Asian Studies Program - Internship Opportunities
FIU has a new Internship Portal, for more information visit their website.
The Asian Studies Program facilitates students doing internships for credit or non-credit at several local organizations and institutions that deal with Asian language (especially Japanese and Chinese), trade, or culture. As a growing interdisciplinary program, Asian Studies encourages both graduate and undergraduate students to apply for internships in order to gain valuable work experience and receive specialized training, in addition to undergoing supervised practical training and/or research projects.
Several students have done internships at one of the agencies listed below:
There are several options available for graduate and undergraduate internships:
- Plan A. Internship for FIU Credits: Supervisor oversees and documents the student’s work in order to receive credit, which must be submitted according to the guidelines outlined below.
- Plan B. Paid Internship: Salary and hours are negotiated with the Agency. Academic work is required. Agreement must be made directly between the student and agency. It is then up to the student to contact the Asian Studies Program to get the approval from the Asian Studies Advisor and Program Director so that credit at FIU can be earned.
- Plan C. Volunteer Internship: No payment. Academic work is also required. Agreement must be made directly between the student and agency. It is then up to the student to contact the Asian Studies Program to get the approval from the Asian Studies Advisor and the Program Director so that credit at FIU can be earned.
Steps to Apply
Students planning to do an internship for credit must contact our office at 305-348-1914 or asian@fiu.edu to arrange a meeting with the Internship Coordinator.
Once you have met with your internship agency of choice and you have confirmed that you will complete an internship at that agency, Students will also be required to submit a signed Internship Checklist and Internship Agreement Form.
These forms must be filled out and signed by the appropriate parties prior to beginning the internship if the students wants to receive FIU course credit for it.
Guidelines for Writing your Internship Paper for Plan A
An Internship Paper provides you with the opportunity to:
- Describe, in some detail, the substance of your internship experience;
- Help locate that experience within the theoretical literature assigned for this particular experience and negotiated with the Internship Advisor;
- Craft a document that is professional in content, structure, and style.
An Internship Paper can be a reflection on your internship experience, or it can also be an attempt to make comparisons between the predictions made by academics in the relevant subject area and the realities as observed by the student during their internship. As such, documentation of academic literature can be essential, if that is negotiated with the Internship Advisor at the beginning of the semester of your internship.
Whichever the task that is negotiated with the Advisor, he or she is willing to provide guidance on the project during the course of the semester, so maintain regular communication with him/her to avoid penalties affecting your final course grade.
Writing the Paper:
Internship Description - Background
The description of the internship should give the reader a clear and coherent idea of the sponsoring institution and your role/s within it. Emphasize those aspects of the description that will be relevant to your subsequent analysis. For example, if you are writing about the development of a new intake form or procedure, it probably will not be of great interest to know who you normally had lunch with.
Also, include an analysis of the agency's cultural, social, or political function, and/or an analysis of issues related to your experience. The purpose here is to go beyond description to give depth and a broader perspective to your experience. What cultural, social, or political forces does the agency respond to? How effectively does it do so? Why these, and not others? In what ways, if any, have your studies in literature and/or writing prepared you for what was expected of you as an intern?
Critical Analysis (for papers including academic literature)
The task in your analysis is to link the theoretical literature that you have reviewed to your internship experience. If your literature review or primary question is not well focused, this is going to be very difficult to accomplish. Thus, if you find it difficult to write your analysis, you should return to your topic and your literature and determine whether you need to give it a tighter focus. A way to prepare for the task of writing the paper is to keep a journal.
Presentation of the Paper
The paper should consist of 10 pages plus notes and appendices (where appropriate), standard size 8-1/2 x 11 inches, one-sided, double-spaced, Times New Roman, font 12, margins: top: 1 inch, bottom: 1 inch, left: 1.25 inches, right 1.25 inches, organized in three main parts: the preliminary pages, the text, and the reference section. Pages numbers must always be centered. The student, in consultation with the Internship Advisor, determines the internal arrangement within the text and reference sections.
Additional Requirements
Standard size 8-1/2 x 11 inches
One-sided and double-spaced
Times New Roman, font 12
Margins – top: 1 inch, bottom: 1 inch, left: 1.25 inches, right 1.25 inches,
Internship Paper Submission
The final paper must be submitted on the first day of the examination period. Incompletes will not be given.
It is the student's responsibility to meet with the Internship Advisor before the semester begins to determine the goals and expectations for the internship. Failure to meet these expectations and goals will affect the student's final course grade.
For more information, here is a list of Internship Agencies.