American Studies 2026 VPUE Summer Internship Opportunities

Would you like to do a research internship with a Stanford American Studies faculty member this summer?
 

Apply for a VPUE-funded American Studies Research Internship!

These internships give you the opportunity to develop your own research interests and skills, as well as a broader understanding of the various kinds of research scholars in American Studies do—and the various ways they do such research—as you apprentice with an American Studies-affiliated faculty member on tasks related to the faculty member’s current research interests or projects.  The internship also includes time for you to develop your own research projects with the faculty member’s mentorship.

The following faculty have submitted requests for a Research Intern through this program this summer. Details about the research topics and projects can be found here (You must be logged into your Stanford account to view this document): https://docs.google.com/document/d/15CEvS2PaLUpnDwaYsT0EhA4jYVkOYuDJPnx0MgP5zuI/edit?usp=sharing

• Lerone A. Martin, Religious Studies; DAAAS (Topic/project: Impacts of deindustrialization in a small factory town)

• Kathryn Gin Lum, Religious Studies (Topic/project: Ancestral memory and ideas of the afterlife in America, 1600-present)

• Gavin Wright, Economics (Topic/project: History of Stanford Economics)

• Ari Kelman, Education (Topic/project: History of feedback, from cybernetics to wearable technology)

• Richard Meyer, Art History (Topic/project: Andy Warhol) 

• Estelle Freedman, History (Topic/project: Sexual assault/harassment in US women’s oral histories) 

Expectations:

Over the 10-week summer quarter, the student intern will spend approximately 25-30 hours per week apprenticing on research tasks related to the faculty member’s research topic or area, and another 10 hours per week pursuing the student’s own related academic interests or projects with the faculty member’s guidance. Faculty mentors are expected to meet frequently with their research interns over the summer and guide them in the research and tasks they will undertake.

Funding:

Full-time Research Interns will receive a stipend of $8,500 for the Summer.

An additional $1,500 need-based supplement is available for qualified students

Eligibility:

Only current Frosh, Sophomores, and Juniors are eligible to apply.  

Note: American Studies majors will be given priority for these positions, but others are welcome to apply, as well. 

 Application and Matching Process: 

If you are interested, please submit an application here by Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 at 11:59pm.

The application will ask you to:

1. Identify which faculty you would be most interested in interning with (you may indicate up to 3).

2. Write a short statement about your interest in the faculty member’s research project and how it would align with your own interests, experience, and learning goals.

3. List the name, position/title, and email of a reference (typically a faculty member) who could speak to your aptitude for a research internship. 

4. Upload a c.v.

We will share these materials with matching faculty, who may follow up with interviews. We hope to complete the matching process before the end of Winter quarter.

If you have any questions, please contact our Assistant Director of Student Services, Winni Ni (winnini@stanford.edu).