Humanities Majors and Research Park

Sometimes (like today) you may get directed to job and internship opportunities at Research Park that seem to have nothing to do with your major. These job titles may seem bewildering, if you’re assuming that a relevant job will involve research, editing, or writing, probably for a cultural or educational organization (school, publisher, museum). “Strategic Resources”? Agriculture companies? Tech stuff?

You may also be confused about what Research Park is and how working there might fit into your life as a student. Read this FAQ to learn more.about Research Park internships for humanities majors. More than 100 companies have offices there, ranging from tiny startups to research centers for major multinational corporations. They employ a lot of U of Illinois students as paid interns.

You may be surprised at the range of businesses for which your skills are relevant. Here’s creative writing sophomore and Research Park intern Christel Thompson explaining what she does for Syngenta:

UIRP Intern: Christel Thompson of Syngtena Digital Lab

Check out this spotlight:Everyone has a story to tell and Christel Thompson tells Syngenta Digital Innovation Lab's. As a Creative Writing student in the University of Illinois Creative Writing Program, Christel enjoys the exciting work culture where her manager pushes everyone to "skip the boring." As the Creative Storyteller Intern, she helps facilitate the kind of symbiotic relationship between Syngenta's Digital Innovation Lab and the Research Park as a whole that helps Syngenta help Illinois farmers and feed the planet.

Posted by University of Illinois Research Park on Thursday, June 14, 2018

When you see those internship postings, go ahead and click on the links to read more. These employers may be looking for you — and you can use the experience you gain to write your own next chapter.

Keep up to date on new openings by checking the Research Park Job Board regularly.

By the way, “strategic resources”? That’s the catch-all term State Farm uses for project-based internships that vary from semester to semester, depending on what the current projects are. Often these projects require people who are good at finding information and writing about it…like humanities majors.

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