ENG 495: Internship gives you the opportunity to get hands-on
professional experience in a field related to
English studies and to explore your career options. Depending on your host organization’s needs, you will spend the semester assisting with
writing, editing, copy editing, research, public relations, and other
communications-oriented tasks.
You must commit to working 8-12 hours each
week for your host organization. This is an unpaid internship. You will
earn three academic credits, and ENG 495 will count as one of your elective
course requirements for the English major.
Your
host organization will supervise you directly, assigning work and giving
feedback as appropriate.
I will
remain in contact with you throughout the semester and am always available if
questions or concerns arise. As described below, you will send me weekly
reports on your activities, and you will write a mid-semester and final report
on your experience. You will also put together a resume and a letter of
application in which you describe what you have gained from your internship.
The Fall
2015 internship period runs from Monday,
August 24, to Thursday, December 10, 2015. If you wish to complete your
internship during finals week (Monday, December 14 – Friday, December 18), you
may, but we don’t require you to do so.
Contact John David Zuern at zuern@hawaii.edu for more information and to apply for an internship.
Assignments
Weekly updates via a blog, a midterm report, a final report, and a professional portfolio including a resume and a letter of application.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- describe the tasks, procedures, and goals of their host organizations
- identify the skills and experience necessary to succeed in the profession represented by their host organizations
- demonstrate the ability to perform assigned tasks at a professional level within the context of their host organizations
- demonstrate the ability to reflect in writing on their own professional development within the context of their host organizations
- demonstrate the ability assess their own performance fairly and precisely in relation to criteria specific to their internship position
- demonstrate the ability to represent their skills and career objectives clearly and forcefully in application materials for professional positions, scholarships, advanced degree programs, or other professional and educational opportunities
Email John David Zuern <zuern@hawaii.edu> for more information about the internship program.
If
you know you want to apply for an internship position, please include a
sample of your writing in your first message to me and indicate the
host organization(s) with which you’d like to work.
Potential Host Organizations
You may choose to interview with an organization from this, or you may develop an internship with an organization with which you already have a relationship.
This organization is dedicated to fostering literacy for children and adults through a Bookmobile program, community libraries in public housing projects, and outreach programs. Interns get a broad range of experience both in administration and hands-on work with the community.
Nella Media Group/FLUX Magazine
Nella Media Group publishes the lifestyle magazine FLUX along with Innov8, the Go! Mokulele in-flight magazine, and the Chinatown Newspaper. Interns
with NMG get access to all the dimensions of magazine publishing and
are assigned articles that appear in NMG publications. All our interns with NMG have had enriching experiences.
In
the words of one of its founders, Matt Luttrell, this magazine is “an ambitious
new media startup, focused on surfing, that looks to
harmonize the beauty of a print publication with a powerful app
exploring the magazine’s subjects via short film.” An internship with this emerging company would give
valuable insights into what it takes to get a multimedia publication up
and running.
This magazine devoted to remodeling, architecture, and landscaping in Hawai‘i has been an excellent host for several UHM interns, who get hands-on experience in magazine publishing and writing. Each intern has been assigned articles that have appeared in the publication, so this internship is a great way to start building a portfolio.
A UHM-based program seeking to promote a multilingual workforce and society in Hawai‘i. Interns applying for this program should have a strong interest in languages and language learning. The work includes interviewing members of the community, writing articles on language in Hawai‘i, and contributing to the program’s blog.
This publisher focuses largely on topics of interest to visitors to Hawaii, with
publications like the Hawaii Drive Guide and Spotlight’s Hawaii Guide. The
internship involves writing, proofreading, editing, image editing, layout, and
design.
A fashion and lifestyle magazine focused on Hawai‘i. Interns are involved in researching, writing, and copy editing articles as well as planning events and working with advertisers.
Tinfish publishes books of experimental poetry, often focused on the Pacific region, broadly defined. Interns help with copy editing, proofreading, production, and event planning.
Pacific New Media, UHM Outreach College
This program runs workshops on web design,
photography, social media, and other media-intensive topics. Interns
work on event planning, social media writing, video production, and
other support activities. The staff at PNM is supportive and dynamic, and the internship will put you in touch with media and technology leaders here in Hawai‘i and throughout the US.
An organization devoted to encouraging adults to read aloud to children
run by former Hawai‘i First Lady Lynn Waihee, Read to Me is a new internship
partner for us. Tasks would include writing, editing, event planning, and
public relations.
Working closely with Oʻahu chapter coordinator Stuart Coleman, this intern will help support the ocean-focused public education and advocacy work of the Surfrider foundation. Stuart is a successful writer with years of experience in publishing and freelancing.
Hawai‘i
Theater Arts Education Program
Run by noted actor Eden-Lee Murray, this program would be a new partner for our
department. You’d get hands-on experience with planning drama education
programs for young people, along with writing, editing, and public-relations
experience. (Make sure to watch Eden-Lee’s video on the site.)
An independent scholar working on philosophy, Asian history, education, and gardens. You would work as a research assistant, conducting research and assisting with correspondence, proofreading, and copy editing.
Working for the UHM campus newspaper gives you the opportunity to publish work
quickly and to gain writing, copy editing, and interviewing experience.
Email John David Zuern <zuern@hawaii.edu> for more information about the internship program.
If you know you want to apply for an internship position, please include a sample of your writing in your first message to me and indicate the host organization(s) with which you’d like to work.