Political Science Internships

Internships must be arranged in advance. Registration cannot be done retroactively. Normally, a student should contact the Department's Internship Adviser in the semester prior to the anticipated internship. For summer internships, it is a good idea for the student to contact the Adviser in the early spring.Students must fill out an Internship Application prior to approval for credit. In most cases, students are expected to arrange their own internships. The Internship Advisor may be able to suggest possible contacts and identify programs to which a student might apply.

Interns may in most cases register for two types of credit. First, there is credit for the internship experience. Registration for this is done through Political Science 4754, Internship Program. For full-time, semester-long internships, students generally receive six hours of credit, though other numbers of hours may be arranged in special cases. Part-time or shorter-term internships usually carry less academic credit. Second, credit can be given for research performed in addition to an internship. To receive this credit, interns must write a substantial research paper during the period of their internship. This may deal with a policy or legal issue on which the intern has worked, or may be an analysis of the politics and processes involved in an issue or institution. Research topics must be approved by the Internship Adviser in advance of the internship, but may be subject to modification once the internship has begun. Registration for this credit is through Political Science 4974, Independent Study and MUST be done in the semester prior to the internship. It is possible to earn as many as six credit hours for this research.