Netherlands

Overview

This virtual internship and seminar will focus on the role NGOs play in education and development related to gender and sexuality, as it intersects with race, migration, religion, disability and other axes of diversity. You will participate in a 12-week internship with a Dutch nongovernmental organization that focuses on education, activism, and/or development within the feminist, queer, minority, and migrant communities. Your internship will be supplemented by virtual lectures and workshops on work-based norms in a global office; the position of NGOs in global development schemes; social responsibility, voluntourism and white saviorism; making a career of NGO work; and funding and government reporting, among others. You will be expected to contribute to the mission of their internship organization. Past contributions have involved developing surveys, completing a short-term research project, and developing content for educational and promotional material. You will also complete weekly progress reports and write a seminar paper on their experience. SIT students in the past have worked with anti-trafficking organization Bridge2Hope, disability advocates Stichting Heppie Seks, the Black Archives, TRANS magazine, and the fashion activism organization Diversity Rules.

You will be expected to devote approximately 12-15 hours a week both on synchronous and asynchronous course activities. Synchronous activities may include orientation sessions, seminar country and theme specific lectures, initial meetings with your internship advisor, group reflection sessions, and project presentations. Frequency, duration, and scheduling of synchronous activities will be determined the first week of the course in conversation with participants to find mutually convenient times. In the event that a student cannot attend a live session, every effort will be made to provide a recording, transcript, or summary for off-line viewing.

Asynchronous activities may include seat time at your internship, break-out groups, check-ins with your Academic Director, internship coordinator and your internship mentor, writing progress reports, discussion boards, completing assignments and a final paper, and using audio or video to record reflections on the internship experience. Students are required to demonstrate a strong online presence by participating in group discussions, answering questions, and interacting with course participants and staff.

Highlights

• Gain experience through working remotely with a Netherlands-based NGO and broaden your perspectives on key program themes. 
• Enrich your resume with an international remote internship. 
• Enhance your knowledge on issues of gender and sexuality and its intersections with race, ethnicity, class, and place of origin.   
• Make a difference by contributing to the social justice organizations in our extensive network.  

Prerequisites

None.