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Department of Political Science

Internships

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The Department of Political Science encourages all of its undergraduate students to serve as an intern. Internships are available at the local, state, federal, and international level and in every branch of government—executive, legislative, and judicial. Internships are also available with candidates running for political office, with political parties and interest groups (including nonprofit and lobbying organizations), as well as with law firms and private companies engaged in governmental relations and issue research.

Before contacting us, please be sure to visit our FAQ page for more information about commonly asked questions.

International students should make sure to read this important information from UFIC.

Students enroll for three credits of POS/INR/PAD 4940 (Political Internship). All Internships are graded pass/fail (S/U).  Students can apply no more than three hours of POS/INR/PAD 4940 towards the major.

Students are expected to work at their internship 140 hours during the semester.

In addition to their intern duties, students are required to keep a weekly log and write an 8-10 page paper in which the student reflects his or her experiences upon relevant academic studies. The paper may be on a topic of the student’s choosing, but it must be related to the internship and it must be pre-approved by the Political Science Internship Coordinator. The weekly journal and paper are due at the end of the semester via Canvas.

Students are responsible for arranging their own internships, but the internship coordinator and other members of the faculty frequently recommend any number of internship possibilities throughout the year. Given the competitive nature of some internships, students are advised to make contact several months prior to the semester during which they would serve the internship.

It is possible for students to enroll for credit for an internship after a semester has begun, but the student will be responsible for any late fees charged by the Registrar. Prospective or retroactive internship credit is not permissible.

Once students have secured an internship, they must fill out a short application form to be enrolled and to receive academic credit. Applications are available here.

For further information about internship possibilities, please contact Dr. Daniel Smith, Political Science Internship Coordinator, Department of Political Science.

If you have an internship position or other opportunities that you would like to advertise to our UF students, please provide Professor Smith with a short (paragraph) description of your organization, your expectations and duties for the internship, and contact information so that we may post it on our listserv of more than 1,000 undergraduate majors.