Internships

Sociology 99 Internship Course

Sociology 99: Internship is a course (credit as arranged) that combines a field placement with sociological analysis based on reading and one-on-one discussions with the faculty sponsor of the course. The internship is about more than simply gaining valuable work experience; it is about expanding the student's intellectual depth through sociological analysis of a real-world setting.  The field placement will be for one semester in an organizational setting such as a community or nonprofit organization, a law firm, a court, a business, a government agency, a social welfare organization, a domestic violence or homeless shelter, a hospital or clinic, or a school.

Prerequisites for Sociology 99 are Sociology 1 or 10, plus a Sociology course related to the setting where the internship is to be done. The student must work on-site for a minimum of 12 hours per week, or 150 hours in all. A student can count two for-credit internships toward a degree but can count only one Sociology 99 course toward the Sociology major. Two internships cannot be done during the same semester. When appropriate, Sociology 99 can be used as an elective for one of the department's cluster options. No credit will be granted retroactively or for an internship supervised by anyone other than a full-time member of the department. Internships done during the summer or under conditions that preclude face-to-face meetings with the faculty sponsor are not advisable.

Before registering for Sociology 99, the student must obtain the approval of a faculty sponsor and the approval of an on-site supervisor under whose guidance the internship will be done. The student must complete an Internship Agreement Form that asks for a brief description of the internship and requires the signatures of the faculty sponsor and the on-site supervisor.

Requirements for completion of Sociology 99 are as follows:

1. The student and the faculty sponsor must meet regularly during the semester.
2. The student will keep and submit a daily journal reflecting on the field experience.
3. The student must write a final paper, the nature and length of which will be determined through consultation with the faculty sponsor. The paper will examine the internship experience from an explicitly sociological perspective.
4. The on-site supervisor must send the faculty sponsor a letter evaluating the student's work.
5. The student must provide to the faculty sponsor a one-paragraph description of the site and the internship experience that will be posted on the department's website for future use by other students.

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