Internship (ANTH386)

Guidelines for Experiential Learning (Internships ANTH 386)

Overview

The ability to enroll in and receive internship credit towards your academic record is a privilege requiring you to work in close partnership with your advisor, the department, and your potential internship field supervisor.  Students who are unwilling to take responsibility as the main link for communication among these parties should not pursue credit for internship work.  To begin, students should meet with their faculty advisor and discuss potential ideas for internship work.  Students who wish to engage in internship work should have a good idea of what type of work they would like to pursue, the experiences or skills they would like to gain, and should have had some advanced course work in Anthropology.  If the faculty advisor agrees to support quest your internship work, students may proceed with the steps outlined below in order to receive departmental permission to sign up for internship course work.

The University of Maryland encourages students to pursue enriching and challenging learning experiences with area agencies and organizations.  The Washington area has a large variety of high quality agencies and experts involved in research and practice, and opportunities for field experiences exist in all areas of anthropology. Working in these settings can be a source of considerable enrichment for the student. Students should be able to apply their classroom learning, test out their interests and skills in anthropology, and receive training in a specialized aspect of anthropology which is not available on campus.

Requirements
  1. You may register for ANTH386 once for up to 6 credits, depending upon the amount of work performed.  Typically, one academic credit is given after completing 45 hours of the internship. So 135 internship hours would be required for three academic credits; 270 hours for six credits. Steps for registering for internship credit are listed in the timeline below.
  2. You must create a final product to receive credit for the internship. The final product ought to both demonstrate the academic value of the internship and be of value to the internship site.  The nature of the final product should be specified in the internship contract and approved by both the faculty advisor and the internship field supervisor.
  3. You should keep in contact with your faculty advisor before during and after your internship whether by email phone or in person. Your faculty advisor can assist you if you run into any problems with your internship field supervisor during the internship.
Timeline
  1. Meet with your faculty advisor to discuss internship possibilities
  2. Find an internship site and identify your field supervisor at the internship site
  3. With input from both your faculty advisor and internship field supervisor develop an internship contract (see sample below). The contract should specify the times the student will work, the duties to be performed, the final product to be completed, and the number of credits to be earned. 
  4. Get your contract signed by both your faculty advisor and internship field supervisor.
  5. Turn your signed contract into the Anthropology Undergraduate Advisor no later than 10 AM on the last day of the schedule adjustment period. The Anthropology Undergraduate Advisor will then give you your faculty advisor’s section number and give you permission to enroll in ANTH386 for 1-6 credits.
  6. Complete the requirements specified in the contract.
  7. At the end of the internship, have your internship field supervisor complete the final evaluation (see below) and send it to both the Anthropology Undergraduate Advisor and your faculty advisor. Your faculty advisor will give you a grade for ANTH386, once they receive this final evaluation.
Paperwork

1) Please use the ANTH386 Internship Sample Contract to enroll in this course.
2) At the end of your internship you are required to use the ANTH386 Internship Evaluation to have an evaluation of your work completed.