Community Internship Program

The goal of the COMMUNITY INTERNSHIP PROGRAM (CIP) is to cultivate and support students with a passion for community service, success, and self-development by bridging traditional “classroom” education with “real world” knowledge and experiences via direct interaction with community-based Asian American groups, organizations, and institutions.  Students who recognize value in the narrowing of the gap between the “academy” and the “community,” between the university and the people it serves, will find in CIP an opportunity to partner and conduct supervised projects with a variety of organizations that assist Asian communities, whether they be locally based in the Binghamton area or in nearby urban centers, such as New York City, where significant Asian populations reside.

Students undertake internships by enrolling in AAAS 395 (Community Internship), a four-credit course that fulfills the General Education “O” (Oral Communication) requirement.  The CIP requires students to:

• have completed (or at the time of application be enrolled in) at least one course designated as Asian American and Diaspora Studies;
• meet with the CIP coordinator prior to the start of the internship in order to define and select the internship site;
• devote a minimum of 120 hours working “on site” with the partnered community organization;
• report to the CIP coordinator twice during the internship, after the second week and at the midway point;
• prepare a written final report assessing the overall internship experience, with includes a summary of the major duties performed, activities generated, and overall sense of skills, knowledge, and awareness gained; and deliver the final report as an oral presentation to interested faculty members and fellow students.

Student achievement will be evaluated by the CIP coordinator in consultation with the on-site supervisor. The overall grade will be assessed based on how successfully and meaningfully students:

• understand the contribution of activism, social movements, and grassroots endeavors to the establishment and development of Asian communities in the U.S. generally, and the state of New York in particular;
• develop awareness of Asian community resources and identify important community needs; and
• translate “theory” into “practice” and incorporate academic knowledge into active participation in social activities and movements, especially in regards to Asian American and diasporic communities
  
  

Student Steering Committee

Dianna Lam
Anne Yeo
Jenny Cheng

Director

Professor Lisa Yun

Advisory Commitee

Professor Robert Ku
Professor Lubna Chaudhry
Professor Dina Maramba

For more information, contact Professor Lisa Yun (CIP Director), email: mailto:lisayun@binghamton.edu