Placements Support, Internships
Placement Support
Divinity School Placement supports doctoral students and Teaching Fellows understand and succeed on the Academic Job Market through guidance on cover letters and CVs, academic interviews, job talks, and negotiation. If you are interested in scheduling a mock interview or application document consultation, please contact Nathan J. Hardy, Assistant Dean of Students (njhardy@uchicago.edu), who will coordinate with the Director of Doctoral Studies and others as warranted. As with all Divinity School Professional Development Support, students and Teaching Fellows are also encouraged to work with their faculty mentors and make use of the resources and advising available at UChicagoGRAD.
Internships
The Colman Program primarily supports two distinct types of internships:
1. Master’s Advance Internships
The Master’s Advance internship program invites UChicago master’s students to create a 300-hour summer internship with an organization of their choosing (application deadline: Feb. 28). The internship should be otherwise unfunded, and it should provide the intern with new professional skills. Master’s Advance internships are open to international students and can take place anywhere in the world. Successful applicants for this competitive award will receive a $6,000 stipend to support their pursuit of the opportunity.
The Master’s Advance program prioritizes applicants who design customized, project-based internships. Project-based internships are those that engage the intern in a coherent set of responsibilities that progressively build toward a specific deliverable or outcome. Internships involving unrelated, ad-hoc tasks are not considered project-based opportunities. The program supports internship projects at organizations with which the applicant has had no significant involvement. Internships cannot be used to fulfill degree requirements and should not be considered avenues to advance academic research, though overlaps may exist.
The program is administered by UChicagoGRAD with support and funding for Divinity School students through the Colman Program (contact Assistant Dean of Students Nathan J. Hardy). Master’s students who apply should be able to articulate how their internship project or organization is related to the study of religion, overt or otherwise.
PhD students interested in pursuing an internship are encouraged to contact Assistant Dean Hardy (njhardy@uchicago.edu) or go directly to their UChicagoGRAD advisor (currently Steffen Blings) to explore options. Doctoral students are not encouraged to pursue internships during the first two years of their program but are welcome to begin strategizing and building relationships as they see fit.
2. Divinity School Summer Internships for the Public Understanding of Religion
Apply now for the 2025 Divinity School Summer Internships
The Divinity School Summer Internships capitalize on partnerships developed by the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion to provide students with opportunities to work on projects and for organizations whose work focuses on religion the public square. These internships provide the chance to utilize the scholarly training and expertise they are gaining at the Divinity School while developing new skills, experience, and connections needed for careers inside and outside the academy. While project-based responsibilities are encouraged, organizations that host Colman Program Interns typically exercise more oversight over the application and internship processes, including conducting additional interviews. Past organizations include the Christian Century, The Smart Museum, Interfaith America, Pride in the Pews and more.
Announcement of Divinity School Summer Internships typically takes place is mid-February with an application deadline of mid-March and awards decided in late March/early April for internship projects during the summer quarter. Successful applicants for this competitive award receive $6,000 to support their work with the organization spanning ~300 hours (this funding is currently supported by the Colman Program). As with the Advance Internship Program, Divinity School Summer Internships cannot be used to fulfill degree requirements and should not be considered avenues to advance academic research, though overlaps may exist.
The program is oriented toward master’s students, but PhD students may apply. Applicants may apply to no more than two organizations in a given year and are limited to accepting one internship (including via the Master’s Advance program) in that year. Priority will be given to applicants who have not previously completed a Colman Program Internship. Applicants should provide a tailored resume and cover letter for reach application that makes clear why a particular organization or project is a strong fit and what they expect to gain from the experience. Those with questions (including about application documents) should contact Assistant Dean of Student, Nathan J. Hardy (njhardy@uchicago.edu) to learn more. View Last Year's announcement announcement and options.
View this year's Divinity School Summer Internship for the Public Understanding of Religion options here. 2025 opportunities include Interfaith America, Sacred Writes, Christian Century, Religion News Service, and Pride in the Pews (details forthcoming). Additional internship host projects may be announced in the future.
The Divinity School Summer Internship Program for the Public Understanding of Religion offers paid internship opportunities for current Divinity School students at organizations across the United States. Students interested in an internship can apply with specific organizations where they can utilize their scholarly training in the academic study of religion while developing skills, experience, and connections that will help them become leaders in fields that advance the understanding of religion more broadly.
Any active degree-seeking Divinity School student in good standing is eligible to apply for a summer internship placement. Internships should consist of ~300 hours and applicants should expect to work 30+ hours/week for 8-12 weeks, subject to agreement between the organization, the student and the Divinity School Dean of Students Office. Students with summer internship placements will receive a $6000 stipend.
HOW TO APPLY
Complete an application here.
Required Materials
- One-page cover letter outlining your interest in the placement, professional development activity, and a brief explanation of how your participation will advance your professional goals.
- CV or resumé (resumé preferred)
- Unofficial Transcript
Materials must be combined into a single PDF, which should be named in the following format: Last Name,FirstName,InternshipName.pdf. Submit your PDF via our online form here. A separate application document must be submitted for each internship site.
Deadline
March 17, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
Applicants will be informed of decisions and next steps by early April.
Recent internship placements include:
• Magazines such as The Christian Century and NewCity
• The Office of the Mayor of the City of Chicago
• The Theodore Roosevelt Public Library
• Tusk Philanthropy
• Interfaith America
• The Aspen Institute
My summer internship with the Martin Marty Center’s podcast “The Biggest Questions” helped me practice something I’d been interested in for a long time—turning academic work into something that is appealing to, and makes sense for, a non-academic audience. Working with two incredibly knowledgeable professors who valued my ideas and getting to use and develop some technical skills was a bonus! – Pranati Parikh, 2022 Summer Intern
My internship opened my eyes to new professional opportunities that build directly off of skills I’ve developed during my PhD. Whether I am writing grants for a nonprofit as a full-time career, a part-time opportunity, or as a way to meaningfully contribute in a volunteer capacity, I now have the technical knowledge, language, and confidence to utilize aspects of my degree outside of the academy. – Samantha Pellegrino, 2022 Summer Intern