For more details about Professor Petel’s research and what Brannen says about the experience, check .

She was fortunate enough to work alongside various members of the Western Cape Government’s Department of Health, attend health policy research functions, and assist HST senior project officers with research initiatives funded by well-known organizations such the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The highlight of her internship took place in September when Khadija and her manager presented their project proposal to a Health Systems Information Director at South Africa’s National Department of Health. Despite undergoing such a nerve wracking experience, they met with success as the project was granted funding from the Centre for Disease Control! During the final stages of her internship, Khadija assisted her manager with the project’s implementation in various rural sub-districts in South Africa. When she wasn’t working, she travelled frequently, including a trip to South Africa’s Garden Route, achieving one of her life-long dreams in the process: cage diving with Great White Sharks! She also volunteered once a week at the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, where she learned about various innovative HIV treatment options and developing a user-friendly HIV/TB co-infected patient database.

The International Youth Internship is one of the few long-standing skills-building and career launching programs available to Canadians graduates interested in gaining international work experience. It assists many young graduates with overcoming the catch-22 that many of them suffer from: not being able to launch their careers without experience. Khadija believes that this internship has not only confirmed her desire to pursue a career in health policy and international development, but has also greatly enhanced her resume and Masters applications. She encourages recent and prospective PAPM graduates to apply for internships once the program is confirmed for an additional five years by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. Though it was bitter-sweet to leave Health Systems Trust and return to Canada, she’s excited to start graduate school in the fall of 2014, where she will continue to seek out opportunities to launch her career in public policy and international development.

Listen to the composition at 

Bidner shares what inspired the composition and how it was created at 

If you are interested in participating in this program, or you would like more information, visit 

Mauro Bertoli, Artist in Residence for ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University’s created the initiative, inspired by his time as a volunteer at the ROH. “I think it’s a great initiative, music reaches the hearts of everybody, and what is better than reaching people that are suffering and might extremely enjoy such an experience.”

Fourth year Music major Helen Liu shared that she is “hoping to brighten their day with my music” when asked about performing at the ROH. She was drawn to this opportunity because of her “strong passion for helping people that are suffering.”

Bertoli feels that students can greatly benefit from this experience. “Students can both have an experience as musicians performing in front of an audience, and at the same time share their skills with persons that have a different life, encountering a different reality that probably most of us are not aware of. For the patients at the Royal it’s a great opportunity to have some live music in their residence, meet the artists personally and talk with them after the performance, sharing with them their emotions or simply their questions.” His inspiring initiative will give several Music students invaluable performance experience.

Priya Shah, a fourth year Music major with a minor in Women and Gender Studies and Psychology shared “I love playing music for people! In the future I aspire to become a music therapist, so any opportunity where I get to play music for all kinds of people in various environments is a useful learning experience.”

If you are interested in being involved in this initiative, please contact mauro.bertoli@maurobertoli.com

Second year masters student in Art History Emma Hamilton-Hobbs had the opportunity to do her practicum with Library and Archives Canada in Place de la Cité, Gatineau. She gained experience handling glass plate and nitrate negatives while collaborating with former and current archivists. She described her work as sometimes “solving a mystery” as she worked on the arrangement and description of the Topley Studio fonds. “I learned how to take initiative when given a project, and I learned that archival work can be both frustrating and rewarding at the same time,” she shared.

Her advice to future students? “I would definitely encourage art history students to participate in a practicum program. Not only do you develop and learn new skills as you progress throughout your placement, but you also make important connections with colleagues at your institution that may lead to professional opportunities down the road. You are getting a “hands-on” experience that would not be available to you in a classroom setting. I also think that it provides you with an opportunity to discover what it is that you want to, or perhaps don’t want to do, in terms of a future career.”

Members of the Ottawa art community also were highly impressed with the program. Catherine Sinclair, Senior Curator at the Ottawa Art Gallery praised the practicum for establishing “valuable connections with future workers in the curatorial/museums/archives fields and hands-on help with research projects and day-to-day office work.”

Professor Stephane Roy, a supervisor of the Art History practicum program shared that “learning Art History in the classroom is one thing, practicing it is another. The practicum program gives students a unique opportunity to work behind the scenes, contribute to a vast array of research projects and exhibitions, and to gain valuable experience before hitting the job market.”

“The City of Ottawa Public Art Program (PAP) benefits from the specialized skills of Art History graduate and undergraduate students to research and write information pertaining to specific artworks in the City of Ottawa Art Collection. These skills enable us to expand the information available to the public pertaining to the artworks on public display. In general students often add to the discussion of new technology and its use. The PAP also benefits from providing the ongoing interaction and skills training that benefits the overall arts community, students learn about conservation, exhibition planning and general museum management. The PAP has hired past conservation, museum management and art history interns and practicum students as temporary and full time employees.”-Development Officer for the Public Art Program Jonathan Browns on ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ Art History practicum students

If you are interested in being involved in the Art History practicum, visit the Art History website for further details. Some community partners for the practicum program include:

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By Heather McAlister

If you enjoyed reading this article, you might also enjoy reading a at the National Gallery and ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´’s Library and the .

1) Which community partners did you work with? (ie the Ottawa Art Gallery, War Museum etc.)

I had the opportunity to enroll in two different practicums for an overall 1.0 full credit. The first placement I was working in Reference Services at the ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University Library under the direction of the Art History, Music and Film subject specialist librarian (very conveniently located for post-placement study sessions!) For the second placement, I was at the National Gallery of Canada in the Library & Archives. My career interests in art history are actually in libraries, collection development and archival work and so both of these placements were excellent opportunities for me to see what goes on in a busy academic library as well as a specialist art library.

2) What do you feel were the most important skills you gained from this experience? What did you learn that you might not have learned in a classroom?

Of the two placements, the skills I strengthened are predominantly time management, communication and IT skills. Time management became necessary because, even without assigned weekly readings, I found myself more busy than usual during term time. I also had to liaise with professionals, students and the general public during both placements, which gave me more practice communicating in the professional work environment. I also gained further IT skills through my own projects, such as creating PDFs for reference guides in art history and using tools such as Camtasia for the creation of a tutorial library guide video. At the National Gallery, I was able to learn a bit about the databases offered for efficient access to the library’s vast collection. This overall experience gave me a greater understanding of art librarianship from two different institutions, which I definitely could not have learned in a classroom. As such, it has also made applying for a postgraduate qualification in Library and Information Science an easier process, since I now know where my specific interests are in this field.

3) What would you say to future art history students considering participating in the practicum?

I am confident in saying that the practicum program is an incredible opportunity to take the skills you’re being taught in the classroom and your own interests within art history to a professional level. Building your resume while studying for your BA is a great way to demonstrate your knowledge of and dedication to your chosen field. At the same time, I think it is also quite important that students should have an understanding that institutions who partake in the practicum program at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ are doing so as a way to share their knowledge, expertise and skills. I believe that a proactive approach is the best way to get the most out of your placement, and will ensure that you always have projects on the go. Do your research before you begin your placement! (I.e. Know the collection and current exhibitions, know the policies of the institution that you are placed with, and have a general idea of potential projects in case you have full agency, but also be open minded to the tasks they may give you).

By Jenna Dufour

If you enjoyed this article, you might also enjoy reading about and the .

With about 10 campus ensembles, from choirs to opera to West African Rhythm and more, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ has opportunities to suit all types of students’ music tastes.  Students can also participate in several affiliated off-campus ensembles, including the and among many others.

In the wider music community, local  music events such as and the also engage ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ students as volunteers, providing experience in arts administration and exposing them to more music opportunities. Chamberfest extends free pass to the entire festival to ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ students in exchange for students blogging about the concerts they attended.

If you are interested in hearing ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ students pound out some tunes, venues such as Rideau Hall, the Museum of Nature, The War Museum, Parliament Hill, the Ottawa Convention Centre, the National Art Gallery all frequently contact ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´’s music department asking for musical performers. “We get so many requests to have our students perform at these types of events that coordinating them all could almost be a separate job!” joked Professor James Wright, a professor in ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´’s Music department. Weddings and other events also seek out ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ students as performers. In each of these experiences, students are paid for their work and are able to gain excellent performance experience.

For students interested in jazz, the jazz mentor series is a connection with students and professional jazz players in a variety of performance spaces. Students can attend performances, learn from mentors and maybe even jam a bit! For other live music, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´’s campus-based community radio station CKCU 93.1 FM also features ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ music students every Tuesday from 1:00-2:00pm. Go to the to stream it live!

These excellent community partnerships and engaging learning opportunities will be available to students in years to come. Professor Wright shared that the experiences of working with community partners has been very well received by ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ students and by the community “Our partners wish to engage with us in the future, which is a natural fit with the Music department’s programs. Our students are really truly wonderful and they need the experience connecting with the community.”

Want to know more? Visit 

By Heather McAlister

Students can receive up to $2250 for their faculty-supervised research, while also gaining experience with data collection, processing and writing in their given field.  Network with professors and gain insight into future fields of study through this excellent learning opportunity. Students are responsible for contacting a professor they are interested in performing research with and are encouraged to look to  for more information. Applications for I-CUREUS are now being accepted by the Discovery Centre.