Take the community-based, collaborative, and interdisciplinary research skills you've gained in Sharpe to the next level by becoming an Action Research Intern. Interns receive $5,000 to complete ten full-time weeks of intern and research activities during the summer. Successful applicants will be matched, according to their interests and previous experience, with partners, who will then have the opportunity to vet final candidates through interviews. This opportunity is currently open to first-year Sharpe Scholars.
Applications are now closed.
The Sharpe Community Scholars Program offered the following internship opportunities for Summer 2024.
Sharpe Internship Opportunities
Bray School Lab
Internship Description
This summer internship will take place with the W&M Bray School Lab and is designed to advance research on the history of the Williamsburg Bray School that educated more than 300 enslaved and free Black children in Williamsburg between 1760 and 1774. Research will involve the history and legacies of the Williamsburg Bray School, the broader history of Black education in Virginia, and contributing to website redesign and content.
Preferred Qualifications
Strong interest and/or experience in African American or Education history
Experience in website design and content development
Cenevia
Internship Description
Not everyone has access to affordable and high-quality healthcare; the entities that provide these services to the medically underserved are safety net providers. The summer researcher will help safety net providers identify projects that would improve their financial bottom line so that they can serve their communities better. Potential topics of research may include:
Comparing rural and urban financial status for safety net providers
Updates on activities to address provider burden
Update of social determinants of health identification, projects and challenges
Description of new Medicaid demonstration projects
Preferred Qualifications
An understanding that the medically underserved population work hard and yet suffer from a healthcare system that does not reward their industry
Compassion for those who suffer the scars of generational policies that put them at a disadvantage today
Willingness to read and question readings
Let Freedom Ring Foundation
Internship Description
The Historic First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Virginia will celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2026. In order to prepare for this moment in history, the Let Freedom Ring Foundation is working with the descendant community to tell a more complete story of the people who lived, worked, and worshipped at the church. It was a time when the Williamsburg population was more than 50% free and enslaved African Americans. The church served as a beacon in the community and gathering for some of the most well educated and affluent African Americans in the region. We need researchers and writers to assist with gathering data to be used in an updated exhibit that will be used to educate the community and visitors.
Preferred Qualifications
Familiarity with the work of the Let Freedom Ring Foundation and the history of Colonial Williamsburg.
LGBTIQ Research Project
The W&M LGBTQ Research Project was created eight years ago with the goal of putting together archival materials and oral histories to document Virginia’s LGBTQ past. Since its creation over 150 undergraduate and graduate students have participated in the project. They have collected archival materials from VCU’s Cabel Library, the VA Historical Society, the Valentine Museum, and the Library of Virginia (among other locations), and with the cooperation of our community partner, Diversity Richmond, have had over 110 oral histories shared with student interviewers. While COVID put a pause on their activities, they have returned to this work in the last year with the goal of creating a digitally accessible space for these materials to call home.
Sharpe Scholars who work with the project will be engaging with collected materials to create digital exhibits (“LGBTQ Richmond During the 1970s” as one example or “Richmond LGBTQ Bar Culture” as another possibility) to allow a much greater access to this material to the larger public.
Self-Designed
Conduct a research internship with a community organization that isn't a Sharpe Action Research partner, e.g. an organization in your hometown. All self-designed Action Research Internships require a letter of reference from your proposed internship supervisor explaining details about the internship as well as a testimony on your research/professional/engagement capabilities.
Host institutions provide interns with mentored research experiences that align with their needs and strategic objectives. Students are expected to apply and practice what they learn by contributing to the creation of an original project (e.g., exhibit, publication, or digital initiative) that reflects the latest methods, best practices, and innovative technologies in the field.
Below are the general application requirements. You can find more information in the links provided above, including expected duties and qualifications for each internship.
Eligibility
Applicant must be a student in good academic standing.
Applicant must be a first-year Sharpe Scholar
Applicant must be or become eligible to work in the United States by May 1, 2024.
Applicant must be available to complete ten full-time weeks of intern and research activities in Summer 2024.
Requirements
Internships will have a research component with specifics to be arranged with the internship supervisor.
Students are required to participate in the Fall 2024 Undergraduate Internship Showcase.
Application
1. Sharpe Action Research InternshipApplication form (online)
You will be asked to enter the names of two references :
One reference must be a faculty member who has taught you in class.
A second reference may be another professor, a former supervisor, acquaintance, etc. who can speak to your ability to be successful in the internship
OR a letter of reference from your proposed internship supervisor (self-designed internships only)
2. Cover Letter, addressed to the Sharpe Scholars Program, explaining the following:
why you are interested in the Sharpe Action Research Internship
the skill sets, academic preparation, and special interests or experiences you possess that qualify you for the internships you selected
why you consider yourself a good fit for your chosen internships
your personal qualities that make you suitable for this opportunity
how this internship relates to your career and academic goals
what you hope to gain from this experience
3. Writing Sample, ranging from 3 to 5 double-spaced pages (not including bibliography, footnotes, or appendix) demonstrating:
A capacity to craft a coherent and compelling argument using primary and/or secondary sources
An engagement with social issues, policy, law, community, or similar topics
Attention to language, grammar, syntax, and overall construction
4. Community Letter of Reference (self-designed internships only)
For students choosing to self-design an internship with a community organization in their hometown or elsewhere
Letter must come from proposed internship supervisor explaining details about the internship as well as a testimony on your research/professional/engagement capabilities
5. Resume 6. Banner (unofficial) Transcript
7. Supplemental work (optional)
Demonstrates research ability not displayed in the writing sample
Examples include: art portfolio, digital project, community project
Let Freedom Ring Foundation
Self-Designed