RIT Sociology & Anthropology Program
Experiential Learning Proposal Form
Educational Goals: Part of RIT's mission is to help you gain practical experience that will
prepare you for career success after graduation. The Experiential Learning component of this
degree is grounded in RIT's mission. In your Experiential Learning activity, you may apply the
accumulated knowledge, theoretical perspectives, or methods of research that you have learned
in the classroom to analyze and address social and cultural patterns or problems that you
encounter.
Options: You may fulfill the Experiential Learning requirement in one of several ways:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Study Abroad
Archaeological field school
Ethnographic field school
Internship with a governmental or not-for-profit agency
Cooperative Education (Co-op) with a company
Research with a faculty mentor on a grant-funded project
Number of Hours: For any of these options, you must complete a minimum of 160 hours over
the course of at least four weeks.
Consult closely with your faculty advisor and the program director to consider your options and
choose the route that is best for you. Use this proposal form to solidify your plan (in Part A) and
then to assess your experience at the end (in Part B).
Enrolling: During the term in which you undertake the Experiential Learning activity, you will
enroll in Co-op (ANTH-499 or SOCI-499, if you are doing a Co-op) or Practicum (ANTH-498
or SOCI-498, if you are pursuing any of the other options). A Satisfactory (S) grade will be
entered for you when you submit a satisfactory Experiential Learning Requirement Completion
form. See the Experiential Learning website for more information about your options.
Credits:
Co-op: If you are working a co-op, you will earn zero credits for the experience (but you will not
have to pay tuition).
Internship: If you are working an internship, you have the option of earning zero credits (and
paying no tuition), or you can earn up to 12 credits, during an academic term in which
you are already paying tuition. If you choose this option, you will have to write a very
robust plan that demonstrates how the experience is an academic learning experience that
is equivalent to the work entailed in a course of the same number of credits. You will
need to identify a faculty mentor who will work with you on this and will verify that the
work is sufficiently rigorous and scholarly. Typically, a written assignment will be
required.
Study Abroad or Field School: If you will be going on study abroad or a field school, you will
also need to complete the Study Abroad Course Pre-Approval Form (from the Study
Abroad Office) to indicate which courses you plan to enroll in and seek pre-approval for
how they will count toward your degree requirements. Include that form with this
proposal.
PART A: PROPOSAL FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Indicate which you plan to do:
Study Abroad
Archaeological field school
Ethnographic field school
Internship with a governmental or not-for-profit agency
Cooperative Education (Co-op) with a company
Research with a faculty mentor on a grant-funded project
Name of agency, company, study abroad program, field school program, or research project:
Location:
Dates (inclusive):
Which academic term:
Name of supervisor (for internships, co-ops, or research project):
Supervisor's email address:
Supervisor's telephone number:
If you will be pursuing study abroad or a field school, which courses will you enroll in?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Total number of credits sought (see paragraph above):
If you are pursuing an internship with academic credits, indicate which faculty member has
agreed to be your internship advisor:
If you are pursuing an internship with academic credits, provide a two-paragraph proposal of
your plan and describe how it will be sufficiently rigorous and academic:
If you will be working on a grant-funded research project with a faculty mentor, provide a oneparagraph proposal of your plan:
Your Educational Goals:
Briefly describe why you chose this Experiential Learning activity and how it fits with your
educational and career goals:
Proposal Approvals:
Student:
Date:
Faculty advisor:
Date:
Program (Co-)Director:
Date:
PART B: EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING COMPLETION
1. If you have completed an internship, Co-op, or work on a grant-funded research project, have
your supervisor contact the Experiential Learning Coordinator to affirm that you have
completed the necessary number of hours (160).
2. In a paragraph, please indicate whether the Experiential Learning activity helped you
advance your educational and career goals, and if so, how:
3. Our aim is that the Experiential Learning activity will give you some practical familiarity
with how you might apply the perspectives, theories, methods, and accumulated knowledge
of sociology, anthropology, and/or urban studies to address contemporary social problems.
Did your Experiential Learning activity help you achieve this? In a paragraph, please explain
your "yes" or "no" answer.
4. If you found yourself dissatisfied with the Experiential Learning activity, please explain why
and offer a suggestion for how it might be improved so that we may better assist other
students:
Your name:
Date: