Project Mentor
Dr. Danielle Gilman
Department: English; First-Year Writing
Dr. Michaela Telfer
Department: UConn Library
Project Overview:
Our collaborative research considers archives, teaching, and public humanities. Our goals this summer—which the SHARE Apprentice would support—are to 1. plan and stage a student-facing library exhibit using reproduced materials and interactive elements from UConn’s Swing Journal Project records (a collection of student diaries from 2015–18, s.uconn.edu/swingjournals), 2. create and refine curated primary source sets for instructional use across campuses, and 3. evaluate additional UConn archival collections for their suitability in future teaching sets. Taken together, our work advances efforts to incorporate archival sources into undergraduate learning and to make UConn’s archival collections more accessible and instruction ready.
Role of a SHARE Summer Apprentice:
The apprentice would first assist with the development and installation of the exhibit featuring reproductions and interactive interpretive elements drawn from the Swing Journal collection. We’ll spend time selecting materials to reproduce, evaluating options for visitor interaction, and actually staging the exhibit. Complementary to this particular exhibit is a broader interest in teaching with primary sources. To support this interest, the apprentice will also help us identify and review additional UConn collections that might be suitable for incorporation in future teaching materials. We would look forward to getting a student perspective on what kinds of materials might be most engaging in classroom settings.
During the apprenticeship, the apprentice would:
- Develop historical and archival research skills, including the ability to locate and interpret primary sources
- Improve/develop their writing and communication skills
- Gain experience bringing a collaborative project to fruition
- Learn about the institutional history of UConn
- Create materials demonstrating the skills they learned that could serve as examples for future job applications
Throughout the apprenticeship, the apprentice will receive training around creating exhibitions, archival research, using primary sources, and using UConn’s digital archives platform (CTDA).
Summer Schedule/Time Commitment:
The apprentice would be jointly supervised by Dr. Danielle Gilman (ENGL, FYW) and Dr. Michaela Telfer (UConn Libraries). We will hold weekly synchronous check-in meetings and plan to correspond regularly via email.
We anticipate that the apprentice will work approximately 10 to 15 hours per week over the course of 6-7 weeks. Other than the check-in meetings which will be scheduled at the beginning of the apprenticeship, the apprentice’s work hours will be flexible.
Preferred Qualifications:
We are looking for an apprentice who:
- has taken ENGL 1007
- is a student in the Humanities or Social Sciences
- is interested in any combination of the following topics:
- working with primary sources and/or primary-source instruction
- contributing to work that will help others engage critically with archival materials
- museums and public history
- the history of UConn
To Apply:
The application opens on Monday, March 2, 2026. Click here to submit an online application for this SHARE apprenticeship through the Quest Portal. The application deadline is Monday, March 30, 2026, at 11:59pm.
Click here to view an outline of the general application questions. There are no additional questions for this application.
Please Note: All students hired for a SHARE Summer apprenticeship must complete a federal I-9 form and present original documents in person to OUR staff as part of the hiring process. Visit this U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services page for more information about acceptable documents. You cannot begin working until this is complete. Students are encouraged to plan ahead for this. For example, if you are going home for spring break, consider bringing original documents back to campus with you.