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RELIGION 380: Community-Based Internship Course
Make a difference while you learn. Explore a potential career field. Improve your communication skills. Integrate concepts you've learned in your major with real-world work experiences -- see how they're relevant and useful.

The Department of Religion offers a course for any student in Emory College-- not just for Religion majors-- an internship opportunity in the areas of community service and ethics. Through this program (course: Religion 380R) undergraduates can have a hands-on experience with a social service agency. This is intended to help students form an intelligent idea of the nature of work in that field. This is a pre-professional experience, not volunteer work. Opportunities for reading, research and writing on the ethical and religious dimensions of the project are frequently part of the Internship experience. 

Placement Sites For a good list of community partners for possible internship placement, click here for a list (will open in new browser window). Students have freedom to explore possible placements at locations of their choosing and to work in teams with other students. The student will need to apply and interview prior to acceptance by the internship site. Students have served in a wide variety of agencies, churches and synagogues, schools and organizations, such as: the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta  the Georgia Council on Child Abuse the Prison Christian Fellowship the Anti-Defamation League the DeKalb County Juvenile Courts various hospitals AID Atlanta

Job Descriptions Here are a couple of sample internship descriptions from the Southern Regional Council: Sample Intern Description (Event Planning) Sample Intern Description (Marketing)

Placement NEWS For additional placement ideas, search the Theory Practice Learning Web site and look at "Jobs-Internships" in LearnLink Announcements. Dekalb Rape Crisis Center is looking for dedicated volunteers to staff our 24-hour crisis line and serve as hospital companions for rape survivors.  We also are looking for volunteers to be part of the Speaker’s Bureau and serve on our Special Events Committees.  Our Fall 2007 Training begins October 2 nd.   Please contact Allison White, Director of Volunteer Services at 404-377-1429 or by email at Allison@dekalbrapecrisiscenter.org for more information and to request an application.  You can also download an application from our website, www.dekalbrapecrisiscenter.org. Project SHINE:   Description: Project SHINE links Emory students with immigrants and refugees in Atlanta who are learning to speak English. Started by Temple University in 1997, Project SHINE now works with 18 universities in 9 cities in the U.S. Emory students volunteer two hours a week for 10 weeks during a semester at one of our five partner ESL (English as a Second Language) sites. Working under the supervision of a lead teacher, students assist individuals learning English and studying for the Citizenship exam. This tutoring enables the learners to become more involved in their local communities and more engaged as citizens. No prior experience is necessary, but we welcome students who speak other languages and who are interested in cross-cultural experience.  Students receive (mandatory) training at one of two sessions (Sep 13, 15) in the beginning of the semester and we celebrate our journey with a Reflection Ceremony at the end of the 10 weeks. SHINE is a powerful opportunity for students to give of themselves and, in the process, to learn from immigrants and refugees. For more information contact Matthew Rindge, Office of University-Community Partnerships: Emory University: 1256 Briarcliff Road NE: Atlanta, GA 30322, Phone: (404) 712-8139; Email: mrindge@learnlink.emory.edu

Credits
Internships may be taken for undergraduate credit (REL 380), and students will meet weekly in a seminar class in addition to working in their placements. Each hour of credit requires 2 hours of work at a placement. Students should advise their supervisors that some weeks they will need to lessen their hours because of the academic requirements of the course. Students will present case studies of their work and keep a portfolio. Many students do more than one internship at four credits each, however, twelve hours is the maximum number of hours the College permits for total internship credits during the student's college career.

Procedure
In addition to registering for REL 380, students interested in the internship opportunity should research internship sites and arrange for an internship on their own.

Forms
Here are forms in pdf format that may be helpful to download and print:
Learning Agreement Design Sheet
Learning Contract