Virtual Internship: Studying the Destruction of Cultural Heritage during Conflict

Why has cultural heritage been targeted during recent conflicts? The Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative is seeking interns interested in this question to participate in its ongoing research project about the intentional destruction of cultural sites during conflict.

Interns will work remotely to collect, analyze, and code instances of cultural destruction and cultural sites that have been, or are vulnerable to, intentional damage. The result of this project will be a data resource for future research. This effort is critical to identifying sites that may be at-risk during periods of violence.

Learning objectives: Interns will gain: 1) skills in data acquisition and coding for digital humanities projects; 2) knowledge in how to analyze historical information and event-level data; 3) experience in the field of cultural heritage.

The internship is open to anyone, but those with language skills in Arabic, French, Serbo-Croatian, and Pashto are especially encouraged to apply. This internship requires a commitment of 10 hours/week. Interns will be working in groups with other VSFS interns, so applicants must be communicative via email and able to join regular conference calls.

Limited working proficiency in Arabic, French, Serbo-Croatian, or Pashto nice to have.