Kimberly earned credit for SOC 396 for her internship! SOC 396 (1cr) is available to all Sociology majors, SHM minors, and LJSC minors. Check out this website to find out more information about Sociology internship credit.

Kimberly received funding through the Sociology Undergraduate Funding Opportunity program! The Sociology Department provides funding to facilitate academic experiences beyond the traditional UM classroom. Students declared as major and minors in the department and students who need funds for a specific sociology sponsored course or experience are eligible. Click here for more information and to access the Sociology funding application!

In addition, Kimberly received funding from the Center for Russian, East European, & Eurasian Studies (CREES). It is wonderful that Kimberly was able to utiilize resources and support from two units at UM!

Kimberly is eager to share about her experience. Take a look!

I just finished my internship with GONG, a political and human rights non-governmental organization based in Zagreb, Croatia. Most of my time at GONG was spent doing research relevant to the organization, such as writing a full-length research paper on non-discrimination policy of secular and religious US colleges and civic education overviews for the US and several EU countries. These reports may be published on the GONG website or a research journal.

Besides research, I helped GONG and its partner organizations with reviewing their English websites to help decrease any language barriers. My supervisors also gave me the opportunity to be involved in various community events and projects that GONG helps organize. For example, I participated in a large education reform protest and volunteered for pro-refugee organizations at the Tabor Film Festival. These projects and events helped me understand the political, educational, and cultural context of Croatia and Eastern Europe, regions that have rarely been discussed in my educational career.

Although I am committed to a Sociological career in US education policy and reform, I am confident that my research and advocacy in Croatian education and politics will bring back valuable lessons for my future. I plan to approach these issues with a critical sociological and intercultural lens to learn as much as I can through my hands-on cross-cultural research internship.

I’d like to thank the generous donations to the Sociology department’s scholarship for making this trip possible. As a lower-income child of Vietnamese immigrants, university-level study abroad never seemed to be a financial possibility for me. But with the aid from the Sociology funds, I felt more confident in being able to take a part of the trip’s full range of cultural experiences. Thank you for a great opportunity!