Department Archaeology and Art History

Gap Year / Post-Graduate Opportunities

Leah in London working on an internship.

When you take a semester or summer or year off either while in college or between graduation and getting a job or going to graudate school, that year is called a Gap Year.  There is one reason for taking a Gap Year and that is because you have lost your drive.  Perhaps you feel burnt out or simply cannot remember why you came to college.

Rather than moving back in with your parents, however, you can do something personally fulfilling while taking a break from school.  You can work or be an intern abroad; the work is demanding and the pay is bad but it usually covers your basic expenses.  Wouldn't it be better to be a go-for at an art gallery in Dublin or a waiter in London or a lifeguard in Sydney than work at the hometown DQ?

Another option is to remain in the US and volunteer for a meaningul cause.  You can teach under-priviledged children, work in environmental conservation, or help vicitums of domestic violence.  Many such programs, especially if they are associated with AmeriCorp, will allow you to forgive part of your student loans.  There are also learning opportunities:  become an intern with a politician's aid or a master wood carver or a legal aid.

The possibilities are endless but it takes a lot of time to find them and apply, so get started today by following the links below!

Work or Intern Abroad

Working or interning abroad requires a visa.  Doing all of the paperwork and finding a position can be extremely complicated so it is usually wiser to pay an agency to arrange all of this for you.  The easiest jobs to get abroad are in the service industry so if you can wait tables, tend bar, teach skiing or snorkeling, or clean hotel rooms you should have no problem locating a position.

Agencies to Help Obtain Visas, Jobs and Intersnships Abroad

• Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships:  For students and young professionals to undertake teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.
• BUNAC:  BUNAC's overseas work/travel and volunteer programmes offer students and young people an enriching and affordable alternative to package tourism.  On a BUNAC programme, you have the chance to live and breathe another culture from the inside rather than simply passing thorugh as a tourist.  For more than 50 years BUNAC has made it possible for thousands of young peple to explore the world through work and travel opportunities.
• The Global Work and Travel Co.:  The Global Work & Travel Co. exists for one reason, and that is for you. Allowing people from all corners of the Globe to access experiences you never thought existed. To see the World for what it is, the place you may spend over 80 years on and never see again. Life's too short to only dream and here at The Global Work & Travel Co., we can turn your dream into reality. 
• GapGuru:  GapGuru is a gap travel specialist offereing a wide range of exciting gap year volunteering, teaching, travel and internship opportunites across Asia, Africa, South American and Europe.  With GapGuru you could be caring for orphans in Africa, working on medical and journalism internships abroad or even enjoying adventure travel in the Himalayas.
• GapWork.com:  Gapwork.com is your one-stop website for gap year and backpacking information, including the latest news on gap year jobs, travel destinations and volunteering ideasas well as a comprehensive section to help you plan your gap year.
• Real Gap:  Adventure gap years in over 35 countries!
• Peace Corps: This famous organization from the 1960's is still around and doing good work. 

General Information Websites about Working / Intering Abroad

• Lonely Planet:  Has some basic information about working, studying and volunteering in England.
• Lonely Planet Forum:  Blog discussing topics related to working and studying abroad.
• Go Travel:  Offers links to agencies that can help you find work abroad.
• English Government Information:  Information from the UK government about obtaining visas to work, study, and intern in England.
• GapYear.com:  We're a social network and travel advice website committed to providing you with everything you need to know about taking a gap year.  We were created by backpackers, for backpackers, and offer expert advice on travelling, volunteering and working aborad, all tied together with inspirational ideas, opportunities and products.
• GoAbroad.com:  A resource with links to hundreds of volunteer programs abroad.
• International Voluteers Program Agency:  The IVPA is an association of non-governmental oganizations involved in international volunteer work and intership exchanges.  IVPA is an association of volunteer sending organization but does not organize or run its own volunteer programs. 
• Transitions Abroad:  A website with links to many different types of travel abroad experiences.

 

Gap Year Opportunities in the US

General Information

• Goucher College:  This is an excellent website that has many ideas about how to plan a Gap Year.
• University of Indianapolis:  Another great resource for those comtemplating a Gap Year that will help you think through if you need one and what you might do.
• Idealist.org:  Our mission is to close the gap between intention and action by connecting people, organizations, ideas, and resources.
• Idealist Fellowship Forum:  This discussion board offers information on various fellowship opportunities for those interested in work within the nonprofit sector.

• Volunteer.gov:  America's Natural & Cultural Resources Volunteer Portal:  Search for volunteer opportunities throughout the United States based on agency or opportunity type. 

Adventure Temporary Jobs

• Looking for Adventure

Arts Opportunity

• Rochester Folk Art Guild:  Apprenticeships available for people searching for a practical approach to learning and living. Work with experienced master craftspeople in pottery, woodworking, weaving, and glassblowing.  You also take part in the daily life of the community.  Stipends and scholarships are sometimes available for apprenticeships six months or longer.

Community Service - Faith-Based

• AVODAH:  If you are 21 or older, passionate about working on social justice issues in an urban environment, interested in doing this work from a uniquely Jewish perspective, excited about living and working with people from different backgrounds, this is a position for you. You will receive a stipend from your placement agency, which you will use to pay rent, purchase food and take care of your personal living expenses. Upon completion of the program, you will receive a $1,000 exit stipend, and, if you qualify, a voucher from AmeriCorps for $4,725.  You can use the voucher to pay off student loans, or you can apply it to tuition payments at any accredited school of higher education. You will live in a house with other participants, where your rent payments will be subsidized by AVODAH.

• Christian Appalachian Project:  The Christian Appalachian Project’s mission is to “help people help themselves: through education, economic opportunity, employment and a sense of Christian community. Every volunteer is strongly encouraged to do Project Hours, i.e., involvement with church ministries, town community activities, involvement with CAP programs, Hospice Care, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Adult Literacy Tutoring, etc. Project hours are service hours above and beyond your regular forty hours of service and house responsibilities. 

• Good Shepherd Volunteers:  One or two year volunteer programs in human service areas including group/foster homes for adolescents, alternative school, and daycare programs, community centers, and shelters for homeless women. 

• Jesuit Volunteer Corps:  Applicants should be 21 or older and have a college degree or applicable work experience. Volunteers are responsible for their own travel expenses to the orientation site in the region in which they will serve. JVC provides travel from the orientation site to the city where the volunteer will work and transportation to and from retreats during the year. Placement agencies cover costs for housing, utilities, a food stipend, transportation to and from work, medical insurance and transportation home at the end of the year. In addition, volunteers receive a small personal stipend, the amount of which may differ between regions, to use at their own discretion. Some regions ask volunteers to undertake some fundraising efforts before their volunteer year, but acceptance is not conditional on the fundraising. JVC placements require a one-year commitment which begins in the first weeks of August with an orientation and ends the following August.

• Jewish Organizing Initiative:  JOI recruits young Jewish adults (generally ages 22-30) from all over the world for a year of leadership training that includes: working for social and economic justice, Jewish learning, training in grass roots community organizing skills, and Jewish community bonding.  The fellowship year involves work in social justice community or labor organizations, generally in low-income community organizations, (sometimes in the Jewish community) and weekly learning and reflection about organizing for justice, Judaism, and community building.

• Lutheran Volunteer Corps :  Individuals of any age over 21, any background, nationality, sexual orientation, or Christian denomination who are interested in committing to a year of service are encouraged to participate in the Lutheran Service Corps program.  Many volunteers are recent college graduates transitioning form college life, and a year of volunteer service provides an excellent opportunity to gain practical experience while preparing to enter the workforce or return to graduate school. Volunteers function as non-paid employees of the agency. Duties vary greatly depending on which agency you work for, but most of the placements involve direct service to clients.  You may teach adult learners to read, provide support services to AIDS clients, facilitate skill-building activities for youth or provide helpful services to seniors. Volunteers live together in an intentional Christian community at the Hillstrom House, located in the historical Florence section of northeast Omaha, a neighborhood diverse in income and race.

• Mercy Ships:  A volunteer program utilizing ocean-going vessels to bring physical and spiritual healing to the poor and needy in port cities.

• Volunteer Ministries/ United Church of Christ:  Two week to one year or longer programs offering domestic and international opportunities for graduates considering faith-based volunteer missionary service.  Volunteers can serve in many capacities including emergency shelter facilities, outdoor ministry programs, habitat programs, women's advocacy, organic farming and health advocacy.

• Westmoreland Volunteer Corps:  A one year Christian volunteer program in the Washington, D.C. area working for service or advocacy agencies, providing aid to the homeless, poor, elderly, and runaway youths supported by the local church, the Westmoreland Congregational Church of Christ.  Housing, health insurance, food allowance, and personal expense stipends provided.  The deadline is March 15.

Community Service - Secular

• Baltimore Community Fellowships- Open Society Institute:  Established to assist individuals wishing to apply their education and professional experiences to serve marginalized communities. The goals of these fellowships are to encourage public and community service careers, expand the number of mentors and role models available to youth in inner-city neighborhoods, and promote entrepreneurial initiatives that empower communities to increase opportunities and improve the quality of life for their residents.  Up to 10 individuals are awarded a Community Fellowship to implement innovative projects that seek to improve the circumstances and capacity of an underserved community in Baltimore City.

• Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship:  A project of the Congressional Hunger Center, this unique leadership provides support to those seeking to make a difference in the struggle to eliminate hunger and poverty.  20 participants are selected annually for this eleven-month program. For half their term of service, fellows are placed with urban and rural community-based organizations all over the country involved in fighting hunger at the local level, such as grass roots organizing groups, food banks, economic development agencies, local advocacy groups and faith-based organizations. They then move to Washington, DC to complete the year with national organizations involved in the anti-hunger and poverty movement, including national advocacy organizations, think tanks, and federal agencies.

• Charles Koch Institute Programs:  The Charles Koch Institute educates and trains professionals on the importance of economic freedom and how it increases well-being for the overwhelming majority of people. Through the Institute's professional education, research, and training programs, we work to prepare professionals for careers in advancing economic freedom.  They offer three programs:  the Koch Associate Program, the Koch Internship Program, and Liberty@Work.

• City Year:  City Year unites young people ages 17 to 24 from diverse economic, racial and geographic backgrounds for a year of full-time service to their communities. During the ten month program, City Year corps members engage in a variety of activities to meet critical needs in their communities. They are primarily focused on the education and development of youth, serving as mentors for children in partnership with public schools and organizing and running after-school programs and curricula on important social issues including domestic violence prevention, AIDS awareness, and diversity. As a corps member, you will commit to a minimum of 1,700 hours of service over a ten month period from late August to the middle of June. 

• Echoing Green:  To accelerate social change, Echoing Green invests in and supports outstanding emerging social entrepreneurs to launch new organizations that deliver bold, high-impact solutions. Through a two-year fellowship program, they help their network of visionaries develop new solutions to society's most difficult problems. These social entrepreneurs and their organizations work to solve deeply-rooted social, environmental, economic, and political inequities to ensure equal access and to help all individuals reach their potential. To date, Echoing Green has invested over $28 million in seed funding to over 471 social entrepreneurs and their innovative organizations. 

• Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship:  Located in Washington D.C, the purpose of this fellowship is to provide an opportunity for college students to gain practical knowledge and experience by helping non-profit, public-interest organizations working on peace and security issues. Applications are encouraged from those with a strong interest in these issues or those with prior experience with public-interest activism or advocacy. Fellows may do several things such as research, writing and organizing the support of the goals of their host organization.

• Insight Collaborative Fellowships:  Program selects Fellows who are dedicated to making a positive difference in the world through conflict management, and provides them with an opportunity to turn their passion and determination into action.  Through intensive training and planning, Insight Collaborative teaches Fellows how to develop and implement innovative programs throughout the world in a series of three-month placements.  Incorporating the knowledge and experience of local partners in the field, Fellows provide training, manage teams, coordinate projects, and help organizations address the needs of those affected by conflict.

• Kettering Foundation:  The Ohio-based Kettering Foundation is an "independent, nonpartisan research organization rooted in the American tradition of cooperative research."  They offer research fellowships to doctoral students as well as opportunities in journalism & democracy and international civil society. Salary and benefits are provided, and the application deadline is mid-March.

• Milwaukee Community Service Corps:  The Milwaukee Community Service Corps (MCSC) is a grassroots organization working to meet the needs of the community through visible and measurable community service. Corps member participants have the opportunity to learn new skills, earn a wage, and serve their community.  Corps members renovate vacant homes, plan community gardens, landscape vacant lots, remove graffiti, intern in youth service agencies, perform lead outreach and reduction activities, distribute food, engage in recycling projects, and construct new playgrounds. Terms of service range from three month summer positions to year long, full time slots.  MCSC AmeriCorps members also have the opportunity to earn a post-secondary education award that ranges from $1100 to $4725, depending on length of service.

• Public Allies:  Public Allies advances skills, networks and experience of diverse young leaders as they strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation.  Public Allies selects the communities’ most promising young leaders, ages 18-30, who commit to a rigorous and rewarding ten-month program of full-time, paid apprenticeships in community organizations, team service projects and weekly leadership training.  Public Allies operates in D.C., Chicago, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Delaware, Eagle Rock, L.A., Milwaukee, New York, Raleigh-Durham, and the Silicon Valley.

• USA Freedom Corps: This page lists a number of prominent service organizations looking for volunteers and low-paid help willing to work on many admirable projects.

• Villers Fellowship for Health Care Justice:  Provides a national perspective on health care justice work; based in the Families USA office in Washington, D.C.

• Wellstone Fellowship for Social Justice:  Fosters advancement of social justice through participation in health care advocacy work focused on unique challenges facing many communities of color.
  

Environment

• Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center :  This is a ten month teaching internship in National parks working with elementary students, combining ecology and nature awareness with visual arts, music, theater, verbal expression, integrating multi-cultural studies, environmental problems, and student action using computers for learning and communicating. Stipend, housing and meals are provided. The application deadline is April 1-5.
• Garden Club Scholarships:  Offers scholarships "to stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, to share the advantages of association by means of educational meetings, conferences, correspondence and publications, and to restore, improve, and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and action in the fields of conservation and civic improvement."
• Green Corps:  Green Corps’ mission is to teach the next generation of environmental leaders the strategies and stills they’ll need to win tomorrow’s environmental battles while providing critical field support for today’s pressing environmental problems.  Green Corps provides transportation to and from trainings after August training, as well as subsidized housing during the first Introductory Classroom Training in Boston.  Organizers arrange their own housing while in their cities, although Green Corps will help provide temporary housing when organizers first arrive in their cities.

• Rocky Mountain Youth Corps:  RMYC provides young adults (ages 16-25) with comprehensive services to help them develop job skills, work ethic, environmental awareness and healthy lifestyles. Through paid work experience, service to the community and educational services, RMYC helps youth develop the skills they need to succeed in the classroom, the workforce and everyday life.  Projects include trail construction and maintenance, fence construction and disassembly, habitat restoration, streambed repair; dry stone masonry, noxious weed mitigation and fire fuels reduction.  RMYC participants are paid a competitive stipend for their work and may also be eligible for AmeriCorps education awards depending on their term of service and position.

• San Francisco Conservation Corps:  The San Francisco Conservation Corps (SFCC) is a non-profit job and academic training organization serving young people ages 18-26.  Corps members develop their job and academic skills, leadership abilities, and environmental awareness by completing outreach, conservation and community service projects throughout the city.  Simultaneously, they participate in academic programs, environmental and restoration classes, personal and professional development coaching and computer literacy training.

• Student Conservation Association:  The Student Conservation Association (CSA) provides service opportunities, outdoor skill and leadership training to thousands of young women and men each year.  In all 50 states, high school, college, graduate students and others join together through SCA to care for national parks and forests, historic and cultural resources, and urban green space.  All positions are expense-paid and tuition free.  Conservation internships range from three up to twelve months in over 50 disciplines.

• Urban Adamah:  A residential leadership-training program for young adults that integrates urban organic farming, social justice work and progressive Jewish living and learning. Fellows will operate an organic farm and educational center in Berkeley, CA, while interning with community-based social justice organizations addressing issues at the intersection of poverty, food security and environmental stewardship. The Urban Adamah curriculum is designed to equip fellows with the tools to become agents of positive change in their own lives and in their communities. Twelve Urban Adamah fellows will be selected to participate in the inaugural three-month pilot program starting in June, 2011.

Government

• Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute:  This is a fellowship program for recent graduate or undergraduate students to assist in educating the Hispanic community in the political system, enhancing their leadership skills, and exposing them to policy-related careers.  Round trip transportation to Washington, D.C., and a monthly stipend is provided.

• Coro Foundation:  The Coro Foundation provides a nine month internship involving a series of assignments (four to six weeks in duration) in government, labor, business, community, media, and political settings.  Fellows also complete a six week group project and an individual public service project exploring serious public concerns such as housing, economic development, and corporate social responsibility.

• Illinois Legislative Studies Internship Program:  ILS is a ten month internship available to research a wide variety of question on public issues for legislators. The information is used to develop programs, support or oppose bills, and aid other legislative activates. A stipend is provided. The deadline for application is early March.

• Jesse Marvin Unruh Assembly Fellowship:  An eleven month fellowship to gain first hand knowledge of the California legislature through work in the capitol and a graduate seminar.  Monthly stipend and benefits are provided.  Deadline is mid-February.

• Ohio Legislative Service Commission:  Full-time internships assisting members of the Ohio General Assembly with legislative duties including writing news releases and speeches, weekly columns for local newspapers, and researching memos on topics of interest to the legislator.  Most participants choose to remain in the public service following internship.  Stipend is provided.

• Postgraduate Professional Development Program- Washington Center:  The Postgraduate Professional Development Program (PPDP) is a special program for recent graduates (within the past 18 months) and graduate students from all majors and backgrounds. It is designed specifically to help these individuals explore career options, gain valuable skills and make professional contacts

Teaching

• Teach for America: This two-year program provides teaching experience in under-resourced urban and rural public schools in America for recent graduates of all academic majors.  Salary, possible loan deferral or forgiveness through AmeriCorps, and professional development are provided.

• Andover Teaching Fellowship:  This is a one year program at Phillips Andover Academy (boarding school) in Andover, Massachusetts, providing the recent graduate with an introduction to teaching at the high school level.  Students come from all 50 states and foreign countries.  A mentor supports each teaching fellow in class preparation and helps evaluate their success.  A stipend, medical insurance, housing and meals are provided.  The application deadline for this program is March 1.

• Baltimore City Teaching Residency:  Baltimore City Teaching Residency is committed to providing the students of Baltimore with a new group of teachers who will work to increase their level of achievement and help prepare them to find academic success. Resident Teachers work in the most critical teacher shortage areas as designated by City Schools. Resident Teachers pursue teaching credential with the Baltimore City Teaching Residency and one of their university partners (The Johns Hopkins University, The College of Notre Dame); attend a comprehensive training prior to teaching; receive a teacher’s salary with full benefits; and have access to tuition assistance, home ownership programs, and student loan deferral or forgiveness programs. The Baltimore City Teaching Residency operates on two admission cycles (Winter Program start training in January, Summer Program start training in June/July).

• Citizen Schools:  The Citizen Schools National Teaching Fellowship is a service program offering a two-year, leadership development experience, including service as a team leader at a Citizen Schools campus, professional development with a partner organization in the community, and the opportunity for optional enrollment in a pioneering Master's program in out-of-school learning.

• Close-Up, Washington, D.C.:  Inspire and empower middle and high school students to develop the skills they need to participate in our democracy.  Work with and be supported by a team of talented educators.  Be in the D.C. area during an election year, travel to NYC, Philly and Williamsburg.  Meet Washington insiders and policy makers; make friends that will last a lifetime.  Have a job where you can make a difference.  You’ll get good pay and benefits, housing assistance, and valuable teaching experience.

• DC Teaching Fellows:  As a Fellow, you will join close to 700 talented individuals who have passed through a rigorous selection process and trained in an intensive pre-service program to become teachers in the DC public schools. You will become enrolled in a teacher certification program at either The George Washington University or American University, with the option to obtain a Master's degree in an area of education; simultaneously, you will receive a full teacher's salary, medical and dental benefits, and resources from administrative program staff while teaching in the District of Columbia Public Schools.

• Greenwich Country Day School- Co-Teacher Program:  Recruits recent graduates who are interested in exploring the teaching profession, but could benefit from a 1 or 2 year internship in an elementary level classroom.  Applicants need not have majored in Education.  In addition to teaching responsibilities, Co-Teachers coach Middle School athletics and/or coordinate after-school enrichment programs for students in grades 1-3.  Applications will be accepted through January 15, 2012, and they hire on a rolling basis.

• Institute of Reading Development:  Offers full-time, summer teaching positions, with an opportunity to gain over 500 hours of teacher training and teaching experience working with children of all ages.

• The New Teacher Project:  The driving force behind many teaching fellowship programs, this organization seeks to recruit and train high-quality new teachers for the nation’s public schools. Their website provides a list of their 15 teaching fellowship programs, including Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Louisiana, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Nashville, Oakland, Phoenix, St. Paul, Texas and some of the programs listed below.

• New York City Teaching Fellows:  NYC Teaching Fellows are accountants, nurses, recent graduates, chief executives, secretaries, artists, reporters, and retirees who have decided to use their diverse experiences, knowledge, and achievements to positively affect the lives of students. At the same time, each Fellow is pursuing his/her own education through a subsidized Master's degree program. Participation in the Fellowship does not require teaching experience or previous education coursework.

• St. Johnsbury Academy Teaching Fellowship :  This is a one-year fellowship program that provides teaching experience in independent secondary education, including classroom teaching, extracurricular activities, and resident life. Areas include English, social studies, math, science, foreign language, and vocational training. Stipend, room and board in resident program, benefits and tuition credits arc provided.

• teachNOLA:  teachNOLA Teaching Fellows seeks the nation's most outstanding mid-career professionals and recent college graduates to significantly impact education by teaching in New Orleans public schools. This highly-selective initiative recruits talented individuals with an intense desire to drive the city's rebirth by boosting academic achievement for all students. Fellows are assigned to teach in a specific subject area. Subject assignments are based on teaching eligibility (including passage of appropriate teaching tests), district need and - to the extent possible - the candidate’s stated preferences from the online application. Most Fellows teach high need subjects areas such as science, math, special education, Spanish, French, and early childhood education.

• Urban Teacher Center:  The Urban Teaching Center prepares highly effective teacher who can significantly accelerate student achievement in the nation's highest-need schools. The Urban Teaching Center is a four-year alternative teaching prep program that will let you receive a Master's of Education, paid by them, for a part of your work.

• Volunteer Teaching Corps:  The Volunteer Teaching Corps recruits graduates from top colleges and universities.  These dedicated women and men come to Chicago to serve for two years as teachers in underserved urban schools.  Corps members live together and receive room, board, medical insurance, transportation, and a modest monthly stipend ($150 per month) for personal expenses.  The savings created by this simple lifestyle provide scholarships for children in need.

• Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship:  The WWNFF has two teaching fellowship programs: the Indiana Teaching Fellowship and the Leonore Annenberg Teaching Fellowship. The Woodrow Wilson Indiana Teaching Fellowship seeks individuals with backgrounds in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) into high-need Indiana high schools.  Includes a $30,000 stipend, admission to a master’s degree program at one of four participating Indiana universities, preparation in a high-need urban or rural secondary school, support and mentoring, guidance toward teaching certification, and a lifelong membership in a national network of Woodrow Wilson Fellows. The Leonore Annenberg Teaching Fellowship provides a $30,000 stipend to exceptionally able candidates to complete a yearlong master’s program at four of the nation’s top programs. In exchange, the candidates must agree to teach for three years in secondary schools.

 

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