Mentored Professional Experiences

For WashU doctoral students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences

To fulfill the Office of Graduate Studies’ Mentored Experience requirement for doctoral degrees, graduate students may choose to complete a Mentored Professional Experience (MPE) with the Center for the Humanities. 

MPEs allow students to enhance their professional portfolios in contexts that can bridge academy and society, provide opportunities for students to apply their knowledge and skillsets to industry or organization needs, and to develop networks and literacies that complement their coursework and research. MPEs bring experiential learning into a PhD program’s curriculum, opening up exciting pathways for students.

In the humanities center, graduate students pursuing an MPE work with PhD staff mentors to develop projects that engage with humanities impact reporting, project management, symposium and event planning, humanities program research and development, grant writing and/or community engagement. 

Questions may be addressed to:

  • Laura Perry, PhD, assistant director for research and public engagement
  • Meredith Kelling, PhD, assistant director for student research and engagement
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MPE Opportunities

Join us this spring at the humanities center!

The Center for the Humanities has three MPE opportunities for the spring 2025 semester. 

Graduate Mentor, Banned Books Undergraduate Research Fellowship 

The graduate student undertaking this MPE will work with the students of the Banned Books Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Fellows will engage in research projects on topics of their choosing, and take part in regular meetings to collaborate on a final event, consult with experts and advocates against book banning at the state and national level, and workshop their ongoing individual projects. While students will produce writing around their research topic, the final product of their work is the presentation of their research, rather than a paper.

The graduate mentor will guide the students through their individual research projects, including through connecting students with resources, faculty experts, and project ideas, and holding weekly office hours. They will also mentor students in the writing of their final, end-of-term reports (4-5 pages), partner with Center staff on the facilitation of regular meetings, and aid in the facilitation of a culminating event. The expected workload is 10 hours weekly. 

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Graduate Mentor, Environmental Humanities Undergraduate Research Group 

The Center for the Humanities and the Program in Environmental Studies are partnering on a small research cohort for undergraduate students in Spring 2025. A group of undergraduates will work on projects related to topics in the environmental humanities, using archival materials from WashU’s Tyson Research Center field station as a key source for their explorations. 

The graduate mentor will guide the students through an active process of recovery of Tyson’s archival materials and their use in the development of their individual projects, including through connecting students with resources, faculty experts, and project ideas, by consulting with students and holding weekly office hours. They will also mentor students in the writing of their final, end-of-term reports (5-8 pages), and aid in the facilitation of a culminating event. The expected work load is 10 hours weekly. 

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Humanities Digital Communications

The spring 2025 MPE in Humanities Digital Communications at the Center for the Humanities offers a graduate student the opportunity to take the lead on coordinating one of our monthly newsletters, the Humanities Broadsheet. Shared via email to over 3,000 subscribers each month during the academic year, the Broadsheet is a free online events calendar that gathers into one spot the humanities-related events hosted by St. Louis’ many cultural institutions and organizations, both on campus and in the greater St. Louis region. The Humanities Digital Communications MPE would work with the communications manager for the full lifecycle of each monthly issue — identifying appropriate events, communicating with event organizers, curating highlighted events, copy-editing, formatting each issue to house style, designing emails and website updates — as well as mentor an undergraduate assistant. Additional communications projects, as well as the opportunity to consider communications with broader publics more holistically, are available as time and interest permit. This MPE will take place virtually. 

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