Internships

Digital and Computational Studies students may find hands-on work in industry helpful for both their learning and for future career plans. In addition to the learning outcomes traditionally associated with internships, we hope that students undertaking DCS internships will

  • Learn, develop and apply technical skills and/or critical approaches to technology to a particular field.
  • Critically analyze the values and assumptions of a digitized world
  • Build interpersonal networking skills
  • Connect their learning to possible future career paths

DCS classes are broadly grouped into three categories: 1) Critical Digital Studies, which interrogates the social construction and use of programming and computing and applies critical theory to the digital age 2) Programming and Computational Methods, which develops the theory and practice of computer programming and computational methods and 3) the DCS Integrated Core, which explores the interface of programming and computational methods and critical digital studies. Students are consequently likely to come to the DCS internship course with a range of skills, but should be able to:

  1. Identify their current skill sets, 
  2. Identify a place of growth and learning related to digital and computational studies, 
  3. Find an employer that can work with their current skills, and
  4. Find an employer that can mentor them in their growth targets.

Student goals for internships may differ. One possible goal is to help students build programming experience, especially beyond what we offer at Bates, for example developing expertise in SQL/databases or web development. Another possible goal is to support students who are interested in digital marketing, user experience and other technological fields that advance their understanding of the design and use of digital spaces.

Any internship that a student participates in must be unpaid in order to receive academic credit.  *F-1 visa holders are not eligible for internships outside their major area of study.  For more information, students should consult with Shelley Palmer in the Center for Global Education. 

To Get Started

  • Students seek internships first, then request DCS approval for course credit. 
  • Across a full semester, students should plan to spend about 10 hours per week working at the internship itself and 2 hours per week on a reflective project or blog. 
  • Students should email the chair of DCS, (1) identifying the internship, (2) describing approximately 3-4 goals for the internship, and (3) confirming that the internship is unpaid.