Undergraduate Research and Curricular Enrichment Opportunities
Practicum, Internships, Teaching, and Fieldwork Opportunities
Experiential opportunities provide you with practical "hands-on" work experience in a chosen career field before you graduate. They allow you to:
- apply academic knowledge learned from textbooks and
classroom settings to a work setting.
- have the
opportunity to make informed decisions about career
compatibility or solidify a career choice.
- begin
establishment of a professional network and establish contacts
who can provide references for jobs or graduate school, or
provide excellent career advice.
- gain experience in a field of interest to make you more marketable.
- develop and gain confidence in your professional abilities in work settings.
- learn more about yourself, such as your values,
priorities, interests, and capabilities.
- develop and sharpen shills that are transferable to a
variety of occupations and career fields.
- ease the transition from college to your chosen career.
These types of experiences are offered through academic departments for their majors, or through the Student Employment and Cooperative Education Office.
A few examples of practicum courses include:
GEOG 492: Practicum in Geography. Internship in applied geography under professional and faculty supervision. Field placement integrated with academic study.
IS 489: Environmental Practicum. Field experience in study and abatement of environmental problems under faculty direction. Project proposal, narrative activity log, and documentary report are required.
PACE 495: Practicum and Internship. The Practicum and Internship in Peace and Conflict Resolution provides an opportunity for students to apply the skills and concepts learned in earlier courses.
A few examples of internships include:
BOT 460: Hui Konohiki Internship. Applied Resource Management A “hands-on” internship in an environmental or resource-management organization in Hawai‘i. The experience will be broadened and supplemented by classroom lectures, discussion and analysis from traditional Hawaiian, scientific and economic perspectives.
ECON 390: Internship for Economics. Economics majors and minors work at paid positions with public agencies, private companies, and campus organizations. Students combine academic work with practical experience.
POLS 402: Legislative Internship. Field placement at the Hawai‘i Legislature integrated with academic study of political institutions and practices.
A few examples of teaching opportunities include:
BIOL 395: Internship in Biology Teaching. Supervised laboratory internship in the preparation and demonstration of laboratory experiments in selected laboratory courses.
PHIL 493: Teaching Philosophy. For philosophy students who, under supervision, will be facilitating philosophical inquiries in the pre-college classroom.
The Anthropology Department offers fieldwork opportunities. Two examples are an Ethnographic Field School in Tonga and a Maritime Archaeological Survey Techniques experience. There’s more at http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/projects/projects.htm Other students choose to pursue fieldwork opportunities with faculty members through directed reading/research credits.
Created by Lynne Higa, Christine Kirk-Kuwaye