The Claudine K. Brown Internship in Education

Background

The Claudine K. Brown Internship in Education is supported by an endowed fund established in memory of Claudine K. Brown (1949-2016), a distinguished educator and influential leader at the Smithsonian (https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/remembering-work-claudine-k-brown). Awardees are selected based on their demonstrated interest in education and museum leadership. One internship is offered annually to graduating high school seniors and undergraduate students.

Purpose

The Claudine K. Brown Intern will gain professional experience through mentorship and project-based learning within the Smithsonian’s Office of the Under Secretary for Education (OUSE), the Institution’s central education office. OUSE collaborates across the Smithsonian’s 21 museums and 9 research centers to support educational programs, resources, and initiatives.

The internship provides opportunities to:

• Develop research, writing, and communication skills in the field of museum education.
• Learn about the planning, development, and implementation of educational programs and resources.
• Explore how educational content and learning experiences are created and shared.
• Participate in projects from concept development through implementation.
• Gain insight into the Smithsonian’s educational initiatives and cross-institutional collaboration.

Through active participation in OUSE projects, the intern will build a deeper understanding of museum education and gain hands-on experience supporting educational programs and resources across the Smithsonian.

Eligibility

To be considered for this opportunity, students must be:

• Undergraduate - enrolled as a rising college first year/freshman through rising college fourth year/senior
• Recent graduate - up to 6 months after graduation date from undergrad

Citizenship Requirements:

Must be a US Citizen or Permanent US Resident (Green Card Holder)

Selection Criteria

Appointee will be selected based on demonstrated academic and career interest in the field of museum education, education, or museum leadership; application material completeness; attention to detail; reference letter quality; and essay quality.

How it works

Each year, the Office of the Under Secretary for Education (OUSE) identifies new projects for the Claudine K. Brown Internship awardees. In 2027, the Claudine K. Brown interns will have an opportunity to learn through engagement with mentors at the OUSE central education office. In Summer 2027, internships will be offered in-person, in Washington, D.C. for 8 weeks.

Project Description: Claudine K. Brown Education Intern

As a central office collaborating across the Smithsonian’s 21 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo, the Office of the Under Secretary for Education (OUSE) leads the Institution’s strategy and vision for connecting education audiences to museums.

In the role of a multi-faceted museum educator, an important aspect of creating programming is well-developed communications and outreach plans. This internship offers student training in content creation and communications strategy for OUSE education outreach initiatives. It also offers training in the creation of a national conference.

By interning with OUSE through the Claudine K. Brown Internship in Education, an intern will strengthen their skills in research and writing within the context of education. During the internship, the intern will be supervised by OUSE staff, to learn about museum education communication and various OUSE projects from the idea phase through the development and implementation phases. By participating in OUSE projects, an intern will learn about developing and disseminating innovative educational programs and resources at the Smithsonian.

Intern will learn about OUSE’s:

• Planning and implementation of the Smithsonian National Education Summit, an annual conference for educator audiences nationwide.
• Ongoing partnerships with school districts and national organizations.
• Coordination and messaging for teacher and caregiver audiences through social media platforms and ongoing partnerships with education platforms, school districts, and national organizations.
• Education program development and the curation of both digital and in-person support for a publication that features stories and activities from the Smithsonian; and
• Selection and research of feature stories about Smithsonian education in the *Smithsonian Magazine* “Smithsonian Voices” online blog.

Additionally, interns will:

• Interact with OUSE team members and the community of 300+ Smithsonian educators.
• Attend planning meetings and brainstorming sessions, as well as twice-weekly mentorship meetings with the program manager; and
• Write some draft content under the mentorship of OUSE.

Learning Goals for Intern

Upon completion of the internship, Claudine K. Brown interns will be better able to:

• Understand and apply best practices of education in their area of interest.
• Support the creative process stages of collaborative education content development.
• Collaborate with a variety of audiences from Smithsonian education staff, volunteers and visitors to the museums, education, and research centers; and
• Build self-confidence in a professional setting.

Intern Supervisor Goals

The Intern Supervisor will:

• Support the intern in developing strong communications skills in writing both for internal leadership and teammates, as well as external audiences;
• Support the intern in understanding how the creative process unfolds, while working on a team and meeting deadlines; and
• Provide opportunities for the intern to practice public speaking and presentation skills.