Washington D.C. Internship Revived for Spring Pilot

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Author: Sarah Corsa

Two students will have the opportunity to intern and study at the nation’s capital during the Spring 2014 pilot of the Washington D.C. internship semester. Occidental is reviving and revamping the program that existed more than 10 years ago, this time partnering with Washington Internship Institute (WII) to offer internships tailored to students’ specific interests and goals.

According to Executive Director at the International Programs Office (IPO) Robin Cragg, the program will be run similarly to the Oxy-at-the-United Nations program that takes place in New York City every fall. For the Washington semester, students will live in apartments in Virginia with other interns, commute to their internship location using public transportation and be responsible for their own meals. Just like the United Nations program, students pay the same tuition and housing costs as if they were at Occidental. Food costs are taken into account for students on financial aid, and the IPO issues a stipend for local transportation to keep the net price as similar to on-campus costs as possible.

The combined internship and seminar format for the Washington Internship is going to be similar to the United Nations program as well. Students will participate in a full-time internship coordinated by WII with either a government agency, a think tank, a non-governmental organization or an elected official’s office, as well as attend two seminars: one tied to the internship experience, the other a thematic course centered on a track of choice. WII offers four tracks: US foreign policy, women and global leadership, environmental policy and inside Washington. The scope of topics accommodates a variety of career goals.

“[The Washington Internship] caters to anyone who wants to be involved in politics either formally though political institutions or informally though non-profits,” chair of the politics department and program adviser Caroline Heldman said.

Heldman, along with the other adviser and politics professor Thalia Gonzalez, chose WII after consulting with other colleges that use the program and visiting the potential sites in Washington, D.C. Because the courses are taught by WII professors, Heldman and Gonzalez made sure to verify the quality and caliber of the courses.

“We wanted to really spend some time evaluating what could be a good program and then ultimately try to implement it in a really impressive way, and in a way with integrity, which was the point of doing a pilot in the first year,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez and Heldman began creating the new Washington Internship three years ago to compliment the experiential programs in the politics department, such as Campaign Semester and the “Disaster Politics” course that sent students to the Lower Ninth Ward to help with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Washington semester reveals another facet of the political world that is more permanent than following a campaign.

“The Washington program really gives students the opportunity to dig into a policy, to a practice, to an area that they could then see themselves going back to during the summer,” Gonzalez said.

Associate Registrar Jim Herr participated in the Washington Internship as a student, although at the time, Occidental partnered with American University. His experience was slightly different than that of today’s students [will be], he reaped the benefits of being in close proximity to senior officials by living in Washington D.C.

“There were lots of different doors that were opened,” Herr said. “We were fortunate enough to go and hear speakers at various embassies and hear folks that were heading up different alliances.”

Although Herr participated in the Washington Internship as a Diplomacy and World Affairs major, the application for the pilot is only open to junior politics majors. Gonzalez, Heldman and Craggs all expressed hopes that the program would expand – continuation and expansion depend on demand from the student body.

“Changes in the student body interests will probably make this a very attractive offering,” Craggs said, referring to the differences between the past and present programs.

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