Summer Humanities Internship Program (SHIP)

• Undergraduate Research
• / Funding Opportunities

Summer 2025 Humanities Internships

Each year the College of Arts and Sciences and CURF fund approximately twenty-five summer research internships for University of Pennsylvania students in the humanities and social sciences. Internships provide undergraduates with the opportunity to work in a cultural, historical, or archival setting. These full-time internships are for a period of ten weeks and include a financial award of $5,500. All internships will be either fully in-person or in a hybrid format. Fully remote internships are no longer being considered.

SHIP interns are strongly discouraged from enrollment in summer courses at Penn or elsewhere and are strongly discouraged from taking on other forms of paid or volunteer employment during the 10 weeks that they are participating in the SHIP. To ensure that SHIP interns can contribute fully to their internship projects, students should avoid time-consuming activities that will detract from their ability to focus on their internship experience. Any student considering enrolling in a summer course should discuss this possibility with their potential SHIP supervisor during the interview/selection process. Final determination of whether a SHIP student can enroll in a summer course must be agreed upon between the student and supervisor.

Here is the list of internships from 2024. Check back in January for an updated list for 2025. Please note that some internships (e.g., Penn Museum, Scribe Video Center) require additional materials beyond the general SHIP application requirements. You can read about the experiences of the 2024 SHIP cohort in their own words here.

Eligibility

All applicants must be current, regularly enrolled students in the College of Arts and Sciences, have a GPA of 3.0 or greater, and be members in good standing of the University of Pennsylvania community. Students graduating in Spring 2025 are not eligible for this funding. Students may receive SHIP funding only one time. Recipients of Summer Humanities Internship Program Funding may not simultaneously hold any other paid position at Penn.

Application Procedure

Students are allowed to apply for up to three different internships. To apply, please prepare an essay (no more than 500 words) explaining your suitability for the internship and organization to which you are applying, and how the internship will help you achieve your educational goals. You will copy and paste that into a field in the online application. Please also be prepared to upload a PDF copy of your Path@Penn transcript page (not a secured, official transcript from the registrar).

The application for 2025 will open in early January and will be due in late February (exact date TBD). **After you complete the required forms of the application, you must click "Submit." It is not sufficient to mark the forms as complete.** 

Preferred Qualifications

All applicants must be current students in the College of Arts and Sciences, have a GPA of 3.0 or greater, and be members in good standing of the University of Pennsylvania community. Students graduating in Spring 2025 are not eligible for this program. Students may receive SHIP funding only one time. Recipients of Summer Humanities Internship Program Funding may not simultaneously hold any other paid position at Penn.

Details:

Research Offering Type

Internship

Location

USA

Undergraduate School

College

Source

CURF-Administered

Contact Information