For Organizations

Anthropology majors at Western study cultural anthropology, biological (physical) anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, and applied anthropology. In all of our classes, we explore applications of anthropology and we encourage students to pursue opportunities to apply their anthropological understandings/perspectives in meaningful, applied ways.

An internship, as we communicate to our students, is an excellent way to:

  • Gain work experience in a professional environment
  • Develop professional skills and explore career options
  • Create a professional network and develop references
  • Link academic learning with hands-on experience
  • Learn more about the way organizations work
  • Strengthen a resume and become more competitive for jobs and/or acceptance to graduate programs
  • Develop skills in setting goals, self-assessing, and building confidence

Is your organization interested in offering internships?

If your organization is interested in offering internships to upper division anthropology majors, please check out Western's career services page for employers.

Please fill out the Internship Application for Employers  and submit to the Anthropology Internship Coordinator or Lauren Townshend, the Anthropology Department Manager.

Our internship program coincides with the quarter system.

We allow students to sign up for as much as ten credits per quarter (a commitment that translates to 200 hours, spread out over weeks 1 through 10) to as few as 3 credits a quarter (6 hours per week). Students can earn up to 15 credits in internships. Therefore a student could intern three quarters at 5 credits a quarter, or some other combination. Most students opt for 5 credits (100 hours).

We ask that you not require students to work during Finals Week.

However exceptions may include if they need to make up hours lost to illness, or death in the family, etc. Throughout the quarter, students appreciate flexibility in their work schedules since they cannot always anticipate test dates for classes and other “crunch” times tied to group projects, etc. For example, a student might work 8 hours one week and 12 another to average 10 hours for both weeks.

Both you and the student should keep track of completed hours.

Every student will have a Faculty Sponsor and a designated Internship Supervisor.

The Internship Supervisor from your organization will be responsible for:

  1. Helping a student complete the Internship Learning Contract, a document which must be signed by the student, the supervisor, and the faculty sponsor
  2. Guiding and supporting the student in their completion of internship responsibilities
  3. Providing an end of quarter evaluation on the student’s performance

 Please note that students will be completing written work, a self-evaluation, and a site evaluation at the end of the quarter to submit to the Faculty Sponsor.