Center for the Study of Global Slavery Exhibition Development Internship

Full-Time Hybrid Internship

$850/week

June 15 – August 28, 2026

Desired Majors and Areas of Study: History (especially African American, African diasporic, or historians of slavery), Museum Studies, and related fields

The Center for the Study of Global Slavery Internship is within the Office of Curatorial Affairs (OCA) at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). OCA including the Centers, facilitates the intellectual work of the Museum by collecting artifacts, ensuring collection preservation and stewardship, conducting research and scholarship, and sharing the rich history and culture of African Americans and all people of African descent with a diverse public in accessible, multifaceted ways including exhibition, digitization, and publication. OCA is comprised of many different divisions and teams including: History, Culture, Visual Art, The Centers and the Scholarly Advisor Committee. 

The Center for the Study of Global Slavery (CSGS) is an outward facing center that is built upon collaboration and dedicated to revealing the scope and the impact of slavery as well as recognizing the resilience of people of African descent throughout the African diaspora in resistance to slavery. It is the purpose of CSGS to leverage the power of the NMAAHC not just nationally but on a global scale. The Center provides an understanding of slavery as shared human history beyond region, nation and race, and as something relevant to understanding our local communities and global societies in the 21st century.  It is comprised of multiple interconnected initiatives, each of which is committed to fashioning hope even while emphasizing slavery’s history of catastrophe and despair. 

The CSGS Exhibition Development Intern will work with Center staff on various exhibition development and programmatic tasks supporting the internationally traveling exhibition In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World. Tasks may include program support and development, educational engagement, evaluation of visitor-created materials, digital/web content development, public affairs engagement and communication, and other tasks as assigned.

Through this internship, the intern will learn about the exhibition development experience, with a focus on public engagement, educational programming, and cross-team collaboration within an international context. Interns will work with teams within NMAAHC, the Smithsonian, and other global collaborators in a variety of roles and will learn about various elements of developing and supporting an internationally traveling exhibition. 

The CSGS intern may also assist with other Center projects, including the Slave Wrecks Project—an international maritime archeology initiative hosted by the museum. This position offers substantial experience working at the Smithsonian on meaningful CSGS initiatives that will aid in future educational or career goals.

Duties Include (but are not limited to):

• Supporting the development of the programmatic components of the In Slavery’s Wake exhibition, inclusive of workshop development, writing and research, project coordination, cross-departmental and cross-institutional collaboration, and meeting participation
• Supporting tasks related to the traveling exhibition, including refining interpretive materials, conducting organizational and administrative tasks, writing educational and promotional content, and processing (scanning, transcribing, and analyzing) visitor response cards
• Supporting tasks related to the Slave Wrecks Project, including work related to digital assets and media management, social media and promotion, and web content development

Supporting ongoing content development for the digital/web-based presence of In Slavery’s Wake and the Slave Wrecks Project

• Completing other exhibition tasks as assigned