Next school year’s students will have the opportunity to apply for an internship program in Washington that awards its participants with school credit. The three-year pilot program, titled Michigan in Washington, will send 20 to 25 students to the nation’s capital for that year’s spring and fall terms.
MIW will offer University undergraduates a chance to live, study and work in Washington. Participants will engage in public service work, learn about national politics, as well as the local culture of the capital, said Edie Goldenberg, former dean of the College of Literature Science and the Arts, and faculty director for MIW.
MIW will also allow students to apply course work with field research in an internship, said Lili Kivisto, the MIW program administrator.
Classes offered by MIW will be taught by University faculty and local Washington experts in various fields.
Students can select various internship locations, such as the Smithsonian Institution, Congress, the National Archives, national advocacy groups and the national executive branch, Kivisto said.
Creating this program took more than four years and demanded the efforts of many faculty and associates of the political science department, said Daniel Levine, a political science professor and former chair of MIW.
“There was (and is) a very supportive and dedicated group of alumni in the Washington area who play a continuing role in organizing and supporting the program,” Levine added.
The program chairs have been recruiting since the beginning of last August and are looking for students from all concentrations.
The MIW program was started in remembrance of the late Jack Walker, a former chair of the University’s political science department.
During a sabbatical, Walker was killed in an automobile accident in California, on Jan. 29, 1990. He was serving as a fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
Following the requests of University students for an internship program in Washington, Kivisto and Goldenberg, who were personal acquaintances to Walker, decided to create the program in 2000.
Both Goldenberg and Kivisto traveled to Washington to observe other universities’ internship programs in the nation’s capital. Stanford University’s internship program was the inspiration for the MIW program’s curriculum and living arrangements, Kivisto said.
Housing for the program has been arranged by the University and provided by Boston University. The Boston University Washington Center will accommodate the students, visiting faculty and a resident director. Classes will also be held at the center.
The new program will be a great asset to the University, said Laura Potter, a graduate student instructor of political science.
“I think it is really exciting, because you can now integrate course work and field work. Now, in the classroom, students can understand the relevance of what they are learning,” Potter said.
The program has been awarded a three-year grant from the University; after it expires, the program will be assessed and reconsidered for permanent implementation by the University.
Applications for the fall 2005 semester are due Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. in 5700 Haven Hall. Applicants must be at least sophomores to apply. To obtain an application for the MIW and to learn more about the program, students can visit the MIW website MichiganInWashington.lsa.umich.edu.
Michigan in D.C.
Study and work in the capital
-Applications for the internship are due on Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. in room 5700 of Haven Hall.
-Internships opportunities include working in Congress, the National Archives and the Smithsonian Institution.
-Students must be at least a sophomore in order to apply.
-To obtain an application or more information, visit michiganinwashington.lsa.umich.edu.