Internship Work or "Real-World" Experiential Learning can serve as a bridge between academia and the career realm. There is no limit to the types of external internships that students can pursue. Some of our students have completed internships with local nonprofits; others have worked with local businesses. Students who wish to gain professional experience through an external internship may be interested in exploring the resources at InternshipPrograms.com Students should contact their advisor to coordinate the internship; internships are arranged in consultation with the Department Chair as well as with a designated workplace supervisor. The Registrar's form for internship registration can be found here. As a rule of thumb, credit is awarded as follows: 3 credit hours = 90 hours at site, 2 credit hours = 60 at site, or 1 credit hour = 30 at site.

The external internships require that students complete a reflection assignment at the end of the project in addition to completion of the supervisor evaluation form.

In addition to promoting external internship opportunities, the English Department features internal internship work every spring through the Departmental core course, ENG 395. All majors must complete this course as part of the Departmental core unless they have registered for an external internship approved by both their English advisor and the English Department Chair. The ENG 395 course is open to all students across the Humanities as it provides training for hundreds of possible careers and industries. For more about this course, please see the course description below.

ENG 395: Experiential Learning Practicum: This course offers students traditional academic work, professional training and supervised experience to fulfill the Experiential Learning (EL) In addition to project-based work, students will generate reflective writing as an integral component of the learning process. Primary focus areas for the practicum include the following: 1) the development of marketing materials for programs and events*, 2) hands-on experience related to the editing/publishing of literary journals such as the department’s literary magazine Words, and 3) an exploration of the current principles and strategies for working with diverse writers and assignments in a variety of contexts to support Writing Center work. Student project development may vary according to student interest and will be assessed as a portfolio of project(s) as well as metawriting about the project(s) from start to completion.

*“Programs and Events” may include internal promotional materials (hard copy and digital) related to campus resources, speakers, campaigns, etc.