Put learning into practice

Internships and Theses with WGS

Capstone Requirement

Fourth-year students are required to take the Capstone Experience in Women and Gender Studies (WGS 490) and select either the internship or thesis option. These courses offer advanced experience in feminist theories, research, and practice, while allowing students to pursue their own interests under careful guidance. Students enrolled in either option are required to participate in a weekly (Capstone) seminar. Students are also expected to co-enroll in WGS 490 and WGS 485 or 486. Students selecting the thesis option should plan on taking WGS 470 Independent Study in the Fall semester of their senior year to prepare. Offered in the Spring Semester only.

Internships

Internships are an important part of a major in Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Taken in the final year of the major, internships are opportunities to practice the application of one’s feminist education to work experience.

Internships are generally activist-based, giving the student the opportunity to set up or participate in a program or workshop that addresses an institutional or social problem. There are three main goals to the WGS Internship: the completion of an academically successful project, the enlargement of the student’s work opportunities and skills, and the working out of a theoretical or politically feminist issue in practice.

The internship reflects 4 or 6 credits for a semester’s work, approximately 14 weeks. A 4-credit internship involves 8 hours per week onsite with the community partner organization. A 6-credit internship involves 12 hours per week onsite. In the fall of their senior year, a student will work with their advisor in order to select an internship and complete an internship proposal.

The agency will provide a supervisor who will oversee the onsite work performed by the student, where the student must keep detailed notes describing and discussing activities, reactions, hours worked, etc. During the Spring semester, the student will enroll in the Internship Seminar, WGS 485. The student will also enroll in and attend weekly meetings of WGS 490, Capstone Experience, which requires completion of a 15 page analytic reflection paper on a topic related to the internship.  Interns will also give an oral presentation at Thinking Matters in the Spring Semester.

The internship proposal is a paper describing the intended internship, to be approved by the Director of the Women & Gender Studies Program. Due in the fall of the senior year, the proposal should introduce the project, summarize the duties and discuss the goals of the internship. The final proposal should be 2 to 4 pages long, not including the required bibliography. The student will also need to complete an internship form at the WGS House and obtain signatures from the internship agency supervisor.

September: Meet with the Director and other internship students to discuss plans.

September/October: Visit possible internship sites; identify a project to work on at the site.

November, before Thanksgiving break: Turn in proposal and sample bibliography of research materials related to internship topic.

December: Finalize schedule and (once registered for classes) contact internship site and decide on working schedule for spring.

January – May: Internship onsite with selected organization or program, etc.

April: Present at Thinking Matters

Recent internships have included such organizations as 

For more information on internships, please contact the Women and Gender Studies office at (207) 780-4289 or wgs@maine.edu to set up an appointment with the director.

Thesis

A “thesis” is a substantial piece of academic writing that contributes new knowledge on a given topic. It includes a thorough investigation of previous scholarship on a topic, and your own insights and unique contributions to the topic. A thesis should do more than assemble the ideas of others; it should enter into the academic conversation and make a unique contribution in the field of inquiry. The minimum length for a thesis is 30 pages plus a bibliography. The topic must be approved by the Director of WGS.

Writing a thesis can be one of the most exciting, fulfilling, and rewarding experiences of your undergraduate career.  It’s an opportunity for you to undertake a self-directed project (with plenty of guidance) on a topic of your choosing.  Writing a thesis is a significant endeavor: in addition to becoming an expert in your chosen topic, you will improve your writing and research abilities, build important academic and professional skills, and gain a level of confidence that will support you in graduate school and your future career.

A completed thesis reflects 4 or more credits of academic work, finished in the senior year. We encourage thesis students to use two semesters to undertake the thesis unless they are building on prior course work. Students can begin the thesis project in the fall with an independent study in WGS or another academic major,  or the Honors Thesis Workshop (HON 311), which is facilitated by the Director of the Honors Program. In the spring, students should enroll in 4-6 credits of WGS 486: Women and Gender Studies Thesis, along with WGS 490: Capstone Experience. Students must get permission from the Director of WGS to register for WGS 486. WGS 486 students will learn about writing, formatting and publishing the thesis. They will meet with the WGS Director and other thesis students to establish a schedule for drafts, workshop drafts of thesis chapters, and practice for the thesis defense and public presentation of the thesis.

Thesis Advisor and Readers:  All students are advised by a primary thesis advisor (a full-time faculty member on the WGS Council) and two or more thesis readers; together, these advisors form the student’s thesis committee.

Thesis students “defend” the thesis by orally presenting it to the public (i.e., your committee and anyone else invited) and answering audience questions to demonstrate mastery of your topic. Do not be intimidated by the title, “Thesis Defense.”  This is simply an opportunity for you to share your thesis project with the university community and the public at large by making an oral presentation and answering questions.  Typically, there is a very small audience at the thesis defense—you and your thesis committee, the Director of WGS, and anyone you would like to invite. No one will attack your work or try to “stump” you with impossible questions.  Despite the scary sounding name, most thesis defenses are lively and fun for everyone involved (really!).

In addition to presenting your thesis at your thesis defense, you will be required to present at USM’s annual Thinking Matters conference, either as an oral presentation or at the poster session. Thinking Matters is an excellent way to help you ‘package’ your work; it also serves as a dry run for your thesis defense.

You are expected to publish your thesis resulting in an e-copy on USM’s Digital Commons, a bound copy for the USM Library, a second bound copy for the Women & Gender Studies Program and any personal copies you want bound.  Published theses are catalogued, shelved, and available to other researchers within the University on URSUS and externally on WorldCat.

Spring of Junior Year:

Decide on topic and identify a primary thesis advisor, register for WGS 470, Independent Study for fall of senior year.

Fall of Senior Year:

WGS 470 Independent Study will help to prepare for the thesis, finish forming thesis committee, and write proposal. Register for WGS 490, Capstone Experience and WGS 486, Thesis.

Spring of Senior Year:

  • January – Chapter 1
  • February – Chapter 2
  • March – Chapter 3
  • April – Present at Thinking Matters
  • May – Thesis Defense