Archives for February 2014

Digital Arts & Media Internship Opportunity at Texas After Violence Project

Austin-based nonprofit Texas After Violence Project (TAVP) is seeking 1 – 2 interns to help conceptualize and complete digital arts & media projects. These are unpaid internships; you may receive credit or apply this internship toward your “Connecting Experience” requirement as your faculty and staff advisers permit.

Founded in 2007, TAVP explores the death penalty in Texas through oral history. We have conducted over 100 video-recorded oral history interviews, 65 of which are now public. We archive the interviews on our website (www.texasafterviolence.org) and at the Human Rights Documentation Initiative (HRDI), a digital archive housed at the University of Texas Libraries (http://av.lib.utexas.edu/index.php?title=Category:Texas_After_Violence_Project).

We currently have two digital arts & media projects in development—a digital timeline and a digital map—and seek interns who have the skills, preparation and commitment to make substantial contributions to their completion. In brief, we hope to build a:

1.)   Digital timeline. We envision a web-based interactive digital timeline of the modern death penalty in Texas with special reference to Supreme Court cases that integrates clips of our video oral histories with supplementary materials (archival documents, graphics, photographs) to highlight historical context.

2.)   Digital map. We envision a web-based interactive digital map of the modern death penalty in Texas. The project would map our oral histories on geographic space, and use graphics, photographs, and other supplementary materials to highlight significant places.

3.)   We imagine developing an interactive educational game, but this is in the very early stages of development.

The selected intern will only work on one project at a time, and at this time, the digital timeline is prioritized. Interns will do vital work to advance the mission of the Texas After Violence Project by creating a piece that helps disseminate our oral histories among the general public in creative and accessible ways. Further, we are interested in the potential of using these pieces for curriculum and educational outreach.

Preferred qualifications: We seek interns who are familiar with web development and interactive media and have portfolios available. An ideal candidate will know how to work with various file formats (video, audio and stills). The video oral histories are in our possession, as are some archival documents. Ideal candidates can help us prepare these documents for use in the piece (digitizing, etc. when necessary), and help us create new artifacts when possible (for example, taking new photographs or editing photos for use in piece; creating a graphic, or researching and accessing a new document).

These projects may be appropriate for a “Connecting Experience” project, but this connection is not required. We welcome an immediate start, but imagine the work—and the internship—continuing into Summer 2014. Hours and work location can be negotiated.

Application process: To apply, you may send an email of interest with a short paragraph describing your suitability for this project, with a link to a sample(s) of your work to Rebecca at volunteer@texasafterviolence.org