Intern Profile: Stan Fonseca ’15
Open gallery
Stan Fonseca ’15
Major: History
Hometown: Winchester, Massachusetts
Can you tell us what you’re doing this summer? What are your basic duties as an intern?
I’m working for Oregon Encyclopedia—a web-based resource for all things Oregon history—researching and writing entries to be peer-reviewed and published online. I’m assigned an entry topic, for example, “Black Cowboys in Oregon,” and I read up on it, find notable figures, dig up some sweet old photos to accompany the entry, and then write about 500 words explaining the history of the topic and any key events/places/people within it.
How has Lewis & Clark supported you in the process of finding, securing, and funding your internship?
Jane Hunter, the wonderful professor of history, is on the Oregon Encyclopedia board and helped get me the position. The money from the Fowler-Levin grant is getting me a bike with which I can get to the Oregon Historical Society archives and numerous other helpful places in the research process.
How do you see this internship leading to a career in your chosen field and aiding in your overall career development?
Well, this is more or less my dream job. If somebody were willing to pay me to look at old photos and read history all the time, I’d take them up on it in a second. I would really love to someday teach history at the university level, and working for Oregon Encyclopedia—especially because my writing is being published—will be a great boost to my resume when applying to graduate schools and, eventually, PhD programs.
If you are a history geek like me, all I can say is that rooting through the archival photo collections at the Oregon Historical Society archives is just about the finest way to spend an afternoon. I’m lucky to be doing it all summer.
The Stephanie Fowler and Irving Levin Summer Internship Award was established by Stephanie Fowler MA ’97 and Irving Levin, generous donors committed to ensuring that Lewis & Clark students are able to have meaningful and enriching summer internship experiences.
