Professional Field Experiences for Master's Students
Is your organization’s mission aligned with peacebuilding and conflict transformation? Are you looking for talent committed to these values? Talent who can help your organization achieve its goals and objectives?
If the answer is yes to any or all of these questions, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame wants to connect about potential internships.
Background
Founded in 1986, the Kroc Institute is one of the world’s leading centers for the study of the causes of violent conflict and strategies for sustainable peace. Since opening its doors 37 years ago, the Kroc Institute has equipped more than 700 hundred master’s graduates to serve around the world in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, including government agencies, multinational organizations, international research and policy centers, and local, regional, and global nongovernmental organizations.
Professional Internship Opportunities
Today, the Kroc Institute administers the International Peace Studies (IPS) concentration of the Master of Global Affairs degree at Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs. During the second year of the program, fully-funded IPS students intern for nearly six months at a leading organization committed to peace and justice, either internationally or in the U.S. During these professional field experiences, students integrate theory with practice in communities dealing with issues of peace and conflict, inequities in economic development, environmental violence, human rights, and justice.
Would your organization be interested in hosting a Kroc Institute student internship?
Internships are at no cost to the host organization; the Kroc Institute covers all of the students’ costs during these placements, including travel, housing, insurance, and a stipend for living expenses.
Other bonuses:
- Shared Commitment: Interns share the same values and passion for peacebuilding work as your organization. You’ll be adding someone to your team who understands the field.
- Real World Experience: Our students enter the MGA IPS program with at least two+ years of professional work experience – meaning, interns will arrive at your organization with built-in professional maturity.
Additional Internship Information
Field placements most often take place between July 1 and December 15 each year in the students' second-year of the program. Interns serve an average of 30-35 hours per week with their organization, which gives them time to develop their own research for their capstone projects. The weekly schedule will be determined by mutual agreement to meet the needs of both the organization and the student.
If your organization is willing to serve as a placement location, the Kroc Institute will share it as one of the options for student internship placements. If a student is interested in your organization, an application (resume) will be sent to you.
Once contacted, your organization may notify the proposed intern of next steps (i.e. participating in an interview, submitting a writing sample, etc.). Your organization will make the final determination about whether you are willing to accept the intern for the proposed time period.
Placement Responsibilities
If an internship is green-lighted, the Kroc Institute will offer a Memorandum of Understanding to be agreed upon by all three parties, which will include Terms of Reference for the internship.
Partner organizations are responsible for providing a staff member to orient, mentor, and supervise the intern, and for providing opportunities for students to contribute to substantive projects related to the mission of the organization. As an emphasis of the Kroc Institute is empowering students to be reflective scholar-practitioners, the MGA IPS team maintains regular contact with the student for reflective practice and is open to any feedback your organization has about the student’s performance.
Questions?
We hope this information has deepened your interest in bringing on a Kroc Institute intern next year! For more information or questions, please contact Jennifer Betz, Assistant Director of the International Peace Studies Concentration, at jbetz2@nd.edu.
Read reflections from International Peace Studies students in the field on the Keough Insider blog.
Recent placements have included:
- American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), Beirut, Lebanon
- Bangsamoro Transition Authority, Mindanao, Philippines
- Catholic Relief Services, Mindanao, Philippines & Baltimore, Maryland
- Chicago Torture Justice Center, Chicago, Illinois
- Creative Associates International, San Salvador, El Salvador
- Diálogos y Capacidades para la Paz Territorial, Fundacion Redprodepaz, Colombia
- International Civil Society Action Network, Washington, D.C.
- International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Geneva, Switzerland
- International Rescue Committee, Silver Spring, Maryland
- Life and Peace Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
- RAFT, formerly known as Conflict Sensitivity and Peacebuilding Effectiveness in Myanmar (CDA), Yangon, Myanmar
- Sembrando Paz, Sincelejo, Colombia
- World Bank, Washington, D.C., and Bogotá, Colombia
Jennifer Betz
Assistant Director of the International Peace Studies Concentration
Jbetz2@nd.edu
+1 (574) 631-0934