| Internships |
For English majors doing the Publishing Emphasis:
To complete this Emphasis, you must complete a “professional” internship with academic credit. The 3-credit course is English 495: Internship. In this internship, you will work a specified number of hours at a business or organization doing work related to publishing. It could be writing, editing, graphic design and layout, or working with programs such as Publisher, Quark, or even Word to get someone's writing (even your own) into publishable form. You will work under a site supervisor, who will be in contact with your academic supervisor and the Internship Coordinator at Abington. You will keep a log of your activities at the job site and prepare a project related to the internship. Both of these will be submitted to your academic supervisor, with whom you meet periodically to discuss your work experiences. Your grade is determined by the academic supervisor with input from the site supervisor.
To secure a required or “professional” internship, first talk with Karen Carli on the 2nd floor of Lares Building, and compete the Internship Request form. She will assist you with completing your resume, and preparing for the internship search process. You should contact companies or organizations with whom you wish to intern. Ask them if they hire interns in the area of publishing. If they don't, ask them if they would be interested in doing so. In either case, if they would like to have you intern with them, have them contact Karen Carli of Career Development to work out the details. She may be reached at 203 Lares, 215 881-7511or at ksc15@psu.edu
Abington's first English major to graduate with the Publishing Emphasis, Marie Crane, did an internship with the Montgomery Newspapers in Spring 2005. She wrote many articles on cultural events for their weekend entertainment tabloid, “Ticket,” and she continues to write for them as a freelancer.
For English majors not doing the Publishing Emphasis:
An internship is not required for the English major. Nonetheless, you would be wise to do one; Abington calls them “exploratory” internships, and they work just as professional internships do. Not only will you learn about work in the “real world” related to your major, you will gain valuable work experience that may lead directly to your first job as a college graduate. Today, employers almost expect new college graduates to have done an internship. Entering the job market for the first time as a graduate, you will want to be as competitive as you can be. Having succeeded in an internship tells employers you can be an asset to their company or organization. All these reasons give substance to the most obvious reason to do an internship: it's a resume builder.
If you are interested in doing an exploratory internship related to your English major, see Carol DeBunda of Career Development in 205 Lares, 215 881-7512, or at cad@psu.edu.
In the past, English majors have had internships with ClearChannel Communications, law firms, and at the Career Development Office at Abington.
Faculty who are willing to act as academic supervisors for internships are Dr. Ellen Knodt, Dr. Linda Miller, Dr. Bill Mistichelli, Dr. Tom Smith, Dr. Tram Turner, and Dr. Karen Weekes. If you would like to work with another English faculty member, ask him or her. You may need to explain what is involved. You can also have a faculty member contact Carol DeBunda or Karen Carli for more information (contact info above).
