Spotlight
The Summer Social Science Writing Internship Program (SWIP) is a paid opportunity for a select cohort of undergraduate students to collaborate with social science researchers and institutions across the BU community. Each intern is placed at a social science research institution on campus, including the Center for Mind and Culture (CMAC), the Center on Forced Displacement (CFD), and the Center for Innovation in Social Science (CISS). SWIP challenges the cohort to consider and write about pressing social issues of our time, and to be able to communicate these topics to a variety of audiences. From the program’s conception, one of the goals of SWIP was, “to help the students think, as the Centers are doing, about critical problems that are facing us all, and addressing those problems in creative, interdisciplinary ways,” according to Dr. David Shawn, director of Writing in the Disciplines.
The program is funded by Jennifer Simpson’s generous gift through the Psalm #103 Foundation, and was also a collaboration between Deborah Carr at CISS, Carrie Preston at CFD, and Shawn at the CAS Writing Program.
While the institutions themselves task each intern with daily writing projects, the weekly writing workshop, led by Dr. Stephen Hodin, allows the cohort to explore their own research projects in a collaborative environment. In the combination of workshop and internship, SWIP creates space outside the classroom where undergraduates can imagine their own careers as social scientists, and work alongside other social scientists at the graduate and professional levels. Part of that collaboration broadens the scope of what the interns thought was possible for their own research and their writing careers post-graduation.
Anne Joseph, who interned at CISS, emphasizes SWIP’s role in inspiring the cohort to write confidently: “I would say that the lasting impact of SWIP is revitalizing my love for writing and being able to do it in a way where I’m getting constant feedback… To have a cohort where you’re getting paid to improve on your writing skills and make connections with [researchers], I feel like that’s a key opportunity for any student who’s interested in the social sciences, not even research, but what is going on in these institutions and for these people who have a lot of influence over changing narratives.”
In all, SWIP has encouraged its interns to imagine the breadth of possibilities for social science research, and gives them the tools for success. Nathaniel Clizbe (CAS ‘25), who interned at CMAC, also sees the potential for his research to grow. “Since I applied to this program as a job,” Clizbe says, “coming out of it with potential for a directed study or even grant funding—it felt like a gift because I came here to work but I came out with something else that I can take into the future.”
Questions or comments? Contact David Shawn, Associate Director of Writing in the Disciplines, CAS Writing Program.
Written by Audrey Kurtz, CAS Writing Program Staff, August 2024.