Internships

Internships provide an opportunity to gain insight and experience in development through work in government or nonprofit agencies. Recently ID students have had overseas internships with the Child Hope Initiative Project in Namibia, Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, the American Jewish World Service in El Salvador, the London Internship Program, and the World Health Organization in Geneva. Other ID interns have worked in the U.S. on national and international development issues with the Environmental Defense Fund, Grassroots International, Oxfam America, Habitat for Humanity, MassPIRG, Save the Children, Aid to Artisans, and Lutheran Community Services Refugee Program.

All International Development majors must undertake an internship for academic credit. Internships for credit must be supervised or sponsored by core ID faculty or affiliate IDCE faculty with the approval of your faculty advisor. ID students should register for ID299 the semester during the internship to receive credit. If the internship is during the summer, students should register through COPACE.

Tips on Seeking Internships and Internship Supervisors

1. There are many different ways for you to find internships. Students can identify appropriate internships through Career Services, or they may undertake internships as part of the Clark Study Abroad programs. Many ID majors have worked on internships as part of the Washington Semester program or Washington Center Program. ID majors are welcome to view the IDCE Career Development files, Room 24 at 10 Hawthorne Street, to explore internships in the U.S. and abroad. Whatever the methods, it is your responsibility to find an internship. Do it early.

2. In addition, think through the relevance of that internship for your ID major. Prepare brief written answers to the following questions:
• What is the internship about?
• What will you do for the internship?
• Why is this particular internship relevant to your major?
• What are potential "academic" components of this internship?

3. Once students have decided upon an area of interest for their internship, they should identify an ID faculty member who might be appropriate as a guide. It is wise to identify more than one potential supervisor in case one is busy, on leave, or otherwise unable to advise you. Students should contact faculty by March or April for a summer internship.

4. Set up an appointment with the faculty member. At the appointment with the faculty member, students should have a brief written description of the internship, as well as the completed forms from the Career Services Office that describe the internship. Students may also need to discuss their internships with the Internship Coordinator at Career Services and follow the procedures outlined in the Career Services "Internship Policies" handout. This includes completing an application and following the Undergraduate Internship Checklist.

Please see /offices/career/internships

5. Work out a plan of action with your faculty sponsor including the nature of the final product and the deadline by which your academic component needs to be submitted.

6. Internships are taken pass/fail. If you want a grade, you should petition the Dean of Students before undertaking an internship.

Internships during the Summer or Semester on Leave

If you undertake a project during the summer or during a semester when you are on leave, you may plan to write the research paper or the academic component during a semester when you are registered at Clark. For such an internship to count, you have to have an ID Clark faculty member approve the internship project PRIOR to your undertaking it. A faculty member is NOT obliged to supervise an internship project for credit AFTER the fact.

Internships Undertaken during Study Abroad or Other Clark University-sponsored Programs

Many Study Abroad programs or semester away programs sponsored by Clark University have internship components. These internships may be supervised by the resident faculty of these programs. In these cases, ID majors do not need the supervision of their ID faculty. However, students MUST get approval from their ID major advisors if they wish to count this internship toward their major. You must write out the answers to the questions listed under point 2 of TIPS (above) and contact your major advisor PRIOR to undertaking an internship abroad or away. Your major advisor is NOT obliged to count an internship project for credit AFTER the fact. Also note that to obtain credit for internships undertaken during non-Clark programs, you must have an ID faculty supervisor and follow the procedure through Career Services outlined above.

Some Past internships of ID Undergraduates

Kasia Kedzia (BA/M.A. ID ‘05) received a prestigious $40,000 Compton Mentor Scholarship to research the roles, identities, and politics of women in contemporary Poland. By exploring how social structures influence women’s lives in a country in transition, she hopes to help women to raise consciousness and increase women’s participation in politics. A native of Poland, Kasia has been involved with international and local community building in the past with her work with HOPE WorldWide, Bruce Wells Scholars Upward Bound Program, and Worcester’s Main South Community Development Corporation.

Kendra Fehrer (ID BA/M.A.’05) worked as a research assistant with the Clark-based Worcester Educational Partnership (WEP), a high school transformation initiative in Worcester. The research is a four-year longitudinal study examining the impact of small learning communities on high school students. The study aims to harness the students’ perspective in order to inform and guide the small school change process. Throughout the last year the WEP team conducted interviews, led focus groups, and worked with student researchers at each of Worcester’s eight public high schools. In the summer the interns analyzed qualitative and quantitative data gathered during the year.

Kristin McArdle (ID/BA/M.A.’03) interned for the Executive Office of Neighborhood Services for the City of Worcester. She was involved in both long- and short-term planning processes. Kristin also interns with Civic Ventures Consulting as a research assistant assisting in a market analysis for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.