Activate Interns Develop Creative Projects on Japan, Dante, and AI

This summer, four Creative Interns joined the Humanities Cultural Programme as part of a partnership between Activate Colleges and TORCH.

Over the course of several weeks, these talented 16-19 year olds brought their creative expertise and talents to the team to support in the development of the Humanities Cultural Programme Dante and Japan Seasons, as well as input into the early stages of the 2022 Season themes: Egypt and Artificial Intelligence.

The Creative Interns worked on individual projects to develop creative content which could be used in one of the Seasons, potentially showcasing their work to thousands of people across Oxford and beyond.  

The four students worked on projects selected by themselves and guided by their own interests. Jack Smith, who made a short film on Artificial Intelligence, described the internship as giving him ‘the chance to do what I love to do for a genuine, external purpose which made me feel incredibly valued.’

The outputs created by the interns ranged from photography to storytelling to film, with intern Nelle Krasso describing the appeal of the internship as being ‘how much they wanted students from different areas in the creative industry community, which includes media and my speciality, video editing.’ Nicole Lindsay, who created a series of photographs in the centre of Oxford exploring modern and traditional Japan, ‘enjoyed how free I was able to be with my project's creativity’ and valued the opportunity to gain experience in the Oxford University environment.

The interns were supported in this creative learning by the Humanities Cultural Programme team, who connected them to relevant resources throughout the university. Shae Moors said of her experience, ‘The fact that the project is so fascinating and fun to work on is a huge plus; everyone is absolutely incredible in helping us in any way possible to create the best pieces of content we can.’

The partnership between Activate Colleges and TORCH is a key way we intend to connect, collaborate and co-create with local talent. We will host interns regularly each year as part of this growing relationship, and we thank Activate Colleges for their genuine connection with us. 

We are very grateful to have the opportunity to welcome the unique perspectives and ideas of Nelle, Nicole, Shae and Jack as part of the Humanities Cultural Programme at TORCH.