Sociology Internships

Recent Internships Placements

• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Roanoke office
• Virginia Department of Corrections
• Camp Easter Seals 
• Salem Head Start
• Carilion Health System Marketing Department
• Planned Parenthood
• Allegheny Hospice
• Roanoke County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court  
• Richfield Retirement Community
• Community Hospital Pediatric AIDS Unit
• Jason and Koppenheffer Law Firm
• American Red Cross
• Bradley Free Clinic
• Roanoke Express Hockey Club
• Child Abuse Prevention Council
• WDBJ--Channel 7 News
• Lutheran Family Services  
• Department of Corrections, Adult Probation and Parole
• Virginia Baptist Children's Home  
• Roanoke College Center for Community Research  

Community Internship (SOC 416):

Community Internship (SOC 416) in sociology is designed to provide students with actual work experience in a community setting and an opportunity to work directly with people involved in the agency, service, or organization. The student should gain insight into the structure, responsibilities and routines of the setting, the work of the staff, and the background and needs of the clients.

The student may benefit in at least the following three ways: (a) gaining actual work experience as a means of enhancing theories and concepts learned in the classroom; (b) testing personal satisfaction with a particular type of work; and (c) making contacts that may help in securing future employment.

The community setting should benefit by gaining a reliable and hard-working volunteer who can help meet the needs of the operation.

Specific requirements for the Community Internship are:

1. is classified as a second-semester junior or as a senior.
2. has completed successfully a minimum of 3 sociology courses.
3. has a minimum GPA of 2.5 in sociology or special permission.
4. has submitted a formal proposal of goals and plans (applications are available from any sociology faculty member).

Sociology Internship Application Forms 08

Submission of the proposal and arrangements with the community and faculty supervisor should be made no later than 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the exam period in the semester prior to the internship.

Specific requirements for completing the Community Internship include the completion of a minimum of 120 hours covering at least 10 weeks in fall or spring semester (8 weeks during summer semester), regular meetings with faculty sponsor, completion of appropriate forms, journal of activities, and formal paper.

Internship Paper

The student intern must submit a formal paper that includes a case study of the internship site including its:

1. History and development
2. organizational goals
3. structure and resources
4. role of the organization in the community
5. nature of clients
6. nature of staff
7. personal evaluation of the organization

The final section of the paper should be an application of sociological theory and/or concepts to the internship expericence. For example, one could apply Goffman's total insitiution to a nursing home or correctional facility or utilize the bureaucracy literature to analyze a college development office.

Full course credit (on a pass-fail basis) is granted for the Internship. Financial recompense for the Internship from the community organization is not permissible.