Summer 2024 Projects

All three projects for summer 2024 are hybrid (part in-person, part virtual).

Cinematic Democracy: Film Screenings for Civic Engagement

Mentors: Karen A Reiman-Sendi, Learning & Teaching Project Librarian and Josh Harris, Media Librarian

Number of Positions: 1

In light of the 2024 election process — and the perception that democracy is at a crossroads in the United States — this project would entail developing a plan for a series of screening/viewing events. We expect it will be a thematic program around elections and democracy in the U.S. and abroad (potentially including regions and countries such as Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, South Korea, India, Pakistan, South Africa, etc., based on student interest and project goals).

The internship would involve:

Identifying documentaries and films held in U-M’s Askwith Media Library that explore democracy, elections history and challenges, voting rights, voter suppression and voter fraud, funding of political systems and candidates, racial discrimination in the political process, and activism and activists’ impacts on democracy and elections, to name a few potential content areas. Detailed critique of many films will be required, including individual viewing and film research.
Creating a screening/viewing plan. This could include writing film descriptions, determining screening formats or activities, specifying hosting details, developing written discussion guides, identifying discussion facilitators, and creating program marketing strategies.
Potentially hosting the actual screenings in September and October 2024.
Potentially creating and distributing an assessment tool during/after the screenings.

Desired skills (not required): interest in film and event coordination, self-direction and the ability to work independently outside of training/meeting sessions.

Internationalizing the Seed Library

Mentors: Caylen Cole-Hazel, Information Resources Assistant Senior and Krystel Anderson, Student Engagement Fellow

Number of Positions: 2

The U-M Library and other cross-campus partners will launch a seed library in the spring of 2024. The student selected for this project will help incorporate the experience of international students to elevate the work and mission of U-M's seed library. Depending on the student’s interests and skills, the project could include:

The creation of an exhibit showcasing cross-campus international student/U-M community member stories related to seeds that connect them to home cultures, foods, and sense memories.
Coordination of translation resources for selected U-M seed library promotional materials.
Event planning for a virtual conference to bring international focus to academic seed library initiatives.
Website design collaboration for U-M seed library.

Desired skills (not required): interest in environmental issues, oral history research, event coordination, exhibit curation, journalism and/or art and design, indigenous research methodologies, social science research.

How Do International Students Experience the U-M Library? An Exploration Using the Library's 2023 Survey Data

Mentors: Craig Smith, Assessment Specialist

Number of positions: 1-2

In 2023 the U-M Library conducted a campus-wide survey for the first time. Over 15,000 people responded, and one of the largest groups was undergraduate students. In the survey, undergraduate respondents were asked about their experiences and needs related to library spaces, services, and materials. In this project, the participating student(s) will use the data to explore, specifically, how international students experience the library, and what needs international students share and don't share with students born in the U.S. The findings of this project will shed new light on how the U-M Library can effectively serve a very large, diverse, and important group of students on our campus.

The internship will involve:

Reading about international students’ experiences with academic libraries
Working with a data set containing about 3,000 participants and hundreds of variables.
Conducting and reporting on basic statistical analyses (descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, multivariate analyses)

Desired skills (not required):

It will be much easier to jump right in if an intern possesses:

An interest in data analysis and survey methodology
Experience with quantitative analyses and statistical software
Experience with analyzing qualitative data (e.g., ‘coding’ open-ended responses)
Experience creating graphs and reports