The Careers in Arts, Culture, and Entertainment program empowers students to channel their creativity into successful careers in these interdisciplinary and fast-changing fields. The program prepares students for the many diverse career paths in the arts and humanities, including artistic practice, arts administration, cultural institutions, museums, and both business and creative roles in the entertainment industry.
Undergraduates of all majors and artistic interests are welcome! Students whose primary interest is writing or publishing are also encouraged to get involved with the Careers in Journalism and Creative Writing program.
Learn more about the many exciting career paths in the humanities!
Resources to Pursue Your Artistic Vision
Careers in Arts, Culture, and Entertainment provides a diverse range of resources – including advising, internships, and hands-on experiences – that allow students to grow as artists and creative thinkers, develop as professionals, and pursue opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines. The program also sponsors collaborative experiences that give students the opportunity to learn and work with leading practitioners on projects that advance their creative and professional goals.
Personalized Advising
Senior Program Director Benjamin Waltzer brings a wide range of professional experience to the role, and works closely with colleagues across the University, the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, and institutions and practitioners worldwide to build a network of opportunities for students.
In advising appointments, students may receive help with developing a portfolio, preparing resumes, composing effective cover letters, and discussing how to use program resources to achieve their unique pre-professional goals. The program can also help students find and secure internships, grants, and employment opportunities.
Learn Your Craft and Find Collaborators
Careers in Arts, Culture, and Entertainment hosts a variety of skill-building workshops throughout the year. Programs include panel discussions, lecture-demonstrations, and hands-on workshops with professionals in the fields of music, filmmaking, fine arts, arts entrepreneurship, digital media, and beyond. Panelists include practicing artists, arts administrators, critics, curators, art historians, and entrepreneurs. Recent guests have included President and COO of FX Networks, Chuck Saftler, co-creator of Halo, Alex Seropian, filmmakers Shayla Harris and Luchina Fisher, jazz drummer Matt Wilson, artist Simone Leigh, poet and journalist Ted Genoways and many more.
Get Experience
The Jeff Metcalf Internship Program is unique to the University of Chicago. It offers paid, substantive internships during the summer and the academic year exclusively to UChicago undergraduates.
Each year, the program offers internships with a highly diverse range of arts, culture, and entertainment organizations around the world. Past Metcalf recipients have interned at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Second City, and Paramount Pictures.
Practitioner Program
Careers in Arts, Culture and Entertainment as well as Journalism and Creative Writing maintain relationships with leading practitioners – screenwriters, artists, journalists, novelists, and beyond – who may need student assistants on current projects.
In the case such an opportunity is not readily available, Program Directors also work with students to reach out to practitioners in their field to enquire whether such project-based internships may be possible.
These roles are funded, and in the case a student self-secures an opportunity, they may apply for funding through the program’s granting application process.
Students have worked with novelist Nathaniel Rich, journalist Gideon Lewis-Krause, historian Eve Fairbanks, author Lawrence Wright, comedian Tami Sagher, and more.
Grants
Careers in Arts, Culture, and Entertainment offers grants that are part of the Metcalf Program which fund hands-on opportunities for students. These grants can support student work with professionals and organizations that administer on-the-job mentoring and training. These grants are available for both academic year and summer opportunities.
Previous grant recipients have worked at Warner Brothers Records, LA Review of Books, the Guggenheim Museum, as well as opportunities to work with filmmakers, composers, graphic novelists and others.
Early Engagement: Humanities UX
Humanities UX immerses students in career exploration at the intersection of media, design, and data. The program gives 1st year students the opportunity to discover and develop careers across an interdisciplinary range of paths including animation, game design, visual arts, and film. See more Information here.
Thank You to the Humanities UX Committee!
We're deeply grateful to the committee of faculty and staff experts serving on the Humanities UX Committee.
Jas Brooks
Ph.D Student, Computer Science
Heidi Coleman
Senior Lecturer, Theater and Performance Studies
Patrick Jagoda
Professor of English and Cinema and Media Studies
Ashlyn Sparrow
Assistant Director, Weston Game Lab
Arts & Humanities Bridge Program
Careers in the Arts, Culture, & Entertainment & Careers in Journalism & Creative Writing offers a career support program for graduating seniors! Students accepted into the Arts & Humanities Bridge Program will receive strategic advising and tailored employer events led by our industry expert team members with you whom you will work until you’ve secured a post-graduate, summer opportunity. Through this program employer partners include the Metropolitan Opera, the Chicago History Museum, the New York Philharmonic, UChicago Press, The Graham Foundation of Fine Arts and more. Learn more about the application process here.
Career Treks
Treks give students an opportunity to meet potential employers in cities throughout the U.S. and around the world. Careers in Arts, Culture, and Entertainment organizes career treks in major arts and culture hubs, including an annual entertainment industry trek to Los Angeles.
Recent treks have taken students to leading organizations including Industrial Toys Gaming, Paramount Pictures, Disney, A24 Pictures, FX, Showtime, and 20th Century Fox Studios.
Learn More
For more information, please contact Senior Program Director Ben Waltzer at waltzer@uchicago.edu and Senior Assistant Director Nely Rentas at nrentas@uchicago.edu.