Student Jobs for 2009-2010

The John Nicholas Brown Center offers a number of opportunities for part-time employment for students in the M.A. program. These include positions at the JNBC working with staff on a variety of initiatives.

In addition, the JNBC works to match public humanities students with local humanities organizations seeking part-time temporary employees and provides funding to these organizations for student salaries. Collaborating organizations include the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Providence Latin American Film Festival, Preserve Rhode Island, and others. Additional details and job descriptions for these positions will be available soon.

Pay rate: $15 per hour for most positions, 5 hours (minimum) to 15 hours (maximum) per week. Training will be provided, along with a detailed job description. Please see Ron if you are interested in part-time employment at the JNBC or through the Community Jobs Program.

Finally, there are number of humanities-based organizations and departments on campus that sometimes offer part-time employment including the Brown Library, the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology, and others. The Haffenreffer Museum currently has paid internships available. We will post additional openings as they come to our attention, or visit the Brown Student Employment Website for current openings.

JNBC STUDENT POSITIONS

StoryCorps

A student is needed to work on StoryCorps, RI. In 2007, StoryCorps brought their recording studio to Rhode Island, a visit that was coordinated and sponsored by the JNBC. As sponsor, the JNBC also became the repository for the interviews collected. A student is needed to work on readying the interviews for use: to create rudimentary indexes of themes, places, and people discussed in the interviews; to compile data about interviewees; and to work with staff and alumni to explore ideas for public projects that make use of the recordings. Students should have an interest in oral history and some knowledge of audio/oral documentary techniques and projects.

Fox Point Community Project

Annie Valk is looking for one or more students interested in working on oral history, photography, and educational projects related to the Fox Point community. Over the past two years, public humanities students have developed and implemented a series of projects to preserve and present aspects of the history of this neighborhood. This year, students are needed to continue to work on the following:

Archival photograph collection: A large number of photos of Fox Point have been gathered by local historians Lou Costa and Johnny Costa. The photos will be turned over to the John Hay library for preservation and access. To prepare the photographs for this transfer, a student will work to collect identifying information for the images and to conduct some preliminary organization with the collection. This project may also entail working to compile the photos for a publication. (Fall and spring)

Educational projects: students and teachers at Vartan Gregorian Elementary School in Fox Point will engage in a year-long project to explore the history of Fox Point’s waterfront. Public humanities students will work in the elementary school, assisting with oral history and curriculum development. (Spring)

Library Assistant

Working with Chelsea Shriver, the library assistant will maintain the appearance and order of the library collection, research and recommend new titles as needed, organize magazines and journals as they arrive, establish and monitor an effective check-out / return system, and develop and maintain guides that aid students in finding library resources. The library assistant will catalog the collection using the online library cataloging system, LibraryThing.com, a user-friendly system that requires no former cataloging knowledge. (Fall and spring)

Digital Archivist for Photographs

In the coming months, the JNBCs extensive collection of Brown family photographs will be transferred to the University’s John Hay Library. Working with Ron Potvin, the Digital Archivist for photographs will identify important photographs from the collection and digitize them for use in JNBC programs and for interpretation of the Nightingale-Brown House. The digitized photographs will then be entered into the JNBC’s PastPerfect cataloging database. Research will be necessary to complete the cataloging record. Training in PastPerfect will be provided. (Fall and spring)

COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT POSITIONS

(Check back soon for additional job descriptions)

1) The Providence Latin American Film Festival (PLAFF 2009) - Guidelines for volunteer and working-student positions

The following activities are part of the various tasks required to prepare for both of these events. PLAFF takes place between September 30 and October 4, 2009. PLAFF is an independent, 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. PLAFF reaches out to the Hispanic/Latino and Portuguese communities, as well as the society at large.

Festival activities starting the period of September 1st:

• Film Traffic: Follow up with distributors/producers about the shipment of the films whenever necessary. Have available on a list all the necessary details about the film copy: contact information, format, screening schedule, rental cost, shipping date, etc.  Deal with FedEx package services. Once all films have arrived, the film traffic team will be in charge of the delivering the DVD/35mm film copies to the different screening venues on time. IMPORTANT: The DVDs should have been checked in advance to make sure they work fine. 35mm copies should be delivered the day before the screening or if not possible, very early morning the same day. Communication with the venue managers is vital.
• Welcoming packets: VIP guests and Jury members will receive a folder with information about the festival, their schedule, contact information, Providence tourist guide and other relevant items that will make their stay as pleasant and easy as possible. These are called “Welcome Packet”. We need to gather a group that will be in charge of putting this together, closer to the festival, when the number of guests has already been confirmed. This year we might have up to 15 guests. Members of the Jury for the First Work Competition are always invited by the festival. VIP guests invited by the festival also receive one of these packets. More detail information of the items included in these will be provided to those interested in helping with this.
• Working together: Work jointly with PLAFF volunteers (From Brown University, RISD, the community and others) closer to the date of the festival sharing the information and making sure that it is all happening smoothly.
• More lists! Updating the contact lists for sponsors, guests, screenings, volunteer teams, schedules, etc. is VERY important. It is the easiest way to pass the information to everyone and feel like you know what is happening. Make working schedules for covering the screening venues during the festival is also very important, keep up the screening timetable for competition films, screening sponsors, and also keeping up the list of  people coming for free to the screenings from community organizations, schools, etc.
• PLAFF Website: Updating the website and web mailing to our member audience is fundamental. We have a very entertaining and informative new website that holds much interesting information. We should take advantage of it and we’re open to new suggestions!
• ENJOY THE FESTIVAL!  All volunteers and other “PLAFFers” are invited to enjoy the screenings, panel discussions and other activities related to the festival. A pass will be provided to you, allowing you access to these events.

2) Rhode Island Historical Society

Education/Technical Specialist

The Rhode island Historical Society would like to engage one or more students in accomplishing a important goal of the Society’s new strategic plan: to scan and digitize all issues of Rhode Island History and post them for public viewing on the Society’s website.

The Rhode Island Historical Society has published its peer-reviewed journal Rhode Island History since 1942, and this publication contains much of the best and most important writing on the history of the state. The RIHS estimates that the project will take a total of 250 hours to complete. Each issue will exist as a discrete PDF ready for uploading to the RIHS website.

The project will be conducted under the supervision of the Society’s Education Director, Dr. C. Morgan Grefe.  After an initial orientation session, the student will submit weekly progress reports.   Much of the project can be accomplished using scanning equipment available at the JNBC. RIHS will provide space at its Aldrich House headquarters to sort and organize back issues of Rhode Island History and for other related tasks. Of secondary importance (or a separate position) are a substantial number of historical and collection-based images that may be included in the project. 

This work will allow the student to assist in a very important research/educational/preservation effort making use of current technology, and it will give the student special involvement with the Education Department of the Rhode Island Historical Society.  The Society is prepared to begin this project as soon as a student is available.

3) Providence Preservation Society

General Office Support

Earn real-world non-profit arts and advocacy experience with the Providence Preservation Society! We are looking for one or several student workers for general office support: assisting with computer and database work, special events, mailings, filing, errands, office duties, and other projects as needed. In short, the job offers lots of variety. We need someone reliable, consistent, and able to work at least 5 hours per week (10 would be great). Must be able to answer phones and greet visitors to the office professionally and knowledgeably. Microsoft Office experience a plus; Adobe suite is a real bonus. Our student workers take away from the experience a greater understanding of our organization and the larger preservation project through direct participation in the PPS mission. The Providence Preservation Society (PPS) was formed in 1956 to respond to the proposed demolition of a number of 18th- and early 19th-century houses on College Hill. PPS has grown from that small neighborhood group to a multi-faceted citywide preservation organization. With a membership of over 1,000 households, a professional staff, and countless volunteers, PPS is able to provide a broad range of services that fulfill its mission to improve the quality of life in the city of Providence through historic preservation and the enhancement of the built environment. PPS programs include the long-running Festival of Historic Houses, advocacy, tours for school children, homeowner resources, and many other events and programs.

BROWN CAMPUS STUDENT POSITIONS

Research Assistants (2) for Carl Kaestle (professor of education, history, and public policy emeritus)''

Qualifications:

Open to qualified undergrad or graduate students. May hire one of each.   Preference for graduate student beyond preliminary exams and with substantial knowledge of U.S. history since 1940.  Preference for student who is already familiar with Rockefeller Library and has wide knowledge of on-line sources for historical work: search engines, full-text journals etc. Additional desired expertise: knowledge of PC (ThinkPad) software, upgrading, installing, and solving glitches.  Additional desired experience: travel, budget, University business procedures.    

Project:

The federal role in elementary and secondary education, 1940—1980.  It involves Congressional history, Presidential administrations, education interest groups, case studies.  Current emphasis in the 1950s: Brown decision, Little Rock crisis, Cold War education policy, Sputnik. Theme: The evolving role of the federal government in a highly decentralized tradition of education governance.

Tasks:

Routine chores like searching and getting books at the Rock or from ILL, finding articles from on-line sources, xeroxing key passages.

Identifying and making reports on selected secondary sources (e.g., Eisenhower and civil rights; pre-Sputnik scientific community and education policy issues; trends in Protestant-Catholic relations, 1950—1980. 

Depending on skills: mini-research on pesky topics: what happened to the child health bill in Congress in 1950?  How many states declined to participate in the National Defense Education Act each year from 1959 to the mid-1960s? How many Catholics were in Congress in 1950, and who were they?

Wages:

Undergrad at $12-13 per hour, depending upon qualifications.  Grads at $13-15, depending upon qualifications.

Hours:

10-15 hours a week, some flexibility from week to week, if  communication is clear and timely.  

Application:

Email: Carl_Kaestle@Brown.edu  Provide Brown faculty reference, c.v., and message about the fit between you and this job.    '

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