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.
To download an internship worksheet, click here.
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/students/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/MA 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/MA’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/MA’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.