Political Science Internships: Towards Best Practices

Edited by Renée B. Van Vechten, Bobbi Gentry, and John C. Berg

Political Science Internships: Towards Best Practices builds on a robust body of evidence that demonstrates the integrative power of internships to help undergraduate students learn by doing. Targeting faculty, instructors, and administrators who deliver political science curricula, this book examines the state of internships in the discipline, scrutinizing different types of internship programs, their vital components, and the roles of key stakeholders: faculty mentors and instructors, site supervisors, and students. Employing a variety of methodological approaches and incorporating original research, contributors from across the field offer analytical insights and recommendations for facilitating experiential learning. Practical resources, organized into a supplemental section, exhibit how to structure, maintain, and sustain internship programs and help stakeholders achieve intended learning outcomes. As this text makes clear, moving towards best practices in political science internships requires curricula to be reoriented around more accessible, inclusive practices that place student learning at their center.

Edited by Renée B. Van Vechten, Bobbi Gentry, and John C. Berg

Contents: