The Department of Political Science encourages students from all majors to enhance the practical side of their education by engaging in an internship experience. Political science students have recently completed internships at sites as diverse as the Ohio House of Representatives, Policy Matters Ohio, the Macedonian National Parliament, the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office and Big Lots Stores, Inc.
We offer several academic options to support and enhance your internship. Depending on the nature of your internship and the amount of academic work you plan to devote to it, American Politics Internship (PS 4191), Campaign Politics Internship (PS 4191), World Politics Internship (PS 4191) or Internship in Political Science (PS 3191) may be appropriate.
Students are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to make an appointment with Elizabeth Kloss, the department's Internship Coordinator, by calling 614-292-6961. She can help you to find an internship and advise you about how you can incorporate an internship into your academic plan.
To start searching for potential internship opportunities, please visit Handshake and check out the International Organization Careers website.
APSA Internship Resources
https://www.apsanet.org/RESOURCES/For-Students/Internship-Resources
---
PS 4191
Students earn three (3) credit hours for completion of any of the 4191 internships. These courses are graded A-E. In addition to your work experience, there are several required academic assignments. These assignments are designed to enhance your learning and assist in your career development. Carmen is used to manage all assignments and course communications. There are no in-class requirements for this internship. Therefore students can enroll in any of these internships while working in places as diverse as St. Petersburg, Russia to St. Petersburg, Florida!
PS 4191 is repeatable up to a maximum of nine (9) hours, and counts as upper division credit in the College of Arts and Sciences. Up to 6 hours from 4191 can count toward the requirements for a major in political science. Three (3) hours of credit from 4191 can count toward the requirements for a minor in political science.
PS 3191
Students earn one (1) credit hour for 3191; it is repeatable up to a maximum of 5 credit hours and is graded S/U. While 3191 is an upper division course and can count toward your 39 hours of upper division credit, it DOES NOT apply toward a major or minor in political science. 3191 has fewer academic requirements and also utilizes Carmen and has no in-class requirements.
Please note: You may only earn political science credit(s) once per workplace and you cannot earn credit from different departments (like Communication or International Studies) or a different school (like Glenn) for the same workplace and term that you seek to enroll in 3191 or 4191.
Forms
To enroll in any of these internships, you must complete the Internship Information Form and the Terms of Agreement (including the signature of your evaluating supervisor) as well as a short statement which are located in the enrollment forms packet linked below. Once these forms are received and approved your internship will be added to your schedule* and you will have access to the appropriate Carmen site where you can find the syllabus.
*PLEASE NOTE: you will not be added to 3191 or 4191 if the addition of those credit hours puts you over the 18 hours maximum load permitted by the College. Please check your course schedule to make certain adding one or three credits will not take you over 18 hours and result in increased tuition. Students who go over 18 hours or who are not enrolled as full time will be charged for the additional credit hours.
[pdf] - Some links on this page are to Adobe .pdf files. PDF files require the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader software to open them. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may use the following link to Adobe to download it for free at: Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you need this information in a more accessible format, please contact polisci@osu.edu.