Students in the Department of Visual and Theatre Arts can gain hands-on experience through student teaching in the art or dance concentrations or through traditional internships in graphic design or theatre.

Art or Dance Education

Students studying art education or dance education are required to complete an off-campus student teaching experience for a minimum of 7.5 weeks. ARTE and DNED 471 involve supervised instructional time in K-6 classrooms, and ARTE and DNED 472 focus on grades 7-12. Six credit hours can be earned in either sequence. Students must be admitted into UT Martin’s teacher education program, have completed all required courses in the profession education core of the BFA degree program under the teaching option and have successfully passed the relevant Praxis examination in order to enroll in these courses.

The Nancy Eckert Scholarship is available for student teachers in art. One $500 award is given each semester; students must be enrolled in ARTE 471/472 for the semester in which the award is given. The application deadline is the last day of classes in that semester. Contact Dr. Carol Eckert at ceckert@utm.edu for more information.

Graphic Design Internship

Graphic design students can take GDES 450 – Internships in Graphic Design as an upper division elective course for three credit hours. Students must have senior standing and submit an internship application for approval before enrolling. Students are responsible for securing a position with an appropriate commercial or professional organization, and internships can be found both on and off-campus. Students serving internships must agree to the department’s Graphic Design Internship Guidelines before beginning work. A minimum of 120 hours is necessary to receive academic credit, and students are expected to retain work examples completed during the internship for use in their professional portfolios. Applications must be submitted to Lane Last, professor of art, at lanelast@utm.edu before the last day of classes in the semester before the internship.

Examples of previous internship hosts include:

  • The Nashville Predators, Nashville, TN
  • Federal Express, Memphis, TN
  • Sony Music, Nashville, TN
  • The Yeiser Art Center, Paducah, KY
  • Savant Learning Systems, Martin, TN
  • Discovery Park of America, Union City, TN
  • The West Tennessee Regional Art Center, Humboldt, TN
  • The UT Martin Office of University Relations, Martin, TN
Theatre Internship

Theatre students can take THEA 401 – Independent Study as an upper division elective course for three credit hours. Students must have senior standing and submit an internship application for approval before enrolling. Students are responsible for securing a position with an appropriate commercial or professional organization and must agree to the Theatre Internship Guidelines before beginning work. A minimum of 120 hours is necessary to receive academic credit. Students are expected to journal work experiences for review by the instructor. Applications must be submitted to Doug Cook, professor of theatre, at dcook@utm.edu by the last day of classes in the semester before the internship.

Examples of previous internship hosts include:

  • Children’s Treatment Center, Martin TN
  • Twilight Cabaret Theatre, Aurora, KY
  • Savant Learning Systems, Martin, TN
  • Masquerade Theatre, Union City, TN
  • Interlochen Arts Camp, Interlochen, MI