Internships

Internships in Politics, Advocacy and Service

Internships are an opportunity for you to gain real-world, professional experience. The right internship can jumpstart you career and clarify what you want to do after graduation.

Internships are also a means to build a professional network and establish references for future employment.

This page and its links contain a range of internships in various political science fields, such as public service, issue advocacy and community engagement.

We provide two for-credit internship courses that you complete under faculty supervision: PLSI 603/604 and PLSI 610/611 (see below for more information). We also offer other classes that may include community service learning components. Please note that not all internship courses are offered every semester.

Many of these resources are from outside organizations that are unaffiliated with SFSU. Some, but not all, of these organizations offer paid internships.

Students are responsible for all internship applications. Likewise, the department does not guarantee any student an internship. For internship classes, students should inquire with the instructors. Apply to outside organizations directly.

The U.S. federal government offers many paid and unpaid internships. Visit USAJobs.gov.

Disclaimer: Listings on this page are an assortment of political science-related opportunities in the greater Bay Area. Inclusion of any particular internship does not connote department or University support for that organization, representative, candidate or cause. Not all listed organizations will have current internship opportunities, and some organizations will accept student interns even if they don’t advertise the positions. We encourage you to reach out to organizations that interest you; it never hurts to ask.

Political Science Internship Courses

PLSI 603/604

PLSI 603/604 is an opportunity for you to earn academic credit by interning in political or political adjacent fields, such as government, nonprofit issue advocacy and community organizing.

In conjunction, PLSI 603 and 604 are worth four Political Science elective units:

• PLSI 603 (three units) is the internship. You are responsible for searching for and obtaining your internship placements. Work 12 – 15 hours per week at instructor-approved organizations.
• PLSI 604 (one unit) is an on-campus seminar comprising several mandatory meetings and internship-related written assignments.

Before registering for the course, you must attend an orientation meeting with the instructor. If you cannot attend the orientation, you should arrange promptly to meet with the instructor individually. Students who attend the orientation will be granted priority registration status for the course.

PLSI 603/604 is conditional on instructor approval. If you have not secured an instructor-approved internship by the first week of the spring semester, you will lose your registration in the course. Please note that you may not receive credit for this course after you have already worked for or interned at an organization.

For more information, please email Professor Jason McDaniel at mcdaniel@sfsu.edu.

PLSI 610/611

PLSI 610/611 is a four-unit judicial internship that pairs undergraduates with San Francisco Superior Court judges. This internship will be especially valuable for you if you plan to apply to law school.

It is divided into two parts:

• PLSI 610 (three units) is the internship itself, a weekly 10-hour commitment at the courthouse, working directly with a San Francisco judge and their staff.
• PLSI 611 (one unit) is the class, a weekly 50-minute group meeting on campus with an instructor.

To register for this course, please do not register for the course in advance. Instead, email a PDF to Professor Nick Conway at nickconway@sfsu.edu before the end of the semester prior to the internship. The PDF should contain the following:

1. A one-page resume with your current contact information, and
2. A brief statement addressed to coordinating Judge Gail Dekreon on why you want to participate in the program, what you hope to gain from this internship and how serving the San Francisco Superior Court fits in with your post-graduate careers. You should also indicate which court division(s) (criminal, civil, family, drug, veterans’, traffic, housing, juvenile, young adult) you want to work in and why.

Please note that PLSI 610/611 has limited seats and is generally competitive; no student is guaranteed an internship. Selected applicants will receive an add code during the first week of the semester when the internship takes place to register for the course. You must apply by the deadline to be eligible. Please email Professor Nick Conway at nickconway@sfsu.edu for more information and specific deadlines.

Service Learning

In partnership with SFSU’s Institute for Civic and Community Engagement, we offer several courses that include the possibility to earn service-learning credit. To earn service-learning credit, you will commit to a community service learning (CSL) project with an organization.

CSL courses are designed to help you apply theoretical classroom knowledge to structured, hands-on community-based experiences. CSL courses provide you with a structure to reflect upon your experiences and opportunities for professional development and training and. Our community partners benefit in myriad ways as well.

Political Science courses with service-learning options:

• PLSI 408/LTNS 670 Mexican Politics and Society
• PLSI 424/SOC 424/IR 424 Social Movements
• PLSI 462 Applied Public Opinion Research
• PLSI 463 The Politics of Immigration in the United States
• PLSI 472 Civic and Political Engagement
• PLSI 473 California Politics and Government
• PLSI 475/USP 485 San Francisco Political Issues
• PLSI 560/USP 560 Urban Poverty and Policy
• PLSI 603/USP 603 Public Service Internships
• PLSI 604/USP 604 Internship Seminar
• PLSI 512GW Urban Politics and Community Power (GWAR)

Organizations That May Offer Political Science Internships