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Description
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The Graduate English program
at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst was recently
awarded one of seven 1999 Woodrow Wilson Innovation Awards
designed to underwrite creative approaches to encouraging
M.A. and Ph.D. students to interact with the world outside
of the academy as part of their graduate training. The goal
at UMass is to build a strong, regional internship program
that will radically reconceive the uses of a graduate degree
in English. The internship program is designed to offer
students in the humanities pursuing advanced degrees real
world experience within the public and private sectors that
will draw upon their rich talents as researchers, writers,
and effective communicators.
The English Department's
history in helping students locate placements outside of the
academy led them to the conclusion that work experience is
the single most important component of an effective
transition into non-academic employment. They are,
therefore, committed to establishing internships in which
students receive training that prepares them with relevant
and foundational experience in their chosen field or
occupation. During the 1999-2000 academic year, the program
will offer panels of alumni who have secured work in the
community college system, as well as alumni who have found
employment outside academia. Alumni are invited back to
campus to discuss their current careers--not only how they
secured them, but what their work life is like and what
adjustments they have had to make outside the academy. For
the 2000-2001 academic year, the English department will run
internships at the following institutions: (1) UMass Press,
(2) Paris Press, (3) Northampton Historical Society,
(4)Massachusetts Center for the Book, (5) Five-College,
Inc., (6) The Office of Planning and Assessment at
UMass-Amherst, and (7) The Center for Youth, Development and
Education.
http://www.umass.edu/english/gradprogram.html
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