The Department of Sociology has been pleased to welcome multiple interns to the department working on a diverse range of exciting projects. See below some snapshots of our intern's experiences.
Alice Manning Research Assistant Internship (Sociology of Futurelessness)
I have been working as a Research Assistant with Richard Tutton on the Social Lives of Futurelessness project that he is developing with academics from other universities. The main task of my internship has been to collect information and data on existing research projects and publications relating to the concept of ‘futurelessness’, with a view to assessing the main themes and conclusions that previous researchers have drawn out from their analyses. I gave a presentation of my findings to the academics involved in the project, suggesting ideas for different themes that could merit attention during the research phase of the project. Coming to this internship from a humanities background, I thoroughly enjoyed being able to apply my skills in an interdisciplinary way, and it has been rewarding to know that my work has laid the foundation for the research grant application to be made.
Pablo Molina Rossolino Vaping Culture Research Assistant Internship
The research assistant internship has been an amazing opportunity to have a closer insight into how research projects are developed. I have been responsible for creating an extensive bibliography, categorize it by themes, and break it down into specific areas. I have learned to be more systematic and organized with my research, which practices facilitate the work and which ones to avoid. Working under the direction of Darren Reed and Matt Coward-Gibbs has been an amazing learning experience that will be very beneficial for my future career in research and I cannot thank them enough.
Luka Vrkic Research Assistant Internship (Teaching Internationalisation)
During my project, I read and summarised research that identified and presented reasons for international students’ perceived lack of critical thinking skills and passive learning style when studying at UK universities. Afterwards, I read articles from researchers, universities and institutions that promoted improvements in higher education to find recommendations and strategies that can help the Department improve international students’ experience and performance. All of the material and my summaries were stored on a Zotero database so they may be used in future research, and my supervisor, Ellis Jones, and I wrote a report presenting the findings of these papers. I would say that writing the report was the biggest achievement and the most enjoyable part of the project as it is a culmination of these last few weeks of researching, reading and summarising a high volume of material.
Florence Orchard Website Content Creator Internship
Over the last five weeks I have been working as a website content creator: editing/updating the Sociology webpages, adding new content and planning further webpage developments. I particularly enjoyed creating new webpages such as the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion page and working with staff across the University to improve the aesthetic and accessibility of necessary information for the websites. I have seen a development in my technological skills over the course of the internship and have enjoyed seeing staff suggestions and my own ideas develop into a tangible output.
If you are interested in completing an internship with the department, job advertisements will be published in Summer Term 2022 via the Student Internship Bureau on Handshake.