Between intense LinkedIn networking and unending applications for the chance to work in a high-rise multinational corporation, recruiting season can be pretty cutthroat. But for humanities and public services majors, finding an internship can look a lot different, often focusing more on nonprofit organizations and community based work. However, the university’s new study away site in Tulsa is rife with opportunities for those passionate about social justice, education and urban development.

As part of the four-credit experiential learning seminar, NYU Tulsa partners students with local organizations to gain hands-on experience along with their full semester course load. Opportunities include working at the Philbrook Museum of Art to help oversee exhibitions, acquisitions and commissioned works, or serving as an intern at Metriarch — a public health think tank focused on women’s health. Through their work, students are able to gain firsthand experience in humanities fields like policy development and social work with opportunities to make tangible change instead of busywork. 

Moorea Swango, a junior in the Global Liberal Studies program, interned at the Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice, a nonprofit dedicated to overcoming bigotry and oppression in the state. Like many students selected for the NYU Tulsa program, Swango applied to the summer internship through the George Kaiser Family Foundation — the site’s official partner that matches students with Tulsa based organizations.

“I had never had an internship before,” Swango said. “This was a small enough environment with a close-knit group of people, so it was the perfect gateway into the career world.” 

Assigned a community based initiative to work on throughout the summer, her full-time job additionally involved both administrative work and content creation for blogs and newsletters. 

“An internship is a learning curve,” she said. “You’re supposed to not know what to do, but [interning] on this scale of a project really helped me tap into skills like project management and communication.”

For others like Melody Jiang, a junior double majoring in art history and urban design and architecture studies, her internship placement came through right at the end of the spring semester. After a strenuous application and job recruitment season, Jiang landed an internship with the city of Tulsa’s Design Studio in the Department of City Experience.

As an undergraduate studying art and design, landing an internship that directly involved her field of study was monumental. Jiang’s biggest role involved curating the city’s first public art inventory, tracking down artwork and connecting with local artists. 

“I was able to contribute to projects that would have a profound impact on a developing city,” Jiang said. “You’re closer to the ground, so you end up having a bigger impact.”

Jiang also worked on drafting a sustainability framework for the development of Zink Lake in Tulsa. She explained that this project aligned with her career aspirations, as she hopes to someday work in city design or even in local government.

In a large city like New York, finding an internship can feel daunting for humanities and public-service students, especially those wanting to have a tangible impact. The community-focused nature of NYU Tulsa gives students the chance to make individual contributions to the systematic challenges of a smaller city.

CAS alum and Tulsa native Luke Leifeste made the move back to his hometown after 12 years in New York City and now works closely with the NYU Tulsa program in promoting the site to students.

“A big part of why I chose to return home to Tulsa after a decade working in media and entertainment in New York was the chance to make a difference on a hyper-local level,” Leifeste said. “Tulsa’s size, combined with its resources and close-knit community, makes it an unparalleled place for NYU students to find meaningful internships where they can truly see the impact of their work.”

Contact Sara Sharma at [email protected].