Art History Internship Opportunities
The Department offers two kinds of internship programme, the 6-credit capstone course that looks for dedicated art history majors, and the 3-credit courses which open to all. ARTH4005 Art History Internship (6 credits) requires students to commit 120 working hours and the final grade is given based on the internship performance. On the other hand, ARTH2123 Professional Experience I and ARTH2124 Professional Experience II (3 credits) are short-term (60 working hours), with greater flexibility in terms of both the time and institution options.
Find out more!
ARTH4005 Art History Internship
6 credits
Our internship programme is a work placement scheme that gives students an opportunity to gain direct experience in a non-profit art institution. Students can apply skills that they learned in the classroom at a professional level and get a track record of working in the art field. This first-time experience is going to make a great start in students’ career development.
The department works with various institutions to make this internship programme possible every year. Taking ARTH4005 Art History Internship means students get the invaluable internship experience, while they fulfil their capstone and 4000-level course requirements.
List of partnering institutions for 2026-2027
Timeline
| 2026-2027 | |
|---|---|
| 4 Sep | Internship information session |
| 7 Sep | Deadline for submitting application form |
| 10-12 Sep | Period for interviews, and writing up internship contracts |
| 12-15 Sep | Manual enrollment for most cases |
| 20 Sep | Deadline for enrollment (special cases) |
Who is eligible?
The department takes our connections with the partners seriously. We look for strong candidates who are representative of HKU Art History with their academic excellence as well as professional work ethics.
ARTH4005: Art History Internship is capstone course that opens to all Art History students, who have completed at least one 3000 level Art History course, and at least three other Art History courses at the 2000 or 3000 level. Students outside the ARTH4005 class shall watch out for department announcements on other internship opportunities.
Application Submission
Fill out the application form and download an unofficial transcript. Email the Department (art.history@hku.hk) to submit the application with the two documents attached. Students can select up to two institutions from available placements, but submit one application only.
Interview
Once an application is submitted, the department will match students’ skills and interests with our partner institutions. They will get in touch with students for an interview and possibly request a trial. Students can discuss with institutions and their potential supervisors about the specific arrangement of the internship. To proceed, with the help of the Internship Coordinator, an internship contract will set out responsibilities and tasks. The contract needs to be approved by the Internship Coordinator and signed by the student and the host institution before the internship officially begins.
What should students expect in an internship?
Students will be enabled to take a proactive role in observing and experiencing how things work in a professional environment. The exposure and value of an internship experience varies from one to another, often depending on the opportunities available at the time, individuals’ work ethics, as well as the chemistry between the institution and the intern.
Interns are generally expected to assist permanent staff in the institution. Broadly speaking, these tasks can be divided into a few categories:
Collections
Research and Managemente.g. digital cataloguing, data entry, research on permanent collections
Exhibitions
Project-orientede.g. writing exhibition proposals, preparing object lists and loan requests, exhibition design, cataloguing
Public
Education and Communicatione.g. arranging public lectures and workshops, outreach to schools and community, exhibition-related programming, social media, Art Basel
Assessment
Student performance in this 6-credit internship progamme is graded on the same A-F scale as a regular course. Staff from our partnering institutions will assess interns’ competence in fulfilling the tasks set out in the internship contract. In most cases, an academic style assignment is not part of the assessment, but general professional qualities are. If, however, a particular internship is assessed differently, the method of assessment will be made clear in the contract.
ARTH2123 & ARTH2124 Professional Experience I & II
3 credits
Who is eligible?
The two 2000-level courses open to all students.
Action flow
- Research and look for internship opportunities.
- Get a pre-approval from the Internship Coordinator.
- Apply for the internship.
- If the internship application is successful, complete the ARTH2123/4 form (qualtrics).
- The Internship Coordinator will review the form and arrange the signing of a contract prior to the start of the internship.
- Use the log sheet as a record of work hours and prepare for the assessment during the internship.
- Submit the assessment video & log sheet to the Department before the deadline (subject to the agreement made between the student and the Internship Coordinator)
- The Internship Coordinator will review the submitted matierals.
- Grade is released.
If students are unable to enroll at the beginning of a semester, one should still contact the Internship Coordinator for approval and to complete the internship. The Department will manually enroll the student in the subsequent semester, which can be the summer semester.
List of Organizations for 2026-2027
Internship Support from the Faculty Office
HKUArts Local Unpaid Internship Allowance
Applicable to students undertaking local unpaid internships as part of credit-bearing internship courses. It has to be attached with credit bearing internship from AY26-27 onwards, per student with a $120 daily allowance (at least 4 work hours per day) with a maximum of 35 workdays, a maximum of $4,200, at least 120 required work hours or above, part-time/ full-time mode available, from 1 Sep 2026 onwards. Please feel free to connect students with Career Development Team for more info. Read more >>
Updated Faculty Global Exploration Fund (FGEF)
Enhanced eResources
LinkedIn Learning Sign-up >>
Supports students’ employability development before and during internships. Students should sign up via the HKUArts form using their UID, create their own personal LinkedIn profile, and link it with their UID access. Students are encouraged to complete four e-courses and add the relevant completion certificates or badges to their LinkedIn profiles. Read more >>
First Resume Sign-up >>
An AI-powered job search, CV, and cover letter tool to support students in self-soliciting internship opportunities. Read more >>
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