Shefa Galiba Gaish
On April 29, the CCNY Humanities Internships program (HI) came to life in its most meaningful form, not through a brochure, not through an email, but through the voices of students who had lived it. Beginning in 2021 with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the HI Program has placed humanities students in paid internships at New York City's top cultural and nonprofit organizations. After a soft launch, the program is now gaining momentum across campus, and a group of students from the Advertising and Personal Relations (Ad/PR) program were eager to come alongside help expand HI’s reach. The Pathways Project is a student-run agency born out of the Ad/PR Workshop, a senior capstone course in which students develop and execute a real integrated marketing communications campaign for an actual client. Their event, the HI Palooza, drew over eighty attendees to an afternoon designed to answer one central question: what can a humanities degree do for you?
The event featured five activations: a vision board station where students mapped out their career goals, a Red Bull refresher lounge, professional headshot sign-ups, a trivia section where one lucky winner walked away with a gift card, and an alumni panel spotlighting former participants in the Humanities Internships program—where paid opportunities in fields range from communications and public relations to museum education and archival research. The energy and enthusiasm were infectious. Several students lingered at the vision board station long after they had finished, reluctant to leave. Perhaps it was the rare permission to slow down and think seriously about their futures, something a packed course schedule rarely allows. Others engaged deep in conversation with peers, comparing goals, swapping ideas, and realizing for the first time that their classmates shared the same anxieties and ambitions about life after graduation. "This was such a fun event, I wish I knew about [HI] before graduating," said Nahylea Narvaez, an AdPR major. "And the Red Bull refresher? Delicious."
The alumni panel was the heartbeat of the afternoon. Panelists Dashawn Brown and Makaiya Williams, both HI alumni, brought candor, energy, and real-world perspective to a room full of students hungry for direction. Their conversation moved organically, feeling less like a formal panel and more like an honest dialogue between peers who genuinely wanted to see each other succeed. "I love putting students on to paid opportunities," said Brown after the panel. Her words cut to the heart of what made the Hi Palooza necessary in the first place. For too many CCNY humanities students, the future feels like a luxury they can't afford, something to figure out after the rent is paid, the shift is covered, and the coursework is done. The Pathways Project designed the Hi Palooza around a simple but urgent argument: that a paid internship doesn't ask students to choose between today's financial reality and tomorrow's career goals. It funds both. That's what making your future a priority actually looks like when you're a student who can't afford to wait.
Prior to the event, our data revealed that over 60% of CCNY students were unfamiliar with the HI program. By the end of the event, approximately 50% of attendees reported feeling significantly more informed about the HI's eligibility requirements, application process, and the range of paid internship opportunities available to them as humanities students at CCNY.
The Hi Palooza served as a bridge between where humanities students are and where they could go. For The Pathways Project team, the event was more than a capstone deliverable. It was proof that humanities students thrive when given the right resources, real connections, and a room that takes their ambitions seriously. The Pathways Project team extends their gratitude to Dr. Marisa Hollywood and the Ad/PR department for their partnership in making this event possible. Their commitment to expanding access to paid experiential learning continues to open doors for students across the division.
Applications for the CCNY Humanities Internship Program are open.
Learn more HERE.