DSOC 3104

Global Development Internship Pre-Departure Course: Unit II: Preparing for Your Internship

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2021-2022.

This course is specifically designed to help prepare students for the internship experience through: (1) background research on their internship, host organization, and the fit of both into development practice; (2) an understanding of "community" as a concept, as well as in terms of characteristics of the communities served through the internship; (3) the development of a personal health, safety and emergency preparedness plan; (4) consideration of professional protocols in the context of an internship and how to deal with workplace challenges; (5) the development of a learning action plan; and (6) a pre-departure conversation with one's internship host to clarify and finalize details and be ready for arrival on the internship site. 

When Offered Spring.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: DSOC 1104/IARD 1104 or a different pre-internship course approved by the instructor.

• Clearly explain their internship roles and responsibilities, how internship work contributes to their host organization's overall goals, and how the organization contributes to development more generally.
• Use both socio-economic and demographic data and other information to describe the community/ies which their host organization serves or that in which the host organization is based.
• Quickly and effectively respond in the event of a personal health, safety or other emergency, drawing on a well-developed plan.
• Participate in their internship with a full understanding of basic professional protocols and practices, and strategies for dealing with common workplace conflicts.
• Pursue a set of personal and professional learning goals for their internship, following a set of strategies for doing so, while being mindful of benchmarks to assist with tracking progress towards these goals.
• Prepare for the post-internship course through weekly reflections completed over the course of the internships.

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