Graduate Internships

Latin American Studies graduate student internships


Forms:
[Application]
[Project Evaluation form]

Description:
The Latin American Studies Graduate Internships are designed to give students who are enrolled in the LAS Graduate Certificate Program the opportunity to enhance their understanding of Latin America’s diverse societies and improve their Spanish or Portuguese linguistic skills by working as a volunteer for an organization that serves members of an Hispanic community, either in the Louisville area or elsewhere. Students must volunteer 80 hours of documented work as volunteer interns and submit a work diary that indicates the date of service, number of hours, and activity carried out on a particular day. Additional materials, such as brochures, video tapes, promotional materials, lesson plans, translations, etc, may be submitted in a final portfolio. The LAS Internship requires: an application form, project proposal, progress reports to faculty advisors, a final paper, a signed letter of evaluation, and the signed Project Evaluation Form. For a complete list of organizations that have served as local and foreign internship sites, visit the LAS webpage.

Instructions for the Completion of the LAS Graduate Internship:

  1. Initial Consultation:
    The semester before enrolling in the internship, preferably during Pre-Registration week, the student should consult with Dr. Rhonda Buchanan, Director of Latin American Studies, who will help to select an appropriate venue for the internship, provide application forms and guidelines, and suggest a faculty advisor.

    Contact Information:
    Dr. Rhonda Buchanan, Director of Latin American Studies and Professor of Spanish; rhondabuchanan@louisville.edu Department of Classical and Modern Languages; Bingham Humanities 329C; 852-0502/852-2034
  2. Registration Procedure: The student should complete the LAS 681 Application Form and return the signed form with all signatures to Dr. Rhonda Buchanan. The student should provide a copy of the form to the faculty advisor. After all signatures have been secured, the student may register on-line for the internship under LAS 681 Latin American Studies Graduate Internship.
  3. Proposal: At least one month prior to beginning the internship, the student should contact the organization to arrange a meeting with the site supervisor and prepare a proposal that includes objectives and benefits to the student and the organization. The student should submit a two page proposal (typed and double-spaced) to Dr. Buchanan and give copies to the faculty advisor and site supervisor.
  4. Faculty Advisor: At least one month prior to beginning the internship, the student should meet with the faculty advisor, who will help set up the internship, prepare the proposal, and serve as the liaison with the site organization. The faculty advisor will also evaluate the student’s performance at the end of the internship, and assign a grade.
  5. Progress Reports: Once the student has begun the internship, he or she should keep in touch with the faculty advisor by email or personal office visits to keep the advisor informed about the progress of the internship on a weekly basis. Should any problem arise, students should inform the faculty advisor immediately so that the professor may contact the organization’s supervisor to resolve any problems. Students should keep a work diary in which they record date and the hours spent at the organization and the work completed during each visit. This log should be emailed as an attachment to the faculty advisor every 7 - 10 days. When the internship is completed, the entire work diary should be printed out and turned in to the faculty advisor along with the other portfolio materials.
  6. Final Evaluation Procedures: The internship hours should be completed no later than the last day of the semester. The LAS Graduate Internship requires a formal paper of 15 to 20 pages based on the student’s work at the internship site. The student should include personal observations about the Hispanic community that he or she served and also address the objectives that were outlined in the initial proposal and specify how these were met. More than likely, students will do much more than initially proposed, and these activities should also be summarized. In addition, the student should conduct research on the selected topic related to the internship and provide documentation of all sources (written documentation, oral interviews, etc.). The student should allow enough time to write the final paper so that it may be submitted to the faculty advisor for evaluation by the last day of classes. The students should give the site supervisor a copy of the work diary, and request that the supervisor write a letter of evaluation on company letterhead and send it in a sealed and signed envelope to the faculty advisor.

    Students should provide the faculty advisor with two copies of the paper, the work diary, the signed Project Evaluation Form, and any other portfolio materials. The faculty advisor should turn in one copy of the paper, the work diary, the original letter of evaluation from the site supervisor, the signed Project Evaluation Form, and other portfolio materials to the Director of Latin American Studies, and inform the Director of the final grade. Faculty advisors should keep copies of all these materials for their records. The final grade will be posted by the Director of LAS.
  7. Evaluation Criteria:  A student’s performance will be evaluated by the faculty advisor directing the project, with imput from the site supervisor. The evaluation will be based on the following:
    • 10% Submission of the Application Form and the Project Proposal.
    • 20% The work diary that serves as a record of the number of hours completed.
    • 10% The progress reports provided the faculty advisor via emails.
    • 10% A portfolio containing evidence of work completed during the internship, such as promotional materials, videos, brochures, lesson plans, translations, etc.
    • 30% The final research paper that brings current academic research to bear on the student’s internship project.
    • 20% The letter of evaluation written by the site supervisor and the signed Project Evaluation Form.

    Grade Scale:
    • A 91-100%
    • B 81-90%
    • C 71-80%
    • D 61-70%
    • F 0-60%