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Internships and Field Exploration
and Guatemala. Organizations such as IBM, Walt Disney World, St. Paul Police Department, Mayo Clinic,
Fastenal and many others have teamed up with Saint Mary’s to provide students the opportunity to
gain hands-on work experience before leaving college. Many participants opt to live at home and intern
full-time for a semester. The program is flexible, however, and students can intern part-time and in a
geographic location of their choice.
HECUA Internship Program
HECUA (the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs) and SMU have developed a partnership to
create a unique educational collaboration that engages students in exceptional learning opportunities.
HECUA’s semester-long program includes classroom learning and a community-based internship.
Students may choose a program that is held in the U.S. or abroad for a month, a summer or a semester.
The focus of each program is social change in urban settings. By partnering with exceptional community
resources, HECUA can better engage students in learning about current social realities and strategies
for social change. These internship partners supervise students, involve them in community projects,
provide direction for study projects, and often serve as resources in student and faculty seminars.
HECUA offers three outstanding programs in the Twin Cities: City Arts, Metro Urban Studies Term
(MUST), and Environmental Sustainability.
City Arts focuses on arts, culture, and social change. Students discover the many ways that art and
culture can and do impact communities and explore the role of creative work-performance, writing,
visual art, etc., in addressing pressing social issues. Students also gain valuable tools for social change
and vital connections in the community. A vibrant arts community flourishes in the Twin Cities; a wide
spectrum of organizations and individual representing diverse cultural experiences and perspectives
provides a highly creative milieu in which students explore the multiple roles of art and artists in society.
Metro Urban Studies Term (MUST) focuses on issues of poverty and inequality, and ways to address
these critical issues. Students explore key institutions that impact urban poverty and inequity, namely
the economy, housing patterns, education, and welfare. In addition, issues of urban sprawl, regional
segregation and institutional discrimination are explored. Students are empowered as they examine
and utilize an array of strategies to address inequality and rebuild the region more equitably. Students
develop practical skills in organizing and gain valuable tools for social change.
Environmental Sustainability: Science, Public Policy and Community Action program addresses key
processes of ecosystem degradation and rehabilitation, the social and economic underpinnings of
conflict over environmental change, and public policy and community –based strategies to achieve
sustainability. It offers students an off-campus experience based in the Twin Cities, examining a set
of contemporary natural resource and public policy case studies. This program takes an integrated
approach to environmental issues, addressing the linkages between rural and urban concerns as well as
the way local decisions relate to regional and global trends. Topics include sustainable agriculture, land
use management and watershed protection, industrial pollution, energy projection and consumption,
transportation, urbanization and suburban sprawl.
For additional information visit the Career Services and Internships Office or www.hecua.org.
Washington Center Internship Program
The Washington Center Internship Program combines real-world work experience with academic
learning in a unique environment that fosters success and achievement. For one semester, students
can work and earn college credits in their chosen academic field in the heart of the nation’s capitol,
Washington, D.C. Internships can be arranged in government agencies or in private non-profit
organizations and are available for all majors. For additional information visit the Career Services and
Internships Office or www.twc.edu.
Questions regarding internships should be directed to the director of internships.
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