Academic Courses
In addition to interning four full days per week, you'll take two courses at the Washington Internship Institute: the Core Course and the Internship Seminar.
Core Course in Policy
Generally in the fall and spring programs, we offer two Core Courses. In the summer, we offer one Core Course. Each of our Core Courses address policy-making processes and the people and groups that influence policy in key debates and issues in the field:
Inside Washington: Politics and Policy (offered fall, spring and summer)
International and Foreign Policy Studies (offered fall and spring)
Our faculty includes top policy professionals and leading academics who guide you in examining policy issues. They use their extensive academic and professional connections to enrich courses with a variety of guest speakers from advocacy groups, executive branch agencies, foreign embassies, media outlets, or think tanks.
Our Core Courses give you an opportunity to interact with today's leaders, bringing to life the issues and institutions that are chronicled on the evening news, in scholarly journals, and in your classrooms on campus.
During the fall and spring, our goal is to place you in your preferred Core Course, but we cannot always guarantee your top choice.
Internship Seminar
The Internship Seminar helps you to make the most of your semester or summer in Washington, DC. It encourages you to connect your classroom learning with what you are learning and doing at your internship. This course lets you discuss, reflect upon, and better understand the internship experience. Plus, you will benefit from the experiences of your peers.
This course provides an opportunity to develop professional skills, including written and verbal communication skills, giving and receiving feedback, interviewing, presentation skills, and networking. Further, you will have the opportunity to consider how the qualities of a professional coincide with the qualities of a citizen and how one’s work can benefit one’s community.
