History and Political Science Internships

History and Political Science majors are strongly encouraged to complete an internship as part of their undergraduate experience. Internships offer students the opportunity to work in a professional setting, guided by practitioners in the field with academic supervision by the college. Historical Communications majors and students in the Law & Society program are required to fulfill at least one three-credit internship.

Internships:

  • help students identify career goals and formulate plans for graduate study
  • provide job experience in a professional setting and
  • offer contacts (often invaluable for post-graduate job search or graduate school applications).

If you are interested in setting up an internship for credit (requires Junior or Senior status and a GPA of 2.5 or above) please contact the Department's internship coordinator, Dr. Philip Benesch (benesch@lvc.edu).   The requirements for HIS 400 and PSC 400 interns are specified at the end of this web-page.  The Office of the Registrar plays a critical role in the process as well. Be sure to obtain, complete, and return the Internship Agreement Form if you expect to receive credit for your internship experience. 

Spring 2012 internship placements (total = 10 students): a) Pennsylvania House of Representatives (2 students, full-time), Harrisburg; b) Ridge Policy Group, Harrisburg; c) La Torre Communications, Harrisburg; d) Lebanon County Historical Society, Lebanon; e) MidPenn Legal Services, Lebanon; f) Office of the Public Defender, Lebanon; g) primary campaign of Rose Marie Swanger (PA State Representative 102nd district); h) LVC Office of Multicultural Affairs; i) LVC Office of Marketing Communications.

Please see the information below for examples of internships completed by our students over the past five years:
Political Science Internships
History and Historical Communications Internships
Pre-law internships

New Internship Information (updated January 2012):

Institute for Humane Studies (based at George Mason University on the outskirts of DC) is able to arrange internship placements in free-market policy oriented thinktanks and with various media organizations  (http://www.theihs.org/)

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 Ridge Policy Group, a Harrisburg-based, bi-partisan full service government affairs and issue management group is seeking to fill (2) internship positions.

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Democratic Party opportunities for summer and fall in Harrisburg and Lebanon -- students please ask for details

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Daniel Boone Homestead - students please ask for details  

Please fill out an application or contact Amanda Machik at info@danielboonehomestead.org for more information or to apply.  Application Deadline: April 15, 2012.

 

 

 

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Hershey Story Summer Archival Internship, students please ask for details

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Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems (ICPES)
www.DCinternships.org/ICPES June 10 – August 4, 2012 Held at Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Priority Deadline: February 7, 2012 Final Deadline: March 7, 2012 ***SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING AVAILABLE*** Sponsored by The Fund for American Studies, the Institute provides a substantive professional experience for 30 hours a week with a challenging academic experience at Georgetown University.  This fast-paced, eight-week residential program provides students from around the world with the opportunities to gain an edge in today’s competitive job market and graduate school admissions, and experience the excitement of Washington first-hand.

SAMPLE PAST INTERNSHIP SITES (American Family Business Institute; American Red Cross; Atlas Economic Research Foundation; Center for Education Reform; Congressional Offices; DC Mayor’s Office; Federal Agencies; Health and Medicine Council of Washington; Southern Governors’ Association; Tax Foundation;

 PROGRAM ELEMENTS: Internships – Competitive public policy placements; Classes – Up to 9 credit hours in political science and economics from Georgetown University; Housing – Roommate matching and furnished on-campus apartments in the heart of DC; Guest Lectures – With Washington’s top policy and industry experts; Exclusive Briefings – At the State Department, Federal Reserve, World Bank and Capitol Hill; Leadership & Professional Development – Leadership, mentoring and career building activities; Networking – Interaction with seasoned professionals and student leaders from around the world; Scholarships – Approximately 70% of students receive generous awards based on merit and financial need

APPLICATION INFORMATION: Students will be accepted on a rolling basis until the Final Deadline of March 7, 2012. Students applying by the Priority Deadline of February 7, 2012 will be given preference in admissions and priority scholarship consideration. For more information and an online application please visit our website www.DCinternships.org/ICPES. Questions regarding the program or admissions process may be directed to admissions@tfas.org or 202.986.0384. Please click on this link to request an informational brochure: https://www.DCinternships.org/tfas/brochure/index.asp 1621 New Hampshire Ave. NW Washington, DC 20009

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Chris Dietz, is running for State Representative in the 104th House District (www.VoteDietz.com).  He is a Democrat and President of Borough Council in the small town of Millersburg, 40 minutes north of Harrisburg.  The district includes East Hanover and North Annville Townships in Lebanon County.  He announced his campaign last month and will have a primary election on April 24th and a general election on November 6th.  He is looking for any students who are interested in working with the campaign in the spring and/or in interning for the Summer & Fall (if he successfully wins his primary in April).

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Church World Service- Lancaster serves the refugee and immigrant communities of Central Pennsylvania:  CWS-Lancaster is currently accepting internship applications for the Summer & Fall of 2012.  Available internships:

  Refugee Resettlement Intern (3) - Lancaster & Harrisburg options

    Immigration Counseling Intern

    Refugee Employment Intern (3)

    Church & Community Involvement Intern

    Cultural Orientation & Support Intern

    Refugee Resettlement Program Development Intern

     Grassroots Advocacy Intern

 Applications:  To apply, please review the internship job descriptions and the internship application at www.cwslancaster.org.  Send a completed application with your resume and a cover letter to lbeltle@churchworldservice.org.  Please add the position title in the subject line of the email.  Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.  Additional inf  CWS-Lancaster internship positions are non-paid and available to junior and senior undergraduate as well as post-graduate students.  


Political Science Internships:
Our Political Science students have been very successful in securing rewarding and exciting placements with government agencies, elected politicians, political campaigns, lobbyists and interest groups. Here are examples of some politically-interesting internships that our students have developed over the past few years:

 

  • Seven PSC 400 students have secured highly competitive paid Legislative Fellowships with the PA House of Representatives.
  • One student received a paid legislative internship with the New York Assembly
  • In addition, several Political Science students have been placed as interns with individual PA State Senators and Representatives
  • Three have held placements in the office of US Congressman Holden (Lebanon and Harrisburg offices)
  • One student interned at the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC
  • One intern was placed at the District Office of U.S. Congressman Murtha.
  • One student interned as an organizer with the Obama primary election campaign and subsequently with the fall '08 Barack Obama Presidential Campaign 
  • A student interned with the fall 2006 Democratic Coordinated Election Campaign
  • Five students have interned at the Republican Party of Pennsylvania’s main office.
  • Further, during the past six years, Political Science majors have been placed with a number of
      • interest groups (Common Cause, Sierra Club, the Lincoln Institute)
      • lobbyists (e.g., Pugliese Associates; Kline Associates)
      •  media organizations (CBS Boston, WGAL Lancaster)
      • state and local government offices (PA Office of International Business Development, Dauphin County Clerk, District Attorney offices) and
      • Community groups (Domestic Violence Initiative, Aids Community Alliance).

Additional internship resources for political science majors are available from the American Political Science Association at: http://www.apsanet.org/content_11599.cfm

The next step???  Contact the Political Science internship coordinator, Dr. Philip Benesch (benesch@lvc.edu).


History and Historical Communications Internships:
Since the spring of 2006 students from the History and Historical Communications majors have enjoyed placements with several museums, media organizations, and archives; Students placed with Museums have received diverse training in cataloging and tracing the chain of ownership of donated, borrowed, or purchased artifacts, conducting museum tours and associated in-museum classroom instruction for school field trips, and researching and describing items to be displayed in upcoming special exhibitions (one student was commissioned by a museum to prepare an educational video to be featured in a special exhibition).

  • One student was able to arrange a library archival internship while studying for a semester in Italy.
  • One student secured a prestigious Pennsylvania House of Representatives Archival Fellowship,
  • A history major completed a summer archival internship with the Watkinson Special Collections Library at Trinity College CT.
  • Five students have interned with the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey
  • Two have interned at Cornwall Iron Furnace
  • One at the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum.
  • One at the Pennsylvania State Police Museum at Hershey
  • Historical Communications students have also been placed with media organizations, including WGAL, Source Media, and the LVC Office of Media Relations.

The next step???  Contact the History internship coordinator, Dr. Philip Benesch (benesch@lvc.edu).


Pre-Law internships:
Law office internships allow Pre-law students to have a better grasp of a lawyer’s life (all to often glamorized in movies and on TV) and to observe how the workload of most lawyers is organized. Most interns have thrived as a result of their legal placements, forming long-term friendships with supervising lawyers and receiving career guidance and letters of recommendation when applying to law school. Students placed with Mid-Penn Legal services (since spring 2006 LVC has placed twelve interns with various office of this legal services organization) experience directly how lawyers are able to act as advocates for the poorest and most vulnerable populations – providing socially significant legal assistance to those seeking Protection From Abuse Orders, those needing counsel in custody disputes, those facing aggressive landlords, and those requiring bankruptcy guidance when oppressed by debilitating indebtedness.

The following list is offered as a representative sample of pre-law internships recently available to LVC students:

  • Mid-Penn Legal Services (12)
  • Office of the Legal Counsel to the President Pro Tem of the PA State Senate, Harrisburg,
  • Feather & Feather Law Office, Annville,
  • Manke, Wagner, Spreha, & McQuillan Law Office, Harrisburg
  • County D.A. offices in Onandaga, NY and Harrisburg, Pa.
  • Piontek Law Office, Hershey
  • Stock & Leader Law, Lancaster
  • Engler Law Office, Lebanon
  • Office of the Attorney General, State of New Jersey
  • Public Defender’s Office of Lebanon County, Lebanon (4)
  • Schutjer Bogar, Harrisburg
  • Clymer and Musser, Lancaster
  • Law Office of Dennis E. Cuomo, Baltimore, MD
  • Coughlan & Gerhart, LLP

The next step???  Contact the Prelaw internship coordinator, Dr. Philip Benesch (prelaw@lvc.edu).

>>Return to Pre-Law Advising

Requirements for HIS 400 and PSC 400 Interns 

1) The student will write a journal entry each week to be uploaded via the journal link on the PSC / HIS 400 Blackboard page.  The journal is the single most important component of your assessment; please complete journal assignments in a timely and professional manner.

2)  The student will maintain a log of hours: please use an Excel spreadsheet to enter the hours for each week and to keep a “running total” of hours for the semester; a print-out of the spreadsheet, signed by the on-site supervisor, must be handed to the faculty supervisor at the end of semester.  You are reminded that for EACH hour of internship credit, you MUST complete a minimum of 45 hours of work (not including lunches or breaks) at the placement; it is your responsibility to ensure that the requisite number of hours is attained by the completion of the semester.

3) The student is expected to maintain regular contact with the academic supervisor throughout the semester.

4) The student will write a term paper (MS Word format preferred) on a topic related to his/her internship (length of the paper = 2-3 pages for each credit); it must be uploaded via the Blackboard / Turnitin assignments link.

5) Both the paper topic and the bibliography / list of sources from which the paper is to be drawn must receive faculty supervisor approval.

6)  A mid-term and an end of semester evaluation checklist will be sent to the on-site supervisor to assist his/her assessment of the intern.   

7) The faculty supervisor will be in phone and/or email contact with the on-site supervisor during the semester to check that all is going well  

8)  If time permits, and/or circumstances require, the faculty supervisor will visit the internship site when both the intern and the on-site supervisor are present

 LVC Office of Career Services Information.  In addition to the opportunities indicated on this page, students should check internship postings to the Job Center and the web-links and information available on the Experience Counts web-page.