Practicum
Come and do a Practicum with us
The Literature Centre offers BA and MA level university students with the opportunity for a practicum. The tasks involved in the practicum depend largely on the student´s own interests, and a separate agreement is made in each individual case.
We look forward to welcoming practicum students who wish:
- to acquire an overview of the general functioning of an exciting writer`s museum and its scholarly collections – the archival library and the archive, including awareness of the possibilities for organising and using these materials; to apply this basic knowledge to practical work and use the skills learned in personal research work;
- to learn and practice the paleography of German and Latin manuscripts and printed texts from the early modern period;
- to participate in the administration of scholarly work and its popularisation, maintaining webpages, and organisation of events, as well as other pertinent activities.
The young researcher of working-class literature, Hegely Klaus, came to the Literature Centreʼs museum for a practicum during her studies toward the MA in literature and theatre studies at the University of Tartu. She lost herself in the museumʼs library, and found that Tuglas had collected a large amount of material in which she was particularly interested. Now she works as head of the museum department while continuing her own research.
Selection of Activities
- In the field of archival work, one can get acquainted with the Literature Centre`s depositories and collections (manuscripts, photo-, art-, object-, and audio collections); work with archival materials(primarily manuscripts, objects, photographs, and audio materials ); systematise and describe museum materials that have not yet been processed, draw up catalogues and enter museum items in the Museums Public Portal (MuIS).
- In order to gain experience in museum work, we offer the opportunity to participate in organising exhibitions and smaller exhibits, work with the educational programmes (e.g developing and conducting a new educational programme; tour guide practice) and organising museum events, as well as participating in the compiling and editing of museum publications.
- For MA level university students in Germanic studies and classical philology (Latin studies) we offer the opportunity for a practicum related to learning and pracicing the paleography of historical German and Latin manuscripts and printed materials of the early modern period. In the course of practical exercises in transcription, the student will primarily become acquainted with historical systems of scripts, punctuation and abbreviations used in the conservation of literary texts from this geographical region. Also, a practicum may focus on transcription of captions or legends on historical works of art and everyday objects, in order to learn the paleographic and epigraphic particularities of different media ( sheets of graphic art, historical paintings, gravestones, sarcophagi, metal objects, etc).
- In the area of administration of scientific work and its popularisation, a student may become acquainted with the everyday work of a scientific institution, ranging from administration responsibilities, archiving, and writing proposals, to all other activities that help us keep the public better informed of our work. Also, a student may participate in the organisation of seminars, conferences, and literary events and contribute their own ideas.
- Depending on the goal of the practicum, it can take place in the Literature Centre in downtown Tallinn, at the museum in Nõmme, or both, according to a flexible schedule that suits the student. However, if none of these activities are just what you want to pursue, and you still want to do your practicum with us, get in touch and let`s discuss it!