Sociology 199S.01:  Sociology Internship Seminar

Spring, 2001

Dr. Rebecca Bach
Room 272, Soc-Psych Bldg
Office Hours:                Monday          1:00-2:00
                                      Wednesday    3:45-4:45
660-5606 (office)
490-2066 (home)
rbach@soc.duke.edu

I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.

                                                                                                            Chinese Proverb

            This course is designed to give students the opportunity to explore the practice of sociology in the local community, to apply sociological concepts, theories and research methodologies to the surrounding social laboratory. With the assistance of the instructor, students arrange an internship placement before the second week of the semester and commit to a weekly working schedule with the agency providing the placement.  (A signed copy of the Internship Agreement must be provided for the instructor at this point.)

            In the first three weeks of the semester, we focus on sociological concepts and theories that are relevant to all students, regardless of internship placement.  Assigned readings will come from a variety of sources and will be on reserve in Perkins Library.  In addition, each student will develop a 1-2 page research prospectus during this portion of the semester.

            For the second segment of the course (weeks 4 through 11) students will be assigned to a group based on internship placement.  Students doing internships in law or criminology will be assigned to a group, students working in agencies dealing with issues of medical sociology or aging will be assigned to a group, etc.  During this segment of the semester, you will only attend class when your group is scheduled for discussion, approximately two of the eight class meetings. 

            During the last three weeks of the semester we will meet together to learn from each other's experiences through the presentations of the research projects.

Keeping a Journal

            The basic goal of a journal is to allow you an opportunity to reflect on the concepts, ideas, and theories encountered in your readings and class discussions and relate them to your internship experiences (and vice versa).  You will be expected to write 15 one-page entries over the course of the semester, roughly one per week.  For the most part, you have considerable freedom in the topics you choose to explore, as long as they are relevant to this course.  I suggest that you find a quiet place as soon as possible after returning from you internship site and record the following: 

1.      Your actual activities for the day,

2.      Your observations(what you heard or saw at the site), and

3.      Your reactions, both emotional and intellectual to 1 and 2 above

These notes should help to get you started on your journal writing.  If you find you are still having difficulty identifying a topic for your journal entry, the following ideas may help.

Journal Entry Ideas

1.  Develop an organizational chart for the agency and the department in which you work and indicate where you fit into the system.  (Draw a diagram, if you would like)

2.  Describe the goals and objectives of the agency and the department for which you work.  Are these goals and objectives being met?

3.  Listen for "quotes for the day" or something profound spoken by either a member of the agency your are working for or by one of the clients.  What does this statement tell you about the agency and/or population it serves?

4.  What are the job performance expectations in your agency?  How do they compare with the expectations you have experienced as a student?  In other jobs?

5.  Have any of your assumptions about your agency changed as a result of your internship experience?

6.  Identify the population your agency serves.  Provide information about the race, class, gender, age, etc. of your clientele.  Have your attitudes concerning race, class, gender, or age changed as a result of your internship experience?

7.  If you had the power to make changes in the way your agency serves its clientele, what would you change?

8.  What do you do on a typical day at your placement?  What do you feel is your main contribution?

9.  Has anything happened to make you think you would (or would not) want a career in your placement agency?

10. What is the most difficult or challenging aspect of working in this agency?

Final Project

Course projects may take a number of different forms.  You may decide to develop a survey, evaluate the effectiveness of a policy or practice of the agency, review the relevant research on a particular topic of interest to you, develop a brochure or information pamphlet for clients of your placement agency, or something entirely different from any of these suggestions.  Ideally your project will address one of your own academic interests and serve a purpose for your placement agency.  I am happy to meet with you and discuss project possibilities.  Your agency supervisor may also have some ideas for projects.

The project you select must result in a document of some sort that can be turned in to me at the time scheduled for our final exam (May 4).  The document may be a traditional paper (10-12 pages), a brochure, a pamphlet, a video, etc.  Each student will give a presentation about the project at one of the last three class meetings.