OUTWORDS offers an exciting remote internship program for undergrad and graduate students pursuing a wide range of degrees. Our internship specialties are divided into three main areas: Data Science/Archival Practices (Archival), Communications & Programming (Comms), and Video Production/Editorial (Production). 

OUTWORDS welcomes motivated, engaged, and curious students interested in an internship where they will learn about LGBTQ+ histories while also gaining useful skills in their primary disciplines. In addition to their primary work within their focus area, interns may also have the opportunity to create a special, supervised project in an area that utilizes their vision, creativity, and academic knowledge.     

Our internship calendar includes four 10-12 week periods:

• Fall (September/October-December) (Comms & Production only, no Archival)
• Winter – January-March (Archival & Production only, no Comms)
• Spring – mid-March/April – mid-June (Archival & Comms only, no Production)
• Summer – June-September (all departments)

For upcoming Winter 2026 internships: Apply HERE by December 5, 2025. We will notify interns about feasibility/next steps by mid-December. Start date: January 5th/6th, 2026.

For more information, email internships@theoutwordsarchive.org with the subject line “Interested intern.”

Internship requirements include: 

Weekly hours:

• Each of the three internship areas at OUTWORDS has a different amount of minimum hours required. While there can be flexibility, the following hours are guidelines for the minimum hours per week expected from an intern. OUTWORDS has also worked with full time interns in the past, and further welcomes internships of 150 hours+ a term.
  • Communications & Programming: 15 hours per week
  • Video Production/Editorial: 15 hours per week
  • Data Science/Archival Practices: 10 hours per week

External funding/class credit: 

• OUTWORDS is based in Los Angeles, California. Under California law, all interns must be paid or receive class credit.
• OUTWORDS does welcome students who have funding provided by their primary academic institution or who will receive academic credit from their primary academic institution.

Local/distance learning modalities:

• OUTWORDS is a nationwide, digital-first environment and welcomes interns from all locations via remote work.
  • Students in the Southern CA area are welcome to collaborate and connect with us at Los Angeles in-person events.
  • Students learning at-a-distance are welcome to attend and engage in remote/digital events; we regularly account for our team members working across different time zones.
  • OUTWORDS remains supportive and adaptive to different learning styles and offers accessible teaching/learning accommodations, as needed.

Core organizational responsibilities:

• Engage in a minimum of 1 weekly staff meeting + 1 weekly internship/supervisor meeting.
• Write weekly reflection notes, and share internship evaluation feedback
• Check & respond to team emails, training, and feedback.
• Engage in trainings and project meetings as needed, such as:
  • Archival-indexing and research metadata trainings
  • Oral history introductory webinars
  • Trauma-informed interviewing
• Depending on their weekly hours, interns may also contribute to research projects or a special project that directly contributes to the mission of OUTWORDS.
  • Please note: Interns will need to connect their internship liaison/professors with a member of the OUTWORDS team (internships@theoutwordsarchive.org) for necessary administrative/evaluations.

Information coming soon!

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