Co-op & Internship Spotlight: History Major's Internship Built Skills, Solidified Career Path

 “Open every door,” is the advice of Nathaniel Bartsch, a history and film production double major who interned during summer 2025 at the Seward House Museum, a historic home and residence of William Henry Seward, a prominent 19th-century politician. 

“RIT offers so many opportunities, you just have to find the right doors and open every single one. Opening one door can lead you to a new network,” he explains. “That network can connect you to three more, and each of those can branch into nine more. Little by little, one opportunity can grow into many, almost like a chain reaction.”

As an intern, Bartsch gave visitors a rich view of the life and accomplishments of William H. Seward, who served as a New York State Senator, Governor of New York, a United States Senator, and Secretary of State during the Lincoln and Johnson administrations. Leading tours and contributing to day-to-day operations of the museum, he gained hands-on perspective for what it takes to operate a museum. Additionally, a research and digital project—developing an interactive map of international gifts and purchases made by Seward—provided the chance to apply his tech and communication skills and further the museum’s mission.

Project management and collaboration with staff, research and digital mapping with Tableau Public, creative problem-solving, and public speaking are a few of the transferable job skills he honed while interning. The experience also helped reinforce his passion for a career in collections, interpretation, or museum operations. 

“This internship showed me the wonderful world of museums. I really enjoyed balancing research, public engagement, and creative problem-solving,” he said. In fact, his resourceful thinking even helped the museum secure donations needed to complete a project on time and under budget. 

“The Seward House continues to appreciate our ongoing partnership with RIT, and I am so pleased that Nathaniel has been the latest in a line of excellent interns we have been able to place,” said Jeffrey Ludwig, Ph.D., Director of Education for the museum. “He's been truly exceptional.”

Now in his second year at RIT, Bartsch serves on the RIT College of Liberal Arts Student Advisory Board, an experience that will further develop his collaboration and leadership skills. He’s also a research assistant supporting the Remember the Lambda Network at Kodak project led by RIT History Department Chair Tamar Carroll, Ph.D., and preparing for an exhibition slated to be held at George Eastman Museum next year. 

Bartsch’s internship was supported in part by the RIT Sentinel Society, philanthropic leaders whose annual gifts to RIT support experiential learning opportunities for College of Liberal Arts students as well as many other facets of an enriched RIT experience campus- and community-wide. 

For information about internships, co-ops, research, or other experiential learning opportunities at RIT, visit rit.edu/experiential-learning. Additionally, College of Liberal Arts can find specific resources at rit.edu/liberalarts/experiential-learning.

Photos by Tamar Carroll and Walker Goodmote.