or a related field such Film Studies, Women’s History and/or Gender Studies, African American Studies, Latino/a Studies, or Jewish Studies. (I will consider other majors such as Sociology, Anthropology, or Geography if they can show an interest in American topics in their coursework.)

In terms of learning objectives, the intern should be able to: demonstrate an understanding of the details of a particular historical situation and/or region; to employ that knowledge to come up with a historically valid interpretation of that region/period; and assemble that information into an interpretive whole that is exhibitable in the museum. This is a challenging task for a person who has not yet worked on an exhibition project, however it should be exciting and stimulating adventure for someone interested in how history and cultural scholarship are shaped and transmitted to the public.

3. Please describe possible research products an intern might develop, either from the project or the work of your office, to fulfill the academic requirement of the Smith College Program:

The intern could produce a standard research paper on a topic of her own interest. I will mentor the intern in producing such a paper if she chooses.

However, she could also produce for the SIMI project or for the Routes/Roots exhibition:

·  a section or sub-section of the comprehensive interpretive plan for the exhibition, which would include scholarly citations, artifacts, graphics, music, and/or film to be used in the exhibition.

·  an annotated bibliography on works devoted to a particular region

·  an annotated filmography of films devoted to stories about immigration

or focusing on the experiences of distinctive immigrant groups.

·  an annotated discography of songs which depict the experience of

particular immigrant stories and/or experiences.

We will determine the project based on the intern’s interest and academic background.