Internship Courses

Internship in Political Science (POLI 599)

Eligibility

Open to MA and PhD students.

Arranging the Internship

Students are responsible for submitting a proposal for approval prior to the proposed term of internship, which would include:

1. an outline of the proposed internship, including specific discussion of "learning goals", "specific activities" and "means of evaluation".
2. a description of the organization with which the student will be working, including the name of the supervisor to whom the student will be accountable, and a letter indicating the willingness of the responsible person and sponsoring agency to assume the task of supervision (including assessing the work completed). Sponsoring organizations might include international organizations, government agencies, private sector businesses, NGOs, etc. as appropriate.
3. a proposal for an associated research project. The associated research project would involve a lengthy research paper, equivalent to that produced in an independent reading course, and researched during the internship.

Students wishing to undertake an internship must submit a formal proposal to this effect, well in advance of the proposed starting date. The proposal must be approved by the full-time faculty member who has agreed to supervise the internship, and the Internship Advisor, (for undergraduates, or the student’s graduate advisor, the full-time faculty member who has agreed to supervise the internship, and the Internship Advisor (for graduate students). A form to guide you in the preparation of the submission is currently available in the Political Science office (Leacock 414).

Content

The internship shall consist of a 150 hours of work over a period of 12 weeks, plus a major research project based on the internship. The major project will ordinarily consist of a major research paper, plus a substantial written record of the work conducted during the internship. This latter element may variously consist of a work diary; copies of memoranda, correspondence, and papers produced; and/or a shorter paper describing and evaluating the work experience gained during the internship.

Grading

A grade for the internship will be assigned based on the quality of the research paper (approximately 50%, and graded by a member of the department), the quality of the written work materials (approximately 25%, also graded by a member of the department); and a performance assessment (approximately 25%, provided by a supervisor at the organization hosting the internship).

View the internship application form