International Development Studies

Purpose

The Arts Internship course will provide a vehicle for allowing students who pursue approved internships to earn 3 credits towards their degrees. With a university grant, the Faculty of Arts has helped develop departmental databases listing internship opportunities to be made available on departmental websites, has encouraged the forging of specific internship agreements, and is pursuing fund raising to help finance student internships. Students from each department will be directed to approved internships or will bring other internship opportunities to departmental advisers for approval.

Arts internships allow students in the Faculty of Arts to gain experience in areas relevant to their fields of study. Arts internships involve a minimum of 150 hours of work in a host institution approved by the student’s home department or program.

Please note: Research and internships focusing solely on Canadian First Nations cannot be included as part of an INTD program. This is because the program is defined by its international dimension and is not a development studies program per se. Research comparing Canadian First Nations with indigenous groups in other countries does meet this criteria and is acceptable.

Eligibility Requirements

The Arts Internship course in only open to U2 and U3 students in good standing, normally after completing 30 credits of a 90 credit program or 45 credits of a 96 to 120 credit program. A minimum CGPA of 2.70 and permission from the departmental Internship Adviser are required. This course will normally not fulfill program requirements for seminar or 400-level courses.

Work to be Completed

Students must submit the following documentation to the professor supervising their internship:

1. Summary of internship activities with a description of the host institution (maximum 5 pages).
2. A letter from the supervisor at the institution attesting to successful completion of the student’s tenure.
3. A major topical paper that discusses an aspect of the internship from an academic perspective (maximum 20 pages)

Approval Procedure

The Arts Internship requires approval before the beginning of the internship. Once the Faculty of Arts Internship Course Credit Approval Form [.pdf] has been completed, it must be signed by:

1. the Academic Supervisor,
2. the Faculty of Arts Internship Officer, and
3. the International Development Studies Program.

This form must be signed and submitted to the IDS Office prior to beginning the internship.

Internships will be approved as long as they are centrally concerned with program issues and contain the above-mentioned elements. The IDS Program Office at the Institute for International Development will keep a record of approved projects but will leave the responsibility for follow-up and completion with the student and the academic supervisor. Any changes to topic and/or supervisor must be communicated to the International Development Studies Program Adviser. Please note that students usually register for INTD 499 the term following completion of the internship. Students must also satisfy requirements established by the Arts Internship Office, found in the Handbook for Faculty of Arts Interns [.pdf] .

Human Subject Research

Course-based research projects that require students to conduct human subject research must receive ethics review and approval. These projects differ from research in that the intent is for the student to become more knowledgeable about the research process, rather than to contribute to generalizable knowledge. The results of the data are not intended for publication or presentation outside the classroom.

The review of these applications may be delegated to the Research Ethics Board (REB) departmental representative and do not normally have to go to the regular REB. This review may not be used for projects carried out as part of a faculty member’s own research. Course projects that involve more than minimal risk, or involve minors or other vulnerable populations, must be reviewed by the REB.

To view the "Policy on the Ethical Conduct of Research Involving Human Subjects" and to complete the necessary paperwork please view the Research Ethics Requirements [.pdf].

Note: No research project, including student research, may begin before approval has been obtained from the REB. No research project will be granted retroactive approval.

Grades

Grades are based on the work submitted to the academic supervisor as listed here.. Grades are due one week after end of classes and will be submitted via- e-mail by the academic supervisor to the International Development Studies Program Adviser.  For departmental contact information, please see: http://www.mcgill.ca/isid/undergraduate/intd.

For further information, contact:

International Development Studies Administrative Office
Institute for the Study of International Development
For departemental contact information, please see: http://www.mcgill.ca/isid/undergraduate/intd

Anne Turner
Internship Officer
Faculty of Arts, McGill University
Leacock Building, Room 307
855 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal Quebec, Canada H3A 2T7
Tel: 514-398-2916
Fax: 514-398-8049
Email: anne [dot] turner [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Anne Turner)