Internships offered in the Department of Religion and Classics
The Department of Religion and Classics aims to educate and sensitize students to the wisdom and relevance of various religious and classical cultural traditions by focusing on their written texts, value systems, and social roles. Courses investigate both the past and present, working with the assumption that religion and the culture of the classics are forces that have shaped the past, influence the present, and affect the future.
Into the Real World:
In order to better appreciate the impact and influence of these traditions, the Department encourages students to pursue supervised internships. These include opportunities for social service, community organizing, and teaching in schools and established religious centers and institutions. All internships are without pay, but are worth up to four credit hours.
Internships in Religion:
The Rochester area is rich in religious history and traditions. The larger community contains sizable populations of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Baha'is, and students may design internships relating to and other relevant groups. For students interested the Christian tradition, internships are offered through church-related social agencies and schools both parochial and secular and in urban and suburban environments. Students seeking an internship involving Jewish studies may want to contact the University's Center for Jewish Studies, the UR chapter of Hillel, or the Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester. Similarly, the Islamic Center of Rochester, the India Community Center, and various area Baha'i organizations may be helpful for students wishing to pursue an internship within these communities.
Internships in Classics:
Students may seek an internship in area public or private schools to assist in Latin and Greek language instruction, or in the development of lessons and materials for the study of myth and classical civilization. Internships involving classics may also be available at the Memorial Art Gallery.
Create Your Own:
Of course, students may always propose other internships tailored to their own particular interests in religion and/or classics.
Ready, Set, Go:
1. Students interested in an internship in religion or classics should contact the Department of Religion & Classics at Rush Rhees Library 430 (275-5378) for current projects and sponsors, and additional internship possibilities.
2. Contact the appropriate full-time faculty member of the Department to serve as an overall supervisor.
3. Together with your advisor, outline the project, readings, assignments, and requirements, and the area sponsor.
4. Enroll in REL 394 (4 credits/semester), and together with your faculty advisor complete the Independent Study Form following the University's Internship Guidelines, both of which are available from Academic Support in Lattimore 312.
5. Carry out your internship while meeting regularly with your advisor, completing all assignments and requirements.
6. Shortly before the end of the semester, meet with other interns in the Department to discuss the results of your projects and their relevance to the academic study of religion and classics.
Recent Internships:
- Cataloging Jewish artifacts at the Memorial Art Gallery.
- Assisting at WXXI in the production of programs on religion, classical culture, and archeology.
- Researching materials for the Holocaust Project at the Jewish Federation of Rochester.
- Teaching Hebrew in a Hebrew school.
- Serving as a Latin tutor in an inner-city public school.
- Designing a curriculum on world religions for primary schools.
- Serving as a group leader and facilitator for children who are attempting to adjust to the death of a parent or sibling at KATS ("Kids Adjusting Through Support").
- Assisting "at risk" children in inner-city Rochester at the Corpus Christi Webster Street Center and Cameron Ministries Center.
- Providing assistance to youth ministry teams of the Catholic Diocese of Rochester through the campus Newman Community.
