Internship in Philosophy

 

PHI 4945 - Internship in Philosophy.

 

In brief:  Earn academic credit for workplace/ internship experience

 

There are four justifications for the internship in philosophy:

 

1. Utilize work and volunteer experiences to provide opportunities for students to deepen their knowledge and understanding of their major subject. 

2. Combat the misperception that philosophy is merely an “esoteric discipline” with little or no applications to the "real world."

3. Demonstrate to majors that their liberal arts skills are directly relevant to the workplace and to would-be employers.

4. Provide our students with the opportunity to cultivate assets outside the classroom such as work history, references, interpersonal skills, communication abilities, interviewing skills, etc.

 

Eligibility Criteria:

 

  1. Major or Second Major in Philosophy
  2. Completed no fewer than 60 total credits
  3. Overall minimum GPA of 3.0
  4. Complete no fewer than five philosophy courses
  5. No fewer than three of which at the upper division with minimum grades of B.
  6. No fewer than two of which were completed at FIU
  7. Submit a completed Internship Application with signed supervisor forms no later than one week before the beginning of the semester of the internship. (*Not necessary for Peer-Tutor Internships)

 

Three Distinct Kinds of Possible Internships

 

1)      Taking advantage of existing internship opportunities

 

There are many established internship opportunities provided by businesses, not-for-profit organizations, arts organizations, educational organizations, etc.  The suitable major can apply for one of these internships, but should alert the Director of Undergraduate Education first, just to be certain that the internship is of a suitable quality to make it an internship in philosophy.

 

Students who are accepted for such an internship would then need to coordinate with the Director of Undergraduate Studies and be granted permission to register for PHI4945.  The amount of credits of this variable-credit course is normally commensurate with the hours of commitment to the internship. (The rule of thumb is 3 hours a week for every credit in a given semester.)  However, in some cases, particularly when the student does not need the additional credits, a student can register for zero credit.  This provides a transcript record that the student completed an internship during that semester, but the student is not charged for the course.

 

Partial List of Suitable internships

 

Top 10 internship providers for students

 

CI (Formerly “City Internships”)

 

Chegg Internships

 

2)      Creating an original internship opportunity

 

Here the burden to arrange a suitable internship will fall largely to the major.  Once a major has an idea of an internship to pursue, the major will need to schedule a meeting with the Director of Undergraduate Studies to discuss the details.  After the initial meeting, once it is determined that the envisioned internship is feasible and suitable, the student then proceeds to finalize the details.  Internships may be arranged with educational institutions, not-for-profit charities, legal and legislative settings, art organizations and museums, among others.

 

3)      Internship in Tutoring Lower Division Philosophy Courses On Campus

 

The department maintains A peer tutoring program for students registered in lower division philosophy courses.  If you are an advanced philosophy major with a 3.5 in four or more Upper Division philosophy courses and are interested in tutoring FIU students in lower division undergraduate philosophy courses, such as PHI2010: Introduction to Philosophy, PHI2600 Intro to Ethics or PHI2100 Intro to Logic, contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.  This is another potential internship opportunity.