Internship

SC3550 Sociology Internship / ISC3550 Extended Sociology Internship

AN3550 Anthropology Internship / IAN3550 Extended Anthropology Internship

The internship provides students with an opportunity to apply sociological/anthropological knowledge to the workplace. In particular, students learn about the challenges of workplace situations, and reflect upon how practising sociology/anthropology may provide clarity to problems encountered. Internships must take place in organizations or companies, be relevant to sociology/anthropology, consist at least 120 hours for SC3550/AN3550 (or 240 hours for ISC3550/IAN3550), and be approved by the Department to be considered for credit. This course is not compulsory and will be credited as a Major Elective (SC3550/AN3550) or a combination of Major Elective and Unrestricted Elective.

Eligibility

The Sociology internship courses are only available to students who:



1. Have declared Sociology as their Major (including as Second Major)
2. Completed at least 60 units in total (about 3 semesters), including 24 units in Sociology (6 courses)
3. Completed SC1101E Making Sense of Society & SC2101 Methods of Social Research

The Anthropology internship courses are only available to students who:



1. Have declared Anthropoly as their Major (including as Second Major)
2. Completed at least 60 units in total (about 3 semesters), including 24 units in Anthropology (6 courses)
3. Completed AN1101E Anthropology and the Human Condition & AN2101 Research Methods in Anthropology

Workload

Internships will vary in duration but must include a minimum of 120 hours of work at an organization or company accumulated over a Special Term semester to be considered for modular credits. An internship with a minimum of 240 hours at the same organization may earn 8 units, of which 4 units will be credited to Major Elective and 4 units to Unrestricted Elective.

To fulfill the credit requirements, students completing an 8-unit internship must submit 4 response papers and 4 journals, while those undertaking a 4-unit internship must submit 2 response papers and 2 journals.

 

Working Hours

Students can work for a maximum of 8 hours a day and up to 44 hours a week (as stipulated by the Employment Act), subject to the partnering organization’s approval, (all of which count towards the total workload.) Students are also expected to dedicate time to reading and writing reflection papers / assignments.

Supervision

The Department internship coordinator and/or a committee will provide supervision, following the format where one supervisor oversees a group of interns. Students are still liable to pay tuition fees for the internship semester.

Administration

The Department internship coordinator, A/P Vincent Chua will lead and coordinate with the SC/AN UG admin team to
manage the courses.

Securing Internship

There are 3 ways of securing internships:

NUS

Students will be encouraged to find potential employers on platforms such as: NUS TalentConnect, Centre for Future-ready Graduates (CFG), Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Internship and seek the Department's approval subsequently.

Department

The Department can assist in sourcing internship opportunities through our partnerships with companies/organisations and guide them to post their internships on NUS Talent Connect. Students may still need to find their own workplace supervisors from these companies/organizations.

Self

Students are to find internship opportunities independently and seek the Department's approval.

All internships must:

1. Be relevant to the Major in Sociology/Anthropology;
2. Be vetted by the Department internship coordinator or committee for suitability and relevance;
3. Involve an academic supervisor who oversees the internship;
4. Involve mid‐internship feedback with the academic supervisor, through face-to-face meetings and feedback on journal submissions and the final written assignment.
5. Be assessed based on feedback from the workplace supervisor

All internships must not:

Students must NOT use the department's internship course (SC3550/ISC3550/AN3550/IAN3550) for any other unit-bearing internship course in the same semester. Additionally, if they are currently enrolled in another unit-bearing internship course, they must NOT use the same internship for credit towards the department's internship course during the same semester.

Application Process

A survey to assess the interest level will be conducted in July of Semester 1. This will be followed by an introduction briefing for all interested students in Week 3 (of Semester 1). A smaller cohort of admitted students will then be invited to a second briefing by the Department internship coordinator, in Week 12 of Semester 1, before the start of internships.

Department's internship briefing dates will be shared via email.

As part of enrolling to the course, students are required to submit:

1. Statement of Purpose (via the link/button below) to inform the Department of how they can contribute to and benefit from the internship. Students should express their understanding of how the internship could benefit their sociology-based learning process in methodological and/or analytical aspects.

2. Letter of offer from company / Employment contract (“contract of service”)