Spring 2016 Internship in Local Politics
(Pol S 495)
Meeting time: TH 4:00 PM - 6:40PM
Meeting Place: Varies by date, AH-3130, NH-110, or LA-76
Professor: Farid Abdel-Nour
Office: NH-110
Contact: abdelnou@mail.sdsu.edu or (619) 265-0941
Office hours: TH 1:00-2:00 and by appointment
Course Description
This course is for Political Science majors who are seniors. It is one way for students to fulfill
the capstone requirement of the Political Science major. The purpose of the course is to serve as
a link between the Political Science curriculum, as it is taught at SDSU, and political work in the
local San Diego region. Its focus is different for each student, as it revolves around each
student’s specific internship experience. Therefore there is no one unifying theme for the course
and its structure is necessarily non-traditional. There are no lectures, no one set of assigned texts
that all students read, and no exams. Instead, the course is designed to encourage student
initiative and independent work. The point is for each student to connect some of the scholarly
literature in Political Science to the workings of the political organization in which she/he is
doing an internship. This means that in addition to the hands-on experience that students gain
from their field work, they must engage in library research and writing, and must produce papers
as well as oral presentations to demonstrate their success in making the above connections.
All assignments in this course build upon one another. They are designed as stages in the writing
of a research paper on a unique topic that fits the internship experience and interest of each
student. If every assignment is completed thoughtfully and on time, the process of writing the
final paper should be smooth and relatively painless. The goal is for students to integrate
fieldwork, library research, and course work into a rewarding and intellectually rich learning
experience.
Selecting an internship
The most important decision that a student makes in this course is that of selecting an approved
internship. Everything else revolves around this selection. Therefore, it is imperative that
students think very carefully about the internship experience they wish to have. In making the
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selection they should consider two main criteria: the potential usefulness of the internship to their
career goals, and its connection to the Political Science courses they have completed at SDSU.
Internships that are not connected to Political Science will not be approved, no matter how
admirable the work involved may be.
Before selecting an internship all students are required to read the page on Frequently Asked
Questions about local internships that is posted on the SDSU Political Science Department
website:
http://politicalscience.sdsu.edu/internships/internships_faqs.html
Students who need help finding an internship should look at the list of internships on the SDSU
Political Science Department website
http://politicalscience.sdsu.edu/internships/internships.html
Furthermore, SDSU has a Career Services office that students can visit to find appropriate
internship opportunities. This office is located in SSE-1200.
It is each student’s individual responsibility to secure an appropriate internship in a timely
manner. The professor will do what he can to help, but this is the student’s task.
The minimum number of field work hours required to complete this course is 80. Internships
should be done off campus in an organization located in San Diego County. The organization
must have a paid staff in an office (as opposed to volunteers who work from their homes).
Course Requirements
Sign “waiver and release of liability form.”
Students who do not sign this form during the first two weeks of the semester will receive an
automatic F. This form will be available to sign on the first day of class and by appointment.
Submit completed “field work application” form and obtain professor’s approval.
Students who do not submit this completed form and obtain the professor’s approval for their
internship by February 11 at the latest will receive an automatic F. An electronic version of this
form is available on Blackboard under “Course Documents” along with instructions for
completing the form.
Attendance at 6 required meetings 6%
If because of serious circumstances such as illness, a student is unable to attend a required
meeting, she /he must let the professor know via e-mail before the scheduled meeting and must
make arrangements for an alternative meeting time.
Short paper (1000-1200 words) relating internship to readings from SDSU Pol S course 10%
Instructions for this paper are available below under February 18
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One to two-page proposal for final paper 5%
Instructions for this proposal are available below under March 17
In-class presentation of final paper proposal 5%
Instructions for this presentation are available below under March 17
Annotated bibliography (1000-1250 words) 8%
Instructions for this assignment are available below under April 7
Peer reviews 6%
Instructions for peer review day are available under April 21. Additional instructions will be
distributed on the day of the review
Final paper (4500-5000 words) 30%
Instructions for this paper are available below under May 5
Internship supervisor’s assessment of a minimum of 80 hours of fieldwork 30%
The supervisor’s report is due May 5
Submission of all out-of-class written work
All assignments in this course must be submitted via “Turnitin” (Blackboard’s anti plagiarism
software). Assignments not submitted for plagiarism review will not be accepted. Some
assignments must also be submitted in hard copy.
Blackboard
All students are expected to check Blackboard regularly and to make sure that the e-mail address
with which they are registered on blackboard remains current. Course related announcements
will be sent by e-mail via Blackboard.
Students with Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it
is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any
delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as
soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations
based upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an
accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Academic Dishonesty
Cheating and plagiarism are serious crimes. Students who are caught engaging in these activities
will receive an automatic F for the course and will be reported to the appropriate university
authorities.
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According to the SDSU Senate “Plagiarism shall be defined as the act of incorporating ideas,
words, or specific substance of another, whether purchased, borrowed, or otherwise obtained,
and submitting same to the University as one’s own work to fulfill academic requirements
without giving credit to the appropriate source. Plagiarism shall include but not be limited to (a)
submitting work, either in part or in whole, completed by another; (b) omitting footnotes for
ideas, statements, facts, or conclusions that belong to another; (c) omitting quotation marks when
quoting directly from another, whether it be a paragraph, sentence, or part thereof; (d) close and
lengthy paraphrasing of the writings of another; (e) submitting another person’’s artistic works,
such as musical compositions, photographs, paintings, drawings, or sculptures; and (f)
submitting as one’s own work papers purchased from research companies.”(Source:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/senate/policy/pfacademics.html#cheating)
Course Learning Objectives
In this course students will learn to:
Do fieldwork in a local political organization
Draw connections between the Political Science curriculum at SDSU and political practice
Draw connections between Political Science scholarship and the work of a political organization
Develop a research question related to their fieldwork experience
Write a research proposal designed to shed light on the work of a political organization
Conduct focused library research to answer a research question about politics
Write an annotated bibliography
Write a research paper that connects Political Science scholarship to political practice
Make brief oral presentations on a research topic in Political Science
Undertake the main steps involved in writing a research paper in political science
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Schedule
January 21: Mandatory Attendance for all students in AH-3130
Introduction
Students must sign waiver form provided by professor
Students must obtain “field work application” form from professor or download it from
Blackboard
Students must sign up for a 10-minute appointment to meet with the professor in his office in
NH-110 on January 28.
Students must sign up a for a 10-15minute appointment to meet with the professor in his office in
NH-110 on February 11.
January 28: Mandatory 10-minute meeting with professor in NH-110
All students must meet Professor in his office (NH-110) for about 10 minutes each during
the time slot for which they signed up. The purpose of this meeting is for students to submit
the completed “field work application” form and obtain approval of their internship, or if
they have not yet secured an internship to obtain guidance in securing one.
For students who have secured an internship, this is the recommended date for submitting their
complete “field work application” form for approval by the professor, because February 2nd is
the last day to add/drop or change grading basis.
Students who have not secured an internship by this date must come prepared to discuss with the
professor specific ideas of exactly how, when, and with whom they plan on securing an
internship.
February 11 Mandatory 10-15- minute meeting with the professor in NH-110
This is the hard deadline for securing an approved internship, submitting a completed
“Field work application” form, and obtaining the professor’s approval. Students who do
not meet this deadline will fail the course.
The main purpose of this meeting is for each student to demonstrate to the professor the
connections that she/he has made between her/his chosen internship and the SDSU Political
Science curriculum.
Each student must come to this meeting prepared:
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a) With copies (hard or electronic) of two scholarly works assigned in an upper division
(300-level or above) SDSU Political Science course that the student passed (with a grade
of C or above) and that the student considers to be particularly relevant to the internship
she/he has chosen. These works can be either two scholarly articles, or two chapters
from one or more scholarly books, or one of each. The copies of the scholarly works must
include full copyright and title- page information.
b) With a copy (hard or electronic) of the course syllabus from which the above two
scholarly works were selected. The student must be able to tell the professor when and
with whom she/he completed and passed the course.
c) To make a 5-minute oral presentation to the professor explaining the main arguments of
both selected scholarly works and explaining how each is connected to her/his internship.
February 18: Mandatory attendance for all students Library session in LA-76
Short paper (1000-1200 words) connecting internship to readings from SDSU Pol S course
is due. The paper is due electronically in turnitin on Blackboard.
This paper is a continuation of the previous week’s exercise. It answers the following question:
“How can your study of Political Science enhance your understanding of the organization in
which you are doing your internship?” The paper must use at least two scholarly sources
(probably the ones brought to the meeting with the professor the previous week), it must
summarize the argument of each and must draw connections that show how these works enhance
the student’s understanding of the organization in which she/ he is interning. The “connections”
part of the paper must be no less than half of the length of the paper.
March 10
Students who need help developing a final paper proposal must make an appointment to meet
with the professor on this day. They must come prepared with material showing the types of
library searches they have conducted about their organization, and come with three ideas to
discuss as potential topics for their final paper.
March 17 Mandatory attendance for all students in AH-3130
On this day the proposal for the final paper is due and all students must make a 5-minute
presentation to the entire class
A one to two-page proposal for the final paper is due at the very beginning of class, exactly
at 4:00 PM. This proposal must be submitted to Blackboard and an identical hard copy of
the proposal must be handed in to the professor at the beginning of class. There will be a
penalty for walking in late on this day.
The proposal must include three items:
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a) It must include a focused paper topic or question for the student’s final paper. Students
have broad leeway in choosing a topic or question. However, the question or topic must
draw a connection between Political Science scholarship and the student’s internship, and
must be one that the student can address by drawing on her/his internship experience and
by doing library research. The connection between Political Science scholarship and the
specific organization of the student’s internship must be explained in at least one
paragraph. (minimum 200 words)
b) The proposal must also include a paragraph (minimum 200 words) describing the library
searches that the student has done to identify a specialized Political Science literature to
help her/him answer the proposed question directly and specifically. This must include
the data bases in which the student searched, the search terms used, the strategies that
student used to home in on the scholarly literature she/ he plans to rely on for the final
paper.
c) The proposal must include a detailed outline or roadmap of the proposed paper.
All students are required to make a five-minute presentation to the whole class explaining
their proposed paper topic, their selection of search strategies, and describing briefly what
Political Science literature they found that will help them answer their question or address their
topic.
April 7
An annotated bibliography is due electronically to turnitin on Blackboard by 4:00 PM.
This assignment follows up on the previous one. Based on the question or topic identified in the
proposal, and using either the search terms identified in the proposal, or more refined ones, the
student should narrow her/his library search, scan broadly through the most relevant literature for
her/his topic, and identify five scholarly articles or book chapters (in addition to the ones culled
from the course syllabus and were used in the three-page paper above) that will serve as the main
scholarly resources for answering her/his question or addressing the proposed topic. Students
should select scholarly sources published in the years 1996-2016. If a student believes that older
sources are necessary, she/ he must make the case for why.
These five items are the focus of this annotated bibliography assignment. For each item students
should write approximately 200-250 words (minimum total of 1000 words) in which they
capture the main thrust of the article or chapter, evaluate its contribution and credibility, and
explain in several sentences its specific significance for their topic or question.
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April 21 Mandatory attendance for all students in AH-3130
Complete draft of 10-page final paper due in turnitin on Blackboard by 4:00 PM. Two
identical hard copies of the paper must be brought to class. There will be a penalty for
walking in late on this day.
Mandatory in-class peer review: All students are required to participate in this peer-review
session. Every student must give and receive three different sets of comments.
Students who do not have a complete draft will not be allowed to participate in the mandatory
peer review and will not be allowed to make up the missed points.
The draft must use at least 7 scholarly sources (these may—but need not—be the same ones the
student has already familiarized her/himself with and written about in previous assignments). It
must address the question or topic in the proposal directly, must be clearly organized and written,
and its introduction must include a very clear version of the question or topic being addressed as
well as a clear roadmap that shows how exactly the paper will go about addressing this topic.
May 5
By this date a minimum of 80 internship hours must have been completed. The internship
supervisor’s report is due.
Final draft of 10-page paper is due in turnitin on Blackboard by 4:00 PM. An identical
hard copy is due in the Political Science office in NH-126 no later than 4:00 PM.
The final draft must be clearly marked as “Final Draft,” it must be accompanied by the three sets
of comments the student received from her/ his peers, and a copy of the first draft that the peers
commented on. The final draft must be placed on top.
The final draft must be significantly revised from the first draft. It must take into account the
peers’ comments where appropriate, be polished, use standard scholarly citations (either Chicago
style or MLA), and include a works cited page.
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Summary of key dates and deadlines
January 21
Mandatory attendance in AH-3130
January 28
Mandatory meeting with professor in NH-110 bring completed form
February 11 Deadline to secure internship, submit form, and obtain approval
Mandatory meeting with professor in NH-110, bring copies, and make presentation to professor;
February 18
Mandatory attendance in library in LA-76, Short paper due on Blackboard
March 17
Mandatory attendance in AH-3130, proposal of final paper due and class presentation
April 7
Annotated bibliography due on Blackboard
April 21
Mandatory attendance in AH-3130, ten-page draft of final paper due, peer review
May 5
Final paper due on Blackboard and in hard copy in NH-126, supervisor report due
This Syllabus is subject to revision
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