Experiential Learning
Experiential Learning Fellowships for Native Students
The experiential learning program provides funding for Native and Indigenous students at Virginia Tech to conduct hands-on projects while working in close consort with a faculty mentor.
These experiences are student-designed and led. They can include community-based learning, laboratory research projects, field-based research projects, skill-development field trips, or assisting in developing extension educational programs. Students participating in the program are paired with faculty mentors and in some cases, also community partners, who work to provide guidance and networking opportunities, as well as to scaffold and offer opportunities to expand their learning. Students recieve a $1000 stipend at the completion of the project. Some fellowships may provide a paid internship opportunity in conjuntion with the fellowship (see job descriptions). In addition, students can receive additional funding for materials and/or supplies they might require to support their projects.
Virginia Tech faculty and students partner with many potential host organizations and student faculty mentors. Applicants are encouraged to consult program director Donna Westfall-Rudd if they would like help identifying a suitable fellowship opportunity.
Please see the list of current opportunities and application form to apply below. Fellowships opportunities are not limited to this list. Please contact Donna Westfall-Rudd if you would like to propose another fellowship opportunity.
Host Organization: Solitude and Fraction, Virginia Tech Office of Inclusion and Diversity
Location: Solitude | Virginia Tech (Blacksburg Campus)
The Student fellow will work with the Program Director for Solitude/Fraction at Virginia Tech. Solitude is the oldest building on campus and is a "tri-racial zone" with programming and exhibits that explore the intersection of Indigenous, enslaved, settler, and the founding of Virginia Tech history. The student gains experience in communication, meeting, and exceeding client expectations, while developing and presenting programs and exhibits. This position helps students develop their career path while working with others to fine tune their knowledge through experiential learning. This year the fellow will help develop an exhibit with emphases on Indigenous history or assist with developing a program for the Solitude/Fraction site.
Host Organization: Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia Project at The Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies and Appalachian Studies Program, Department of Religion and Culture at Virginia Tech (Funded by the Mellon Foundation)
Location: Virginia Tech - Blacksburg Campus
Semester: Year-round, flexible
Sharing Native Histories Internship
The Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia project at Virginia Tech seeks to hire one undergraduate intern to begin during Spring semester 2023. We seek a student to help us identify stories about Native histories, with particular emphasis on Eastern Siouan communities such as the Catawba and Tutelo-Saponi / Yesah peoples (the latter were part of the Monacan Alliance). The intern would work 5 to 10 hours per week contacting and speaking to a wide variety of Native individuals, communities, and nations to explore which people, places, practices and arts, events, and/or existing landmarks we should amplify with broader representation, visibility, and interpretation. As part of the fellowship, the intern will complete a separate independent project with support from the faculty advisor. Compensation for the internship is $15/hour (for up to 250 hours per year) in addition to the fellowship stipend. This internship has the potential to extend over the summer and/or into the 2023-2024 school year. The intern will be supported by two graduate assistants under the supervision of two faculty members.
More about Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia
The Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia project works collaboratively with community members, local organizations, artists, scholars, and educators to document and display histories and experiences that have been silenced, denied, or excluded by existing monuments that dominate public spaces. New monuments in Appalachian Virginia and in Eastern Siouan lands more broadly will seek to highlight stories that illuminate: the diversity of communities with regard to race, ethnicity, indigeneity, national origin, sexuality, and more; movement across the landscape via migration and population displacement; regional ecologies, resource extraction, and environmental change; and struggles for social justice including feminist, anti-racist, environmental justice, and pro-labor movements. Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia seeks to reshape experiences of public spaces via: (1) An audit and amplification of existing monuments identified as meaningful by community advocates; (2) Support for 2-4 public history and/or public arts projects conceptualized and proposed by VT scholars in collaboration with community partners; (3) A consultation process with communities and scholars to identify people, events, and movements deserving commemoration, culminating in 4-6 physical and/or digital exhibits, performances, archives, markers, or monuments initiated by community advocates.
Host Organization: The American Indian and Indigenous Community Center (AIIC) at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg Campus)
Location: Squires Student Center, Room 122
Semester: Year round, flexible
The American Indian and Indigenous Community Center (AIICC) serves as a community gathering area and study space. The center comfortably holds 50 people and offers a communal area, study spaces, and TV/projection capabilities. The space hosts an expanding library of over 200 books, CDs, and DVDs, many of which were donated by faculty, staff, and Indigenous communities. The space also includes a variety of Indigenous art, historic artifacts, and ceremonial pieces representing the cultures and traditions of several Indigenous communities.
Interns assist the center with general daily activities such as welcoming, greeting and providing general information for visitors, ensuring the center remains neat and organized and maintaining organization and cataloging of both artwork and lending library as well as clerical and office management duties. Interns also support AIICC events by assiting with planning, tabling and other tasks as needed. Interns help to engage the community through email communication, managing contact lists, monitoring and developing content for the social media platforms, advertizing events and managing the AIICC calendar. Interns have the opportunity to participate in relevant professional development and trainings as assigned. As part of the fellowship, students will develop an independent project in coordination with the center and their faculty advisor. Interns are compensated hourly at 10 hour per week in addition to a fellowship stipend.
Host Organization: Casa Latina - Roanoke Valley
Location: Roanoke, VA
Semester: Year-round, flexible
Description: Casa Latina in Roanoke, Virginia, a nonprofit that connects Spanish-speakers in Southwest Virginia to resources and one another, seeks partners in a variety of capacities. Opportunities for interns include developing children's programming, web design, and marketing.
Host Organization: Fairfield Foundation
Location: Gloucester County, Virginia
Semester: Year-round, flexible
Description: Fairfield Foundation, an archaeology and historic preservation non-profit in Gloucester County, VA, encourages students to work as an intern or on their own research project alongside staff members learning the nuts and bolts of archaeology, historic research, non-profit management, and the day-to-day challenges of studying and preserving our past. Internships are scheduled throughout the year, although summer is our busiest season. You can design your own research project, learn how to write grants, work with artifacts, participate in hands-on preservation work, or learn the basics of archaeology in the field and lab.
Host Tribal Government: Rappahannock Tribe
Location: Indian Neck, King & Queen County, Va.
Semester: Summer 2023
Description: Intern will work closely with tribal office and government staff to develop an communications plan for the Rappahannock Tribe.
Host Organization: Special Collections and University Archives
Location: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg Campus
Semester: Year-round, flexible (currently accepting for Summer 2023 and Fall 2023)
Description: Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA), located in Virginia Tech's Newman Library, is open to partnering on experiential learning opportunities. Students interested in exploring the archives to pursue a research project should look at the materials available here. We consider requests to supervise or collaborate on student internships, field studies, or practicums on a case-by-case basis, subject to availability of staff with the appropriate specialization(s). We are not an academic department, so students seeking credit should be sure to talk with both SCUA and an appropriate academic department(s) to coordinate internship requirements and credit.
FAQs:
- A viable experiential learning idea.
- A preliminary plan for carrying out the idea.
- A faculty member who has agreed to mentor your project and has discussed your ideas with you. Faculty Mentors are expected to participate in a Community of Practice designed to help them best support you and your project. The fellowship does not include funding for the faculty member.
- A member of a community interested in assisting or supporting your project (optional).
The fellowship review committee will select an annual group of program fellows based on:
- Demonstration of curiosity for academic, community, or research development with perseverance necessary to complete experiential learning plan
- The project is well-thought-through
- The applicant has proposed a project they are likely to complete in the timeframe they identify
The fellowship awards are credited to your Virginia Tech bursar's account. They will be applied to your university accounts.
Is your proposed project something you worked on or dreamed up in a class? Consider contacting the faculty member who taught the class. Or, you may also ask a faculty member who works in an area of interest. When you contact them, share your project idea and plan concisely and clearly. Donna Westfall- Rudd is happy to help you will the faculty matching.
Your mentor, the program director, and other faculty on campus may have some suggestions and contacts. You are encouraged to return to this web page and explore opportunities we have listed.
If you are looking for additional ideas, check internship boards at Virginia Tech, your local and regional professional organizations, and state and national government agencies. Additionally, organizations like AISES keep separate internship boards on their website. However, many non-profits or smaller organizations may allow you to create your own internship in partnership with their organization. Make a list of potential partner organizations and research them online. Contact and follow up professionally with appropriate representatives when one seems like a good fit (could an experience there support your career goals and your plans for the semester?).
For research projects, discuss potential partners with your faculty faculty mentor. How do your goals and expectations for the project align with theirs? Are the resources they offer readily available to you and optimal for your research needs and schedule? Clear communication between you, your faculty mentor, and the collaborator or organization is crucial during the planning process.
After award decisions are announced, meet with your faculty faculty mentor and any community partners or team members to discuss:
Learning objectives:
Work with your faculty member to establish what content or experience you will gain from your experience. How does this experience prepare you for your career? How does it build on your previous coursework? What are you getting from this opportunity that you don't get in class? Write three to five ideas and explanations specific to the project, like "practice inclusive teaching" or "learn how shad migrations have changed," and share them with your partners before you start your experience or finalize what you plan to accomplish. If they understand what you want to learn, collaborators will provide you with relevant resources.
Skill development:
Work with your faculty mentor to establish what you will be learning how to do. What skills are necessary to complete this project successfully, and what skills will be helpful in the future? Write the three to five skills you want to gain or practice, like "get more practice with JMP statistical software" or "learn how to write a lesson plan," and share these before starting your experience and finalizing deliverables. Your partners need to understand your knowledge and proficiencies relevant to the project and can connect you with appropriate resources that will make your skills stronger.
Deliverables:
For community or organizational partners:
Representatives from partnering organizations may want a final product at the end of the semester or throughout your time with them. Examples include a final presentation, a white paper or brief, a literature review, lesson plans, a community event, or a research report. Discuss with your faculty mentor how these products fit into your research plan or career goals and, if applicable, how they will count towards your final grade.
For academic credit:
You and your faculty mentor should discuss any additional work required to complete your experience for academic credit. Examples include a final reflection paper, a log of activities, a presentation at a conference, or a series of blog entries. Ensure that you agree about how each component contributes to your final grade and degree requirements, including the number of hours worked. For internships, every department has specific requirements for the number of hours per credit hour and limits on the number of hours that may count towards a major.
A schedule:
Meet with your faculty mentor and any community partners to decide when deliverables are due, how often you will be on-site, and when you plan to accomplish specific pieces of your project. Usually, this includes a weekly plan. Consider any necessary training, travel, family responsibilities, progress reports, or regular check-ins with your faculty mentor and partners.
Professional behavior on site:
Talk to your faculty mentor and any site leader or supervisor about behavioral expectations at the workplace, including dress, preferred modes of communication, and etiquette. Every workplace has a different work culture. However, timeliness, clear and consistent communication, and honesty are valued everywhere. Never be afraid to ask questions about an assignment or the workplace, and speak to your site supervisor or the program director immediately about pressing concerns related to the work environment.
Contact project director Donna Westfall-Rudd.
Interested in providing an opportuinity for students?
If you or your organization has an experiential learning fellowship opportunity you would like shared with students, please complete the form below. We will use this information to post your opportunity on our project website.