Students serving as interns and registered within the department’s Professional Practices (Hist 398 and 498) program must submit both a midterm Progress Report and a final Critical Essay.
This midterm report, which should be 3 to 5 pages in length, should summarize what you have so far done in your work as an intern. That description could and should include a description of your actual experiences, but your report should also entail your initial analysis of your experience. Ask yourself not only what you have been doing but also begin to consider what has been occurring around you. How does the program you are working within function? How do the tasks you are assigned assist the site in meeting its objectives.
In 8 to 10 pages, your final paper should build upon your Progress Report. It should include not only a full description of the tasks that you completed but it should also entail a critical but by no means necessarily negative assessment of the program you are working within. That analysis could consider, for example, how effective the various procedures used are, do the program’s objectives seem reasonable, how did the tasks that you were asked to address fit within the program, or how closely do the procedures used within the program adhere to professional standards that might be in force. In other words, place whatever tasks you have been asked to do in their full context and ask yourself what you have learned.
If you are to receive credit for your work as an intern, both the Progress Report and the Critical Essay must be submitted by the declared deadlines and be of at least reasonable quality.
