Internships
One effective way to prepare yourself for a rewarding career is to gain practical experience while still in school.
Internships provide opportunities to develop your skills, gain hands-on experience, and build personal ties with other professionals.
Internships also:
- enable you to explore different careers.
- integrate classroom learning with real world experience.
- provide satisfying and enjoyable experiences.
- look great on your resume!
To be eligible to receive academic credit for an internship (SOCI 416), undergraduate students must have an overall GPA of 2.75 and have completed SOCI 101, Introductory Sociology or another course in Sociology at Mason.
To be eligible to receive academic credit for a practicum (SOCI 616), graduate students must have an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Additionally, Mason requires that 50% or more of the student’s internship / practicum tasks be career related and helpful to the student in building academic knowledge.
Lastly, for each credit, students must complete 45 hours of on-site experience; 135 hours to be eligible for 3 credits and 270 hours to be eligible for 6 credits.
Step 1: Begin your Internship Search
- Visit University Career Services for help preparing your resume and cover letter. Use HireMason to search for internships.
- Search online for organizations or positions in your area of interest (the internship search on Idealist.com is a great place to start).
- Talk with the Sociology Internship Director about possible areas of interest and opportunities.
- Talk with your professors, classmates, colleagues, and academic advisor about opportunities for interning. The importance of personal networking should never be overlooked, so use social and business networks.
- Review the list below for a snapshot of organizations with volunteer and internship opportunities.
Step 2: Apply for Internships
- Submit your application, resume, and cover letter directly to the organization. Be aware if references are needed and provide names on your resume.
- Check with the Sociology Internship Director to make sure the internship will qualify for course credit. For example, Mason requires that 50% or more of the student’s internship tasks be career related and helpful to the student in building academic knowledge, and 45 hours of on-site experience for each credit (135 hours for 3 credits).
Step 3: Complete the Internship Course Application Materials
- Upon obtaining an internship and receiving approval from the Sociology Internship Director to pursue the internship for academic credit, submit the following forms:
- Internship Application
- Internship Learning Agreement (requires the signature of the internship supervisor)
- These forms must be submitted by the regular course add deadline for the semester in which you are requesting to take the internship course.
- Once received, the Internship Director will enroll you in SOCI 416/616.
- SOCI 416/616 is a course and tuition will be charged accordingly.
Potential Internship / Practicum Sites
Most of the following organizations, unions, and agencies have hosted Mason Sociology interns in the past, or have expressly indicated that they would welcome applications from our students in the future. Listings in bold represent recent internships or requests for interns (2021-2022).
- Acorn Health
- AHC, Inc. (afterschool education, tutoring, etc. programs)
- American Anthropological Association (an internship list)
- American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
- Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO
- A Wider Circle
- The Basilica School of St. Mary
- Brookings Institution
- Capital Caring Health (Hospice Care)
- Casa de Maryland
- Centreville Labor Resource Center
- CHSS Academic Affairs - Understanding Internships
- City of Fairfax Police Department
- Climate Strike!
- CODEPINK: Women for Peace
- Cooperation Jackson
- CrisisLink
- D.C. Greens: Produce Plus Direct
- DC Intersectional Activist Interview Project
- D.C. Public Education Fund
- Democracy Collaborative
- Democracy Dinners
- Democratizing NOVA at Mason
- Democracy Policy Network
- Doorways (for Women and Children)
- Empower D.C.
- Earth Day to May Day
- FACETS (Opening Doors for People in Need)
- Fairfax County (Internship Listing)
- Fairfax County Parks Authority
- FairVote
- Farmworker Justice
- Federal Government (directory)
- Girls Rock! DC
- Green & Prosperous
- Higher Education Labor United
- HireMason
- Housing Rights Initiative
- Human Rights Campaign
- Human Rights Watch
- Idealist.org (a great resource for internships in non-profit organizations)
- INOVA Blood Donor Services
- Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)
- International Association of Machinists (IAM)
- KIDSAVE
- The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
- Learning Life: Family Diplomacy Initiative
- Let America Vote
- Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution
- The Literacy Lab
- Middle Eastern Studies Pedagogy Initiative
- Migration Policy Institute
- Move to Amend: End Corporate Rule, Legalize Democracy
- National Down Syndrome Society
- National Low Income Housing Coalition
- National Park Service
- Next Constitutions Research Lab
- Next System Project
- Northern VA Family Service
- Nothing Bundt Cakes
- NVFS Early Head Start
- O.A.R. of Fairfax
- The Phillips Collection
- PIRG: Public Interest Research Group
- Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia
- Poor People's Army: Economic Human Rights Campaign
- Presente.org
- Progressive Pipeline
- The Prosecution Project
- Protect Our Defenders
- Public Citizen
- Railroad Workers United
- Refugee Service Center
- Restorative Arlington
- RUMI Forum
- S.E.R.V.E./NFVS
- Second Story
- S.C.A.N. (Stop Child Abuse Now)
- Shelter & Solidarity
- Smithsonian Institution
- Social Justice Committee of Falls Church and Vicinity
- Solidarity2020
- Solopreneur
- State Department
- State Farm Insurance
- Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Northern Virginia
- Summer Institute for Anti-Racist and Decolonizing Research (SIADR)
- Student Conservation Association
- TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors)
- Transnational Institute
- Union Jobs (a directory of union internships and jobs)
- UNITE HERE! (labor union)
- United Community
- Up2Us Foundation (food mutual aid)
- Virginia Solidarity Economy Network
- U.S. Department of Justice: Community Relations Service (CRS)
- U.S. Solidarity Economy Network
- The Ventura Group
- Vera Institute of Justice
- Yuma Community Food Bank
We also encourage you to check out the excellent directory of community organizations and initiatives maintained by CECIL at Mason: https://cecil.gmu.edu/students/getting-involved-community/community-partner-information-list
