Smithsonian Institution Priority Partnership

Developing International Virtual Work Placements for Students

Please note that the event has taken place but if you would like to see the presentations or find out more, please contact Penelope.Morris@glasgow.ac.uk

This event, as part of Global Glasgow, our International Week for staff at the University of Glasgow, focussed on the challenges and benefits of international virtual work placements and looked at how to develop these opportunities. 

Information:

This taster session featured speakers representing international partners, placement host institutions, academic supervisors and students who shared their experiences of developing international virtual work placements. The event showcased good practices in developing successful placements and provided a forum to discuss lessons learned and to consider how virtual placements as a model can be taken forward in the future.

Schedule

Welcome from Dr Penelope Morris

Session 1
Art History: Collecting and Provenance in an International Context – Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative

Corine Wegener (Director, Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative); Leigh Ann Barker and Matilda Eriksson, (MSc Art History: Collecting and Provenance in an International Context students); Dr Allan Madden (History of Art)

This session will focus on a work placement at the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative (SCRI) for two students on the ‘Collecting and Provenance’ MSc programme in History of Art. This placement involved working directly with Corine Wegener (Director, SCRI), in order to support the preparation and execution of the Army Monuments Officer Training course, which took place in April 2021.

Session 2 
University of Glasgow as Placement Supervisors and Hosts

When virtual becomes the reality – Developing collaborative remote museum and heritage placements in Museum Education

Dr Maggie McColl (Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead, MSc Museum Education); Ruth Fletcher (Education Manager, The Hunterian); Brianne Cipriano (MSc Museum Education student participating in a virtual placement with The Hunterian).

Taking one example from a range of remote placements hosted by The Hunterian, you will get three perspectives – academic, host provider and student – on a remote placement undertaken by an international Masters student of Museum Education.

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From reactive practice to service redesign - Virtual placements in Archives & Special Collections

Moira Rankin, Senior Archivist, Library; Adele Redhead, Course Convenor, MSc Information Management and Preservation

Having co-designed work-based learning opportunities together since 2005, Adele and Moira will reflect on 2020 which saw them developing a virtual and (hopefully) sustainable model of learning for archivists in training.

Session 3
Digital Opportunities for Virtual Placements

Prof. Lorna Hughes (Professor in Digital Humanities, Information Studies); Ann Gow (Senior Lecturer, Information Studies)

This session will discuss examples of virtual international placements for applied dissertations, drawing on experience and expertise in Information Studies and in digital humanities. There will be an opportunity for broader discussion about the challenges and opportunities of using digital methods to facilitate international work placements, including supporting graduate attributes and the student experience.

Questions and Discussion