Join Us
At ETHNOMAD, we believe in curiosity, creativity, and purpose. Our work is built by people who listen deeply, think independently, and care about the world’s living heritage.
If you are passionate about storytelling, culture, and meaningful change, we would love to hear from you. Join a team that values authenticity, imagination, and the courage to explore new ideas.
Reach out to us at info@fadingcultures.org to learn more about opportunities with ETHNOMAD and Fading Cultures Magazine.
See below for our current openings.
Internship Opportunity 2027: ETHNOMAD / Fading Cultures Project
In 2027, ETHNOMAD and the Fading Cultures Project will host one three-month field intern in Nalikhali, a Garo village area in northern Bangladesh.
This is not a desk internship.
It is a field placement at the edge of culture, land, education, livelihood, and change.
The intern will live on site at The Garo Experience: Nalikhali Guesthouse, a developing community-based cultural stay connected to ETHNOMAD’s wider work with the Garo community.
Nalikhali sits within a wider landscape of Garo villages, fields, schools, forest edges, homesteads, songs, land memory, and changing futures. The Garo, or A·chik Mande, are an Indigenous matrilineal people whose family continuity, land relationships, language, food systems, and cultural knowledge are under growing pressure.
This placement is for someone who wants to learn what fieldwork really means.
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Not research as extraction.
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Not travel as content.
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Not development as theory.
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Fieldwork as presence.
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Listening.
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Usefulness.
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Trust.
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Responsibility.
The intern will work across several connected ETHNOMAD initiatives, including cultural documentation, the Learning to Return: Garo Knowledge Club, teacher-support activities, community-based tourism, youth storytelling, field writing, and practical livelihood ideas linked to forest knowledge, agriculture, food systems, and value adding.
The work may include helping young Garo storytellers record elder knowledge, supporting school-linked cultural learning, documenting songs, land memory, weaving, food, farming, forest knowledge, and village life, assisting with guest interpretation at The Garo Experience, and helping explore small enterprise opportunities with local families.
This may suit a Master’s-level student or early-career researcher in anthropology, ethnography, international development, Indigenous studies, education, cultural heritage, sustainable livelihoods, agriculture, environmental humanities, or a related field.
But academic interest alone is not enough.
The living conditions will be simple. At times, they will be difficult. The intern should be ready for heat, rain, insects, basic accommodation, intermittent electricity, limited infrastructure, village routines, cultural difference, and the slow work of earning trust.
This is not a placement for someone looking for comfort, quick access, or a curated experience.
The right person will be able to write clearly, observe carefully, listen more than they speak, live simply, respect local leadership, work responsibly with children and elders, and remain accountable to both ETHNOMAD and the community.
This is a serious placement in a fragile setting. The intern will not only observe the work. They will contribute to it. Further details on dates, supervision, costs, accommodation, safety, responsibilities, and the application process will follow.
For now, ETHNOMAD is inviting expressions of interest from students, researchers, and universities interested in exploring this opportunity in 2027.
To express interest, please send a CV and a short letter explaining why this placement matters to you, how your background makes you suitable, and what you hope to contribute to ETHNOMAD, the Fading Cultures Project, and the Garo community in Nalikhali.
Applications and enquiries should be sent to info@fadingcultures.org.
ETHNOMAD: People, Nature, Culture, Development, and Change.
