So, you want to change the world, do you?  Or is it that you want to serve society by giving back something of yourself?

Believe it or not, completing an internship at an organization committed to the public life and health of our communities just might help you get started doing the moving and shaking you want to do.  It might even help you decide just what it is you want to do ‘after Tufts’ to meet your goals for making your community or the world ‘a better place.’ And don’t be surprised if it at least helps you change some of the inner obstacles that prevent you from acting on what matters to you so that you can live the life you most want to live.

In all honesty, Peace & Justice Studies offers internships to help you think deeply about what personal role you want to play in raising your particular concerns and how to work effectively with others to change how our society organizes and conducts its social, economic, and political life.  If you are a PJS major or Certificate candidate we require you to complete one in social change or public interest organizations because we are convinced you need to know more about how citizen advocacy and social movement organizing have helped bring about some of the achievements you most value in society, and what they hope to accomplish now and for the future.  

If you want a future sustained by social and environmental justice within a culture of peace you will need to know which ideas and skills, and strategies and tactics of both collective action and personal responsibility are essential to the tasks ahead.  Since peacemaking and peacebuilding are learned behaviors, internships are often a vital part of the necessary skills training.   Organizations promoting social movements, nonviolence, public service and social responsibility are the ‘real world’ efforts in which you will participate and ‘test’ yourself and the ideas, interests and values at issue.

In each individual case, internship organizations are investigated for their claims of the fundamental social, cultural, economic, political, psychological, technological, and ecological processes – whether by service, public policy, advocacy, etc. - needed to create peaceful societies and sustainable communities.  Your exploration is based on what you read, write and discuss in the reflection seminar and what you do, see, think, feel, and hear at the internship. 

As an interactive process, you will step back from what you are learning at the internship and apply to the organization’s activities what you understand from assigned readings and class discussions.  Then, based on your participation ‘in the field’ you will critically question and discuss each of the social science explanations or ‘popular’ interpretations of the various efforts to bring about social change and social justice.

If this approach meets your interest, you do not have to be enrolled in either PJS or another CIS Program to register for the internship-seminar.  However, to register for a Peace and Justice Studies/Center for Interdisciplinary Studies 99 internship, you must go through me for final approval of the specific placement.

Normally, students receive one course credit for successfully completing the internship. All interns are required to work a minimum of 10 hours each week (120 semester minimum) maintain a written journal, write a 1 page "reflection" response to required readings, attend weekly discussion meetings, co-facilitate one discussion section, and complete a term paper.  Discussion session attendance is mandatory.

These days the typical process for obtaining an internship starts on the internet.  An obvious first step is to go directly to an organization’s web site for descriptions of available opportunities.  The PJS web page provides links to a number of organizations, some of which students have interned with before:  http://ase.tufts.edu/pjs

Additional internship links and descriptions are available on the Career Planning Center web page (they also provide résumé assistance).  Similarly, the University College of Citizenship and Public Service may also have information on available internships.  An excellent resource is www.idealist.org  Another useful resource is www.internships4you.com

Select between 2 and 4 internships that interest you, download or copy the descriptions, then arrange to meet with me to review each. We will agree which organizations to contact for an interview.  Most groups will expect a résumé prior to the interview, so be prepared for that (Career Planning offers assistance).  If you need to fax your résumé and a cover letter, you can do so through me (just ask). 

If you have not pre-registered, you must submit a completed Course Schedule Change form to the Registrar's Office by 2 Feb. 06; forms are available at the Registrar's Office in Dowling Hall.  Once you have accepted an internship placement, an Internship Agreement form will need to be filled in by you and the internship placement supervisor, and signed by each of you; my signature is also required (see me for the form).  The Agreement needs to be completed and turned in by 10 Feb., at which time the internship must be started.