The Department of Political Science, in cooperation with the Office of Service Learning, sponsors supervised internships for undergraduate majors.

The Department believes that active engagement in an essential aspect of civic and political education. The object of a supervised internship is to help students find opportunities for such engagement and to help them put their experiences in a structured context. It seeks to teach a useful skill – to combine activism with analysis, involvement with understanding.

Students are welcome to find internship opportunities on their own, subject to the approval of the Department. Others can use the services of the Office of Service Learning, which maintains a list of available internship sites and can also help locate additional sites related to the student's area of special interest.

Students sign up for Internship Studies – POLS 456 (Fall Semester); POLS 457 (Spring Semester). Only one internship may be completed per semester. Only three credits of Internship Studies may be counted toward the Political Science or International Relations (PSIR) major.

Interns are required to complete 60 hours of service at an approved site and attend a weekly seminar focused on issues relating to their experience. Interns keep a journal of their experiences and feelings, and write a lengthy seminar paper based on their participant observations.

:: Contact ::

Mr. Chris Lane
Internship Coordinator
Center for Public Service
327 Gibson Hall
(504) 862-3357