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Five Steps Toward an Internship
Student Advice
"As an art history and anthropology student, I am extremely interested in working in the public arts and museum world, so this is helpful in exploring possible future career plans. Working in the Museum of Fine Arts and leading tours has also given me a new way of seeing and interpreting art which will help with my academic work at Brandeis. Our tours are not necessarily information based, but more like leading a discussion during which we encourage children to make and express observations about each work of art so they can come up with the answers themselves, and finding the right questions to ask is often more difficult than learning the facts. I have been really touched personally by working with the kids and being able to help them see and learn from art."
- Art History, Anthropology, Philosophy
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Major/Minor Options
Did you know that there are over 20 Majors/Minors that have an Internship Option?
Anthropology (Major)
An approved internship in anthropology, completed for credit, may be counted as fulfilling one course requirement for the major in place of a course taken in another department. The department sponsors internships for junior and senior majors and minors. Internships combine off-campus work that provides a significant anthropological learning experience and academic study supervised by a departmental faculty sponsor. Majors may substitute one internship for the ninth elective course option. Students doing summer internships must register for the ANTH 92a course the following summer. Minimum B+ grade point average in all anthropology courses is required for eligibility.
Biology
The Biology department faculty occasionally supervise a 93a Research Internship with appropriate research topics and opportunities.
Business (Minor)
Students interested in taking a BUS internship for credit should consult the description and enrollment information for BUS 89a site for business internships: www.brandeis.edu/programs/pages/bus.html. Normally, BUS 92a (independent academic internship) is not offered; BUS (or ECON) students who wish to do internship courses should enroll in BUS 89a. BUS 89a is a four-credit course and can satisfy the second category of BUS electives. Most BUS 89a students do their internships in the same semester they enroll for the classes (usually spring), but internships can also be done during a prior academic semester or summer.
Education Studies (Major/Minor)
Students may substitute successful completion of an essay, thesis, or internship, as described below, for the sixth elective course option: Internship: an internship (ED 92a/b) approved by the director of the education program. (Students who are student teaching in the education program will also be eligible to receive internship credit if they are concurrently pursuing an education studies minor.) Students who choose this option will keep a journal about their experiences and produce a final paper.
Environmental Studies (Major/Minor)
Individually tailored internships place students in an extensive network of government, public interest, and industry groups in the Boston area and beyond, working alongside environmental professionals in the field. One capstone experience: ENVS 89a (Environmental Internship), ENVS 97a (Senior Essay), or an approved senior honors thesis submitted to any department. The environmental internship is strongly recommended.
Film Studies (Minor)
Students must complete six courses:
A. Core course: FILM 100a (Introduction to the Moving Image).
B. Five additional courses from the approved film studies curriculum,(which includes FILM 92a/b Internship in Film Studies) which must include one course in a non-American cinema and one course in some creative aspect of film production.
Fine Arts (Major)
Students may apply in the spring semester for internships, of one- and two-semester commitment, for the following academic year at the Rose Art Museum. Focus may center in the areas of education, registrar, exhibition installation, or curatorial work. All student applications, with preference given to upperclassmen, must be endorsed by a faculty recommendation. The Rose Art Museum staff interviews and decides upon the interns. Usually offered every semester.
Health, Science, & Social Policy (Major)
All students will be required to take four core courses plus a “hands-on experience,” a senior seminar, and elective requirements which vary for the BA and the BS degrees. To fulfill the "hands-on experience" requirement, students must complete either HSSP 89a, HSSP 98a or b, HSSP 99d, or WMGS 92a.
HSSP 89a Internship and Analysis(Open only to HSSP majors)
A supervised internship in a health care or policy organization. Internship placement must be approved by the HSSP internship instructor and should focus on some aspect of health and public service. Students are required to attend a biweekly internship course and submit a twenty-to-twenty-five-page research paper relating to their internship.
International & Global Studies (Major)
Students in the IGS program participate in an experiential learning opportunity to meet the "International Experience" requirement. Most usually satisfy this requirement by studying abroad or completing an international internship at an organization concerned with the central issues of the IGS major.
If extended international residence would be a hardship, IGS students should meet with the IGS Internship Coordinator to discuss a domestic internship and its suitability for the IGS International Experience requirement BEFORE the internship begins.
* Finally, students must take the IGS internship course, IGS 89b, either during or immediately after completing an internship. The course will normally be offered in the fall semester. Students interested in spring semester internships should contact the Internship Coordinator about possible credit arrangements for that semester.
Internet Studies (Minor)
Requirements for the Minor include:
One senior research course: an independent study, internship (92a/b), or senior honors thesis in the student's major (with an emphasis on some aspect of Internet studies as approved by a member of the program's faculty) or a senior seminar in Internet studies, if offered.
Students are required to do one of the three following options:
- write a research paper for a one-semestersenior independent study in the Journalism Program
- write an honors thesis in the student's department of concentration on a topic relating to the media, or
- serve in an outside internship while taking the related internship course in the Journalism Program (JOUR 89a).
Legal Studies (Minor)
Students are required to complete either of the following:
1. A senior thesis in the student's major, supervised by the major department, which includes some aspect of law and is approved by the LGLS Director.
2. An internship arranged through the program office and the correlative seminar, LGLS 89a (Law and Society Internship Seminar.
Near Eastern & Judaic Studies (Major/Minor)
The NEJS Department encourages students to participate in internships that integrate academic knowledge and practical experiences. It sponsors credit-bearing internships (NEJS 92) for junior and senior majors and minors. Students may count one NEJS 92 toward their major or minor. Students doing summer internships may register for course credit in the following fall semester. A minimum of a B+ grade point average in NEJS courses is required for eligibility.
Peace, Conflict & Coexistence Studies (Minor)
Students must complete either PAX 92a/b (Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies) or a senior honors thesis. The internship consists of at least 10 hours a week in a social change organization in the greater Boston area or, if the student is abroad, an appropriate equivalent. Students must complete either PAX 92a/b (Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies) or a senior honors thesis. The internship consists of at least 10 hours a week in a social change organization in the greater Boston area or, if the student is abroad, an appropriate equivalent. Students must complete either PAX 92a/b (Internship in Peace, Conflict, and Coexistence Studies) or a senior honors thesis. The internship consists of at least 10 hours a week in a social change organization in the greater Boston area or, if the student is abroad, an appropriate equivalent.
Physics
The Physics Department faculty occasionally supervise a 93a Research Internship with appropriate research topics and opportunities.
Psychology (Major)
Psychology offers a year-long practicum placement in a mental-health agency, PSYC 161a/b.
PSYC additionally offers PSYC 92a/b Independent Internships and Analysis and PSYC 93a Independent Research Internship.
Social Justice & Social Policy (Minor)
Students must complete either:
(1) internship, arranged through the program office and the correlative seminar SJSP 89a; or with the approval of the program director, (2) an independent research course SJSP 98a or 98b, directed by a member of the program committee, or by another faculty member with the approval of the program director.
Sociology (Major)
The Department of Sociology offers individualized credit-bearing internships for majors through SOC 92b: Internship and Analysis in Sociology and SOC 89a Internships in Social Action and Community Change. Students generally pursue internship credit in their junior or senior years, after they have completed several courses in the major.
SOC 89a: Internships for Community Action and Social Change: This course is offered most spring semesters as a weekly seminar, in which students learn to become social change agents through ten-hour per week internships in community organizations, course readings, and class discussions.
Theater Arts (Major/Minor)
Theater Arts requires practicums and also offers THA 92 Independent Internship & Analysis. (All THA students completing internships for credit must enroll in this seminar.) This seminar continues the process of experiential learning through the completion of various projects that utilize the resources of the professional theaters in the Boston area.
Women's & Gender Studies (Major/Minor)
Students are strongly encouraged to undertake an internship in women’s and gender studies as one of their electives. Students pursuing an internship for semester credit must spend 8 hours per week engaged in significant work within a setting that can provide focus on women, gender, and/or sexuality.
The Women's and Gender Studies program offers a seminar and internship course, WMGS 89a: Prevention of Violence Against Women and Children. For academic internships related to other topics, students identify an internship site of interest and a faculty mentor and enroll in WMGS 92b Independent Internship & Analysis.