Summer Internship Program 2010

For 10 weeks each summer The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University swings opens the doors of its big yellow house to welcome a group of talented, curious, and energetic full-time interns who are passionate about the promise of the Internet and issues related to media and journalism, civic engagement, policy, identity and privacy, education, technology, the developing world, law, and more. The interns team up with Berkman projects like Herdict, Cooperation, Digital Natives, Law Lab, Internet & Democracy, or the OpenNet Initiative, where they have an opportunity for deep and substantive involvement in project operation.  Performing topic-based research; drafting and editing blog posts, papers and other written outputs; conducting outreach, developing partnerships, and maintaining relationships; exploring project and research design; and undertaking academic responsibilities of all kinds both independently and collaboratively are part of the Berkman summer intern experience.  Specific tasks and experiences vary depending on interns’ skills and project needs.

In addition to contributing to project based work, summer interns participate in special events and lectures with Berkman faculty and fellows, engage each other through community experiences like the weekly interns discussion hours, and each year innovate for themselves new opportunities for fun and learning, like organizing debates, producing podcasts and other media outputs, and hosting book clubs and cookoffs (!).

The word “awesome” has been thrown around to describe our internships, but don’t take our word for it. Zack McCune, a summer intern from 2008, had this to say: “it has been an enchanting summer working at the berkman center for internet & society.  everyday, i get to hang out with some of the most brilliant people on the planet. we talk, we write (emails), we blog, we laugh, we play rock band. and when things need to get done, we stay late hyped on free coffee and leftover food. it is a distinct honor to be considered a peer among such excellent people. and i am not just talking about the fellows, staff, and faculty, though they are all outstanding. no, i mean my peers as in my fellow interns, who are almost definitely the ripening next generation of changemakers.”

Eligibility:
* Internships are open to students enrolled across the spectrum of disciplines;
* Internships are open to students at different levels of academic study including undergraduate, graduate and PhD. programs;
* Summer interns do not have to be affiliated with Harvard University;
* We welcome summer interns from universities across the world, however we can not pay international students who have not yet received an undergraduate degree.

Time Commitment: Summer internship positions are full time (35 hours/week), and the summer program runs for 10 weeks from June 1 to August 15.

Payment: Interns are paid $11.50 an hour.  Please be forewarned that stipends may not be sufficient to cover living expenses in the Boston area. No other benefits are provided, therefore interns must make their own housing, insurance, and transportation arrangements.

To Apply:

Law Students
If you are interested in working with the Cyberlaw Clinic over the summer, please read and follow the application instructions outlined here.
If you are interested in working with the Citizen Media Law Project over the summer, please read and follow the application instructions outlined here.

Students from other disciplines
To apply for a summer internship position, please send
* a letter of interest describing your skills and interests, and indicating the area of research and the Berkman projects in which you have interest;
* a current version of your resume; and
* the contact information for two references (professional or academic)

to Berkman’s community coordinator, Becca Tabasky, at rtabasky@cyber.law.harvard.edu.

The application deadline for Summer 2010 is 11:59 p.m., ET, Friday, March 5, 2010.