Humanities Internships at an All-Time High

College of Humanities students are experiencing the transformative power of internships in greater numbers than ever before. This semester, 132 students from departments on main campus and the Utah Asia Campus are interning at businesses and nonprofits in many sectors, including Broadway Media, Amplify Utah, Ski for Light, Uplift Aerospace, and Korea’s Incheon Free Economic Zone Global Center. This increase is up 44% from last spring and puts the College on track to have its most successful year yet for undergraduate students completing for-credit internships.

The College’s creation of a Student Success Hub in 2022, along with the addition of a specialized Associate Director of Internships & Career Success, has played a key role in driving this increase. Educating students about internships through short informational videos like Internships 101 (at left), classroom presentations, individual appointments to discuss personalized options, and guidance from advisors and career coaches across departments has also contributed to this growth. 

Internships, often a staple of a student’s college experience, can be uniquely memorable but can be inaccessible to some students due to the time commitment and unpaid work that is often expected. The College of Humanities is working to dismantle the barriers to participation in internships, and as of Spring 2025, 60% of Humanities interns are in paid positions, with plans to continue supporting paid positions.

Cameron Vakilian, the Associate Director of Internships and Career Success in the College of Humanities, credits this increase in part to the StepUp Fund, an innovative support that allows the University to fill in the gap for unpaid internships. “We’ve also had stronger partnerships with internship programs like the Hinckley Institute for Politics and the Goff Strategic Leadership Institute,” says Vakilian. “Our dedicated career coaches give students more access to direct coaching, and our partnership with U Career Success helps Humanities students land internship placements through a huge network of employer relationships.”

Vakilian emphasizes the value of internships, even when they don’t go as expected. “Internships are a way to knock on the door, and once you’re in, they can really help you move forward in your career,” he says. “They’re also really helpful for students to find out what you don’t like as a new professional, before you have to commit to a full-time job.”

Students are responding well to the experiences. Daphne Garcia, a Communication major who interned with Ban Law Office in the fall, says her coursework helped to prepare her for success in her internship: “The soft skills necessary to be an advocate, such as people skills, have been strengthened by the hard skills I've learned in Public Speaking, Strategic Communication, Media Writing, Advocacy & Change, and Quantitative Communication Research.” Employers with University of Utah student interns receive guidance to help them structure their internships in a productive and positive way. Likewise, employers overwhelmingly report having positive experiences with Humanities interns.  

Ultimately, the increase in internships means more undergraduates reaping the career benefits of internships during their educational experiences. “Our students develop skills through humanities courses and programs that make them valuable for employers,” says Karen Marsh Schaeffer, Director of Student Success in the College of Humanities. “Internships are a great way for students to apply these skills, experience the workplace environment, and discover the types of careers that they can thrive in. Completing an internship can be vital to transitioning into the professional space and give students the initial boost they need to be successful.”