Museum Internships

The Teece Museum supports internships from a number of University of Canterbury courses, in particular those students taking PACE395 or PACE495, which are organised by the Arts Internship program. Student interns undertake a specific research project, enjoy direct access to the Collection, and can participate in a number of public programmes and events. Research by interns has been used to create online exhibitions, develop teaching kits, expand our Collection catalogue, and contribute to publications.

The Arts Internships program works jointly with businesses and community organisations to provide productive and strategic outcomes on real world projects. Interns are able to gain valuable work experience with a business or organization, and complete an academic research component related to their work experience.

Contact our team to find out more.

Meet some of our interns

Intern Isabella Breese sits at a desk in teh store room holding ancient dice under a magnifying glass. 2024 –Isabella Breese was completing her final year of a BA (Hons) in Classics with a minor in Cinema Studies. Isabella planned to continue her studies in teaching, so her internship provided the opportunity to develop a teaching resource that was closely aligned with the New Zealand secondary school curriculum.  Drawing on her knowledge of classics, gaming, film, and pop culture her game ‘Zeus in Pursuit’ allows students to strengthen the knowledge they learn in class by relating it back to everyday media.
Intern Ellie Rice sits at a desk holding an Egyptian artefact in the storeroom. 2023 –Ellie Rice completed a PACE internship project which focussed on researching the origins and provenance of the Fern Collection of ancient Egyptian pots ranging between the estimated dates of 4500 to 1000 BCE. This collection was donated to the Teece Museum in 2022. Ellie’s research aimed to produce a better understanding of how they came from an unknown excavation site to New Zealand. Ellie was in her final year of a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Classical Studies and minoring in Māori and Indigenous Studies.
2022 –Rachel Gillman was third year student working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Classics and French. Rachel focussed on cataloguing and interpreting a small collection of theatre masks in the Logie Collection, with the aim of creating an online resource for this fascinating group of material culture. Rachel particularly enjoyed the one-on-one time she spent with the artefacts for her research, and the opportunity to participate in behind-the-scene tasks caring for the collection. 
Intern Finn Adams gives a presentation in the gallery. 2021 – Finn Adams graduated the University of Canterbury in 2020 with a double major in Classics and History, and was studying towards a BA Honours in Classics when he began his PACE internship. Finn was keen to apply my knowledge of Classics to actual artefacts from the period, and to get an idea of what it was like to work in a museum environment. His project was to conduct a survey of Classical arms and armour held in New Zealand collections. Finn’s research was published as a resource booklet for teachers and students, ‘Arms and Armour of the Ancient Classical World.’
2021 –Brylea Hollinshead was a Philosophy honours student who recently completed her Bachelor of Arts in Classics and Philosophy. For her internship project, Brylea created a Hellenistic philosophy resource booklet for intermediate age children. Through this, she aimed to introduce children to big ideas and engage them in critical thinking through creative interactions with text, objects, and images. The internship gave Brylea an opportunity to bring philosophy out of the ivory tower and create a resource with exciting ideas, thought-provoking activities, and ancient artefacts.
2020 –Isabelle Neville had a background in English Literature and Art History and was completing a Master of Writing at Canterbury University. Isabelle’s internship with the Teece Museum involved her creating educational resources for primary school teachers. The three lesson plans feature the Logie Collection, and aim to teach kids about Greek Mythology. Isabelle used her internship to better understand how object-based education can engage young people and get them excited about learning.
2019 – Ayden Dove was a History and Classics major at the University of Canterbury. His preferred historical time periods are Medieval and Islamic history, while in Classics his interest is in the late Roman Republic. Ayden’s love of Classics comes from his form teacher in high school telling the class different stories every day. For his internship project, Ayden worked on a project to continue cataloguing the historic glass plate lantern slide collection which was used by the Classics Department for teaching purposes.
2019 – Isabella Kerby was an Art History Honours student and has always loved archaeology and the history of European cultures with the ancient Mediterranean world being a favourite throughout her education.  During this internship, Isabella continued to catalogue the Museum’s collection of glass-plate lantern slides. Isabella hoped that this project would provide her with practical skills and experience in a relevant workplace that will advantage her hopes of a career in the museums and galleries world, particularly in exhibitions and heritage.
2018 – Nicole Pepperell had an interest in history and a desire to study this subject at university.  Nicole completed a degree in History and Classics and undertook a summer internship with the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities. This internship project involved developing a primary school resource on ‘A Day in the Life of a Roman child.’  Following the summer internship, Nicole commenced an honours degree in Classics, including a research thesis about Roman children.
2018 – Emily Rosevear was a History Honours student having completed her undergraduate studies with majors in both Classics and History. As part of her studies, she did an internship with the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities. The internship involved cataloguing and improving the storage conditions of the Lantern Slide collection. With has an ongoing interest in Greek Art and Architecture from her undergraduate studies in Classics she hoped to gain hands-on experience working with the collection items and learning about the cataloguing process.
2017 – Fresh out of a BA majoring in Classics with a minor in Anthropology, Roswyn Wiltshire decided to begin Honours by broadening her skill set through an internship with the Logie Collection. For her project she created a transcript of a recently donated travel diary belonging to the collection’s founder, Miss Marion Steven. While learning museum practices and gathering information about the hitherto rather elusive Miss Steven, she also discovered more about the history of Classics, (and Classical Archaeology) as a field of study.