Applications for the 2026 Internship Program are NOW OPEN through March 15.
The American Anthropological Association offers internship opportunities for talented anthropology students each year as they pursue their professional goals and aspirations. Internships are six weeks in length and usually extend from mid-June through mid-July. The Association provides housing and a meal/travel stipend.
All U.S. undergraduate students that are current juniors or seniors at the time of application are eligible to apply for the program. The 2026 Louise Lamphere Internship will run from June 8–July 17. Applications close March 15, and applicants will be notified in early April.
Interns will spend approximately 40 percent of their time working onsite at the AAA offices in Arlington, VA, and the other 60 percent of their time working on-site at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. AAA on-site activities will include researching membership trends in the AAA, drafting text for Anthropology News (AN) and other activities as assigned.
Please contact us if you have questions or comments.
Learn more about previous interns, Jeannette Lombardi and Kayla Stevens, in "This Interning Life," a piece they wrote for Anthropology News.
Thanks to the support of our members and a remarkably generous gift pledged by former AAA President, Dr. Louise Lamphere, the Association can proudly offer The Louise Lamphere Internship Program for generations to come.
"Since its inception, summer interns have been excited by what they have learned about the AAA and the skills they have obtained in contact with museum and heritage professionals. The program has proved to be an important pathway for anthropology undergraduates to explore anthropology as practiced 'on the ground'." - Dr. Louise Lamphere
Partnership
The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage is a research center of the Smithsonian Institution. Their mission is to "promote greater understanding and sustainability of cultural heritage across the United States and around the world through research, education, and community engagement." Their major activities are the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, maintaining our extensive archival collection, and special projects and programs on cultural heritage, preservation, presentation, and sustainability.
The intern projects may center on production assistance during the last week of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and follow-up with program participants and documentation; sales, marketing, and licensing support with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings; work with archival processing of collections; or assistance with educational outreach and research projects.