At the National Constitution Center, five undergrads in the School of Arts & Sciences spent 10 weeks equipping educators to teach the Constitution with accuracy, balance, and a nonpartisan approach.
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On a school field trip in elementary school, Penn Arts & Sciences undergrad Pelham Tennant remembers gazing up with a sense of awe at the words “We the People” etched into the exterior of the National Constitution Center (NCC) at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall. Little did she know that as a rising second-year, she would intern in that very building, through Penn’s Summer Humanities Internship Program (SHIP).
Undergraduates (from left to right) Pelham Tennant, Margot Englander, Christian Giunta of the University of Delaware, Carson Donnelly, and Nestor Fioretos spent 10 weeks this summer working full-time at the National Constitution Center.
(Image: Courtesy of Omnia)
“Growing up in Philly, the National Constitution Center always loomed large,” says Tennant, who is majoring in political science. “The opportunity to intern there and learn about the history and various interpretations of the Constitution, particularly during the 250th anniversary of our nation, is special.”
Tennant is one of four SHIP interns—including Nestor Fioretos, Carson Donnelly, and Margot Englander—who spent 10 weeks working at the NCC, a non-partisan, nonprofit institution and interactive museum that seeks to educate teachers and the public about the U.S. Constitution. The students worked with Harry Olafsen, manager of teacher engagement. Internships at the NCC are competitive, with students undergoing a rigorous application and interview process.
Each year, the College of Arts & Sciences and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) fund approximately 25 summer internship opportunities like this in the humanities and social sciences, with each participant receiving a $5,500 award. SHIP placements provide undergraduates the opportunity to work in a cultural, historical, or archival setting full-time for two-and-a-half months.
In support of NCC’s mission, this year’s interns worked on a variety of projects, with their primary focus on preparing for the Center’s Educator Institutes, professional development opportunities for people who work with students in grades five through 12 at public, charter, independent, parochial, and other schools. The month-long Institutes cover a different Constitution-related topic each week—for example, the legacy of the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution’s intellectual inspirations—to help teachers build a solid, non-partisan foundation for teaching the Constitution’s text and history.
Tennant worked on the Institute week dedicated to landmark Supreme Court cases. “As someone who plans to go to law school and potentially become a judge, hearing how Constitutional principles are applied in real cases reinforced for me how important that is to the foundations of our democracy,” she says, adding, “America is in such a politically charged space right now. It’s important to have a place like the NCC where people across the political spectrum can come together.”
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