Past Internships

Below you’ll find some examples of internships students have completed in each of our sites in Russia.

Irkutsk

Limnological Institute

Limnological Institute is a research institution for complex interdisciplinary studies of Lake Baikal and other water bodies of Siberia. Students interning at Limnological Institute have a chance to work closely with a team of young scientists conducting relevant research aimed at comprehensive study of Lake Baikal and its preservation.

Botanical Gardens of Irkutsk State University

The Botanical Gardens occupy a territory of 27 hectares. Botanical gardens actively collaborate with the Research Institute of Biology, which means that students can conduct their own research work alongside scientists in Irkutsk. Interns are encouraged to take part in vegetable gardening, environmental protection activities and to learn more about ethnobotany. Russian language acquisition: Medium to High, depending on the tasks involved.

The Information Center of Irkutsk State University

The information center of ISU provides training for young journalists, including writing articles about the forthcoming and past events at ISU that are later published online. Students edit materials and prepare them for publications at ISU newspaper. Russian language acquisition: High.

The Student Activities Office at Irkutsk State University

The student activities office is responsible for organizing various university events, concerts, lectures, etc. SAO publish their own magazine and are looking for writers and illustrators to contribute. They are excited to have people work at the office and put together their own personal projects, e.g. language clubs, charity concerts. Russian language acquisition: Medium.

Molchanov-Sibirskii Scientific Library

The Scientific Library is the biggest library in Irkutsk and is housed in a five-story building not far from ISU. Students are welcome to organize language clubs or put together events dedicated to American holidays for the visitors. Interns can also contribute by translating articles for their periodicals and the website. Russian language acquisition: Medium.

Alexander Vampilov Cultural Center

The Cultural Center serves as a museum and a platform for cultural events. Interns will be directly involved in organizing art and photo exhibitions, poetry readings, conferences and lectures. The center is looking for interns interested in translating a book about A. Vampilov’s life from Russian to English. Interns can also work on their own research about A. Vampilov or playwrights and artists of his time. Russian language acquisition: Medium to High, depending on the tasks involved.

Moscow

Middlebury Office Internship

Middlebury Office School in Russia is looking for an intern who would like to exercise their creative writing skills both in Russian and in English and have a chance to tell more people about their and other students’ lives in Russia. Intern’s role is to post updates to the Middlebury School in Russia website and Facebook account (under supervision from the Director). The intern will work closely with Middlebury staff and communicate with students from other programs. Our goal is to create an online space where students and other Russia-enthusiasts can build deeper connections.

Duties:

Be in touch with RCs and students from all sites and gather information about cultural activities at the site, trips, students hobbies, academics and information about city news and events.

Facebook update once every two weeks in Russian. The update is in Russian and has to be 50 words min. and either cover Middlebury College School in Russia news and/or have links and news related to Russia and learning Russian. E.g. students go on a trip to Sochi. After the trip, the intern posts photos and writes a short update about highlights of the trip.

Twice a semester, intern will have to put together a bigger 1-2 pages long update for the website (newsletter) comprising all events, updates, etc. about Middlebury School in Russia with photos. Some of the text will have to be translated into English.

All done and submitted with the help and supervision from RC in Moscow and the Director of the program. Students will get recommendation letters at the end of their internship.

American Center in Moscow

The American Center at the U.S. Embassy is Russia’s largest and oldest American Space, founded in 1993 as a cooperative project between the U.S. and Russia. AMC organizes lectures, art exhibits and other cultural events aimed at promoting American culture and bringing people together of different cultures and backgrounds. AMC is currently looking for help with the following programs: One-on-One Conversation Partners, MakeUS Innovation Lab, Program and Club Activities, Circulation Duties at the library and many more. Individual research and projects are always welcomed. CV, interview required.

Carnegie Moscow Center

The Carnegie Moscow Center has been known as one of the most respected think tanks with focus on Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union. The Carnegie Moscow Center publishes work in Russian and English. Their work covers a broad array of issues, including domestic politics, societal trends, economics, foreign policy, and nuclear nonproliferation. Interning at Carnegie offers a unique opportunity to see how a think tank works. They look for interns to help with everyday office duties as well as updating databases and working at their Communications Department. Some of other duties: help with organizing events at the center, editing some of the translations and research depending on your field of interest. Language Proficiency: High. Two step interviewing process.

Red Communication Group/Advertising Agency

Today RCG is a group of 4 agencies providing professional expertise to clients in various fields of integrated marketing communications. RCG is a group of young professionals passionate about what they do and willing to change the world of social media, marketing and communications for the better. This role offers the intern a total immersion into the office. RCG staff is very welcoming of new interns and do their best to find a project that you are passionate about, be it learning more about how RCG office works or a research on generational theory.

KompasGuide Publishing House

KompasGuide is a local publishing house with a focus on young adult and children fiction. Since its establishment in 2009, KompasGuide has brought many exceptional book projects to the Russian market. KompasGuide works with authors from all over the world who ​are not afraid to speak about the most complicated subjects in an honest and interesting way. KompasGuilde is looking for interns who are interested in translation, doing research both in English and Russian for the writers and the staff. Some work will include also work at book fairs, correspondence with international authors and reviewing books.

M.I. Rudomino All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature/​Children’s Book Center

M.I. Rudomino All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature possesses an excellent collection of foreign books for children comprising approximately 50,000,000 volumes of fiction and popular science books. The reading room for children is available throughout the week and the department organizes various events, book exhibitions, lectures, etc. The tasks can vary from organizing workshops for children and their parents to putting together an individual project at the library. Russian language acquisition: Medium.

The Historical-Enlightenment Society Memorial

In the last years of the existence of the Soviet Union, Memorial was established in Moscow (1990) to coordinate activities on the systematic collection of evidence about the communist reign of terror. Following the example of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, activists of Memorial in different cities collected documents and memoirs, transcribed oral testimony, and undertook expeditions to the sites of camps and deportation. During past years, a substantial archive on the history of repression has been collected. Memorial’s archive, library and museum contain documents, books, and hundreds of works of art by prisoners, which bear witness to life in the camps. It is a unique collection of this type in Russia. Memorial is also actively protecting human rights in Russia. Each of Memorial’s regional divisions is involved in protecting human rights, specifically in vindicating the rights of former prisoners. The Human Rights Center, Memorial Moscow, concentrates its activities on human rights violations in zones of armed conflicts in the Russian Federation, so called “hot spots,” and on the protection of refugees and victims of discrimination and political persecution. Russian language acquisition: High.

Roksana Gabidullina

I am interning in Memorial, a community made up of ten organizations from different countries. This organization is aiming to and improve understanding of and awaken civil society. I am currently digitizing its archives, particularly the Chronicle of Current Events (1968-1983), an informational bulletin of human rights published clandestinely during the Soviet days. Furthermore, I am working with the archives to research Central Asian dissidents and samizdat.

Lesley Kucharski

I am working on a part of the history project, “Dissidence in the USSR,” in the archival department of the human rights organization Memorial. My job is to help edit a Wikipedia-inspired database for the samizdat publication “The Chronicle of Current Events.” From an underground basis, the Chronicle tracked the state of human rights in the post-Stalin years of the USSR from 1968-1983. With its thousands of pages in over 60 issues, the Chronicle is a great primary resource for those interested in Soviet history.

Transparency International

Transparency International is an autonomous nonprofit and nonpartisan organization founded in December, 1999. As part of a global coalition against corruption, TI-R aims at spreading anti-corruption concept and combating corruption in Russia. Their activities include fieldwork, anti-corruption research and expertise. The Moscow Anticorruption Center receives complaints from citizens and organizations which were not yet answered by law enforcement or other governmental agencies. Aside from these projects, TI–R launched a collaboration project with internet portal Slon and the Committee for Civil Initiatives. The project is called Declarator— a combined database of declarations of public officials. By 2014, the database contained information on more than five thousand public officials. We monitor how the declarations are published, reporting the frauds to the prosecutors and other public offices. A number of these cases is found every year. The Moscow Anti-corruption Center receives complaints from citizens and organizations which were not yet answered by law enforcement or other governmental agencies.

Interns will likely conduct research for different TI-R offices to be published or used within the framework of TI-R. The internship would involve writing and translating both in Russian and English. Russian language acquisition: Medium.

Alexandra Portney

My main occupation is translation. Most of the times that I translate articles and stories about current events happening in Russia, sometimes it is official documents for the conferences that Transparency organizes. I have to say, it helps me a lot with my written Russian. My experience has been very positive.

Civic Assistance Committee/Children’s Adaptation Center

Civic Assistance Committee is the first non-profit charitable organization aimed at helping refugees and forced migrants in Russia. The Committee maintains relations with all the structures dealing with the challenges forced migrants face:, educational, social services, health departments, prosecutor’s office and police.

Areas where interns can be of help vary greatly and mainly depend on what interns’ interests. The language level acquisition has to be high in order to work with the staff, knowing languages besides Russian and English would be a great advantage as well. Interns will often work independently and will not be provided with a great deal of guidance. Perfect for interns who would actively want to work with people and/or have a specific interest in the area. The adaptation center for children seeks English tutors willing to work with children and teenagers from refugee families of different backgrounds. Russian language acquisition: High.

Children’s Hospital Fund

Based at Speransky Children’s Hospital Fund supports burn units at the hospital providing medical materials and equipment that are not provided by the budget of the hospital, or those that are required immediately. The fund is one of the few organizations in Russia that implements the program of the psycho-social rehabilitation of patients with burns and their families. Our specialists help 1,500 children and members of their families per year. Psychologists and social workers work with children not only in the burn unit, but also after their discharge from the hospital. Volunteers are encouraged to join the social workers team and interact with the patients in the burn unit. Russian language acquisition: Medium.

Ziferblat

Ziferblat is a local co-working space with coffee, tea and snacks where people gather together to discuss art, poetry and watch movies. Ziferblat is looking for young, sociable people who would want to actively participate by organizing and facilitating events. Russian language acquisition: Medium.

Shipr Photo

Shipr Photo is a retro photography atelier looking for photography enthusiasts to help in organizing events and work at their photo studio. Russian language acquisition: Low.

Moscow Zoo

This is a volunteering position at Moscow Zoo, one of the biggest zoos in Russia. Working with small animals: mixing food, feeding, cleaning. Assisting staff in their various tasks in taking care of the animals. Language acquisition: low to medium.

Centre International d’Investissement (CII)

CII is a Switzerland-based NGO established in 2010. CII’s mission is to support and promote UN programs all over the world, to develop international economic and political relationships between countries as well as funding programs aimed at sustainable economic and democratic development. After an interview with CII staff, students can choose one of the CII projects to work on. One of the CII initiatives is to create an internet resource that will help improve interaction between Russian-speaking civil society organizations and UN (www.unngo.info). Even though Russian is one of the official languages of the United Nations, articles are mainly published in English and French.

Cushman & Wakefield

Amy Dayton

I spent the majority of my time working on a report about the coworking industry, more specifically on a subsection focused on the international coworking market. Apart from that, I also helped out with translation work when needed, for example I worked on the market analysis reports the office produced each quarter. Interning there was a very valuable experience. I really enjoyed spending several hours per week at the office, talking with my colleagues and found the challenge of expressing myself in conversations and in meetings to be really valuable in terms of improving my Russian abilities.

Yaroslavl

Yaroslavl City Hall

Internship at Yaroslavl City Hall is a rare opportunity for students to learn more about the local government and assist with implementing various local programs. Yaroslavl City Hall deals with issues such as municipal property and city budget, inter-ethnic and inter-confessional agreements, sustainability, education, culture, sports and others.

TEXTILE/LIFT

LIFT was created in 2006 in Yaroslavl by a group of contemporary art curators and producers with an idea to promote arts and revive various local cultural initiatives. LIFT’s main idea is to enrich local cultural life, urbanize the city and have a space for the locals to exchange ideas and meet new people. Students can take part in all the projects, researches and events organized by LIFT. It is an opportunity to learn more about its youth culture and develop your creative and communication skills.

YMCA/ИМКА- Ярославль

IMKA-Yaroslavl is a part of the bigger YMCA organization based in Yaroslavl. “IMKA-Yaroslavl” mainly focuses on young youth and children’s programs from preparing children for school to providing counseling services, communication skills development and English language classes. IMKA has its own center where Middlebury students along with the students from different schools and universities in Yaroslavl help organize various activities and programs locally and internationally.

International Training Center (InTC)

InTC is a well-known language school looking for aspiring teachers and instructors to intern at their offices in Yaroslavl. In the past, students have assisted in teaching classes, were in charge of English clubs. Classes are taught to students of all ages.

Yaroslavl State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve

Yaroslavl State Museum is located in very heart of the city, in Spassky Monastery. Museum collection has more than 300 000 items all dedicated to the rich history of the region. We have a long-term partnership with Yaroslavl museums and students have been actively involved in in their work. In the past, students helped organize new exhibits, worked on the catalogues or took part in creating new museum tours.

Yaroslavl Art Museum

Yaroslavl Art Museum is the biggest art museum in Russian provinces. It is also the only museum specializing in arts in the Yaroslavl Region. The YaAM’s collection contains over 70,000 items from different time periods. The museum houses icons and other works of Russian art from the 13th to the 20th century. Students have held extensive researches with the help of the museum staff as well as helped with the museum tours and promotion.