The Center for Career Engagement (CCE) can help you hone your resume and interview skills to land a summer internship in the career of your choice. You should also consider the summer programs offered by the Center for Public Service and the Washington Summer Fellow program at the Eisenhower Institute. Past students have completed summer internships or externships in data analytics, marketing, human resources, and nonprofit advocacy. Funding is available to help defray the costs associated with low-paying or unpaid internships. The Seibert Nonprofit Fellowship is available for students pursuing work in the nonprofit sector, while the Bryant Fund supports the cost of internship-related housing and commuting for first-generation college students. Future employers expect students to have completed one or more internships or fellowships during their time in college, so be sure you reach out to the CCE early in your sociology career.
The Center for Career Engagement provides instructions for registering your internship; forms may differ for domestic and international students. Both paid and unpaid internships can be completed for college credit.
The Department of Sociology has specific expectations for students hoping to receive academic credit for an internship, with a focus on applying a sociological perspective.
Purpose
Internships are designed to provide students with the opportunity to participate meaningfully in an off-campus setting related to their academic interests. While as an intern the student may complete tasks of benefit to the agency with which they are placed, the primary goal of the intern experience is for student to apply the sociological perspective and its attendant concepts, understandings, and theories, to their experience.
Procedure
Students should contact the Center for Career Engagement about possible internships. After identifying and registering a potential internship, students should consult with departmental faculty in order to request faculty sponsorship. It is up to the individual faculty member to decide whether to accept the role of sponsoring and evaluating the student’s internship project. Students should make arrangements for faculty sponsorship prior to April 15th. The Sociology Department cannot ensure sponsorship for requests made after this date.
Evaluation and Credit
Students completing internships must plan to enroll in SOC 325: Sociology Practicum, in the fall semester following the summer internship. All internships will be designated SOC 325 and will not count toward the requirements for the Sociology major or minor. The grade for the course will be based on the quality of the required assignments, including but not limited to: ethnographic research resulting in a journal of field notes; review of relevant theoretical and sociological literature; and a culminating research paper of approximately 15 pages.