Jewish Studies

Internships are a valuable way to explore career opportunities, to gain work experience, to make contacts, and/or to perform community service.

Students in the Majors and Honours Programs in the Department of Jewish Studies can obtain course credit for academic work done in conjunction with an internship. Internships consist of a minimum of 150 hours of work as an intern and a major research project based on the internship. The major project ordinarily consists of a research paper related to the student's placement.

It is not expected that interns will receive payment for work undertaken during their placement, although sponsoring organizations are free to offer remuneration if they wish.

Internship placements can be arranged in any term, or may stretch over two terms. The Department expects that many will be completed over the summer months. Because of the demanding nature of an internship, students should be wary of coupling an internship course with a full course load.

Proposing an Internship

Once you have secured an internship position, complete the steps below if you wish to obtain internship course credit. The Arts Internship requires approval before the beginning of the internship. Please use the web form (Internship Academic Credit Application Web Form) to submit your documents to the Arts Internship Office. The Faculty of Arts Internship Course Credit Approval Form (found in webform), must be signed by:

1. the Academic Supervisor,
2. the Faculty of Arts Internship Officer
3. the Department
4. the student

Students wishing to undertake an internship must complete a Faculty of Arts Internship Course Credit Approval Form (available in webform) accompanied by a formal proposal well in advance of the proposed starting date. The form must be signed by both the Faculty of Arts Internship officer and the supervising professor. The proposal must then be approved by the Department Chair.

NB: The "Student Acceptance" form must be completed & signed for Approval Forms to be processed.

The proposal must contain the following information:

• An outline of the proposed internship including specific discussion of the academic goals, activities and means of evaluation.
• A description of the organization or institution with which the student will be working and including the name, address and telephone number of the supervisor to whom the student will be accountable.
• A letter indicating the willingness of both the responsible person and the agency to assume the task of supervision (including assessment of work performance).
• A proposal for an associated research project. This will ordinarily be a research paper equivalent in length and quality to that produced in an independent reading course.

Registering for an Internship

JWST 499 (3 credits)

Departmental internship approval form: Departmental Internship Approval Form [.pdf]

Restrictions

Open to U2 and U3 students pursuing a Majors or Honours program in Jewish Studies with a minimum CGPA of 2.7. Students register for the course in the semester after they complete the internship. For example, a student completing a summer internship will register for JWST 499 in the fall term.

Permission of the Internship Advisor in the Department required.

This course will not normally fulfill the requirements for seminar or 400-level courses.

A letter from the supervisor at the institution must attest to successful completion of the student's tenure.

Description

Internship with an approved host institution or organization.

Evaluation

A grade for the internship will be assigned by the academic supervisor, based on the agreement initially made between the student and the academic supervisor.

Internship Opportunities

Database

The following database is presented for guidance. The Department of Jewish Studies does not endorse any of these postings; they are for information purposes only. Please note that a valid McGill ID and Minerva Pin are required to access the database.

Click here to access the database of internship opportunities.

List of Organizations that Have Hosted Interns in the Past (PDF Files)

These files include information about host organizations we have found that do not have established internship programs. They are an excellent resource for students by providing the names, contact person(s), and contact information for many organizations and institutions around the world.

Jewish Studies Internships Database  [.pdf]

Contacts

Department of Jewish Studies Chair
For departmental contact information, please click here.

Department of Jewish Studies Administrative Office
For departmental contact information, please click here.