Beyond Knox: International Internships, Volunteer Opportunities & Summer Jobs

A rich array of opportunities are available to you! The lists below are simply a starting point. In addition to the organization web pages listed, you may wish to begin your search by browsing the aggregator web pages www.goabroad.com and www.gooverseas.com—both offer searchable databases of international options: you may choose the mode of engagement (study, volunteerism, internships, teaching English, and more) or the region or country in which you are interested. The IIE Passport searchable database offers another valuable search site. We welcome additional suggestions for our lists, and please note that we do not single out any programs for special endorsement. None are directly affiliated with Knox College and you do not need to go through the Knox internal application process (which is for approval for study abroad during the academic year).

It is always good to talk with your advisor if you find an internship or service opportunity that helps you carry forward a research project or that may lay the foundation for an Honors project. Some of the opportunities below are primarily intended for recent college graduates, and some (many) are also available to undergraduate students who can devote a summer to an internship or volunteer/service experience.

Ethical engagement in service learning matters. Please consider intentions, motives, impact and ongoing commitments as you explore possibilities for service. Here are some useful resources: Global Service Learning; the Amizade Fair Trade Learning page (Amizade pioneered the concept of Fair Trade Learning); this Fair-Trade Learning webpage and video; the Foundation for Sustainable Development, and Better Volunteering; Better Care Network. And this page offers a set of useful checks on the integrity of a international volunteer program: 7 Red Flags When Considering an International Volunteer Program.

Service and Volunteer Opportunities | Internships and Summer Jobs | Teaching Abroad and Summer Camps | International Relations, Peace and Justice, Human Rights | Health and Medicine | Environmental Action, Research and Policy | Volunteering with Charitable Organizations outside of academia (faith-based and more)

Organizations focused upon service, engagement and volunteer participation:

CrossCulturalSolutions.org
GoEco.org
World Teach
Amizade Global Service Learning
NGOABroad: International Careers and Volunteering
Performing Arts Abroad: Arts for Social Change (volunteer opportunities)
Princeton in Africa
Princeton in Asia
Princeton in Latin America
Saha Global (internships in Ghana, including a focus on public health)
Her Farm Nepal (summer internships at a non-profit cooperative)
Operation Crossroads Africa
Volunteer in Spain
Project Everest (sustainable development volunteer internships in India and Malawi)
Omprakash: ethical and educational global engagement
ELI: Travel with a Purpose: Volunteer service abroad
Projects Abroad
Center for Global Education at Augsburg College (civic engagement internships)
Live Dunia (experiential learning and service in Tanzania)
VIA Indonesia (summer programs and internships)
Nepal Leadership Academy
International Partnership for Service Learning
I SA Experiential Learning Abroad Program
Global Youth Connect
Volunteers Around the World
Projects Abroad: Volunteer and Intern Abroad
Volunteering Solutions
Volunteers for Peace
Kaya Responsible Travel: Volunteer Abroad
International Volunteer Headquarters (IVHQ)
Peace Corps! U.S. students - don't forget about the Peace Corps! Knox piloted the first Peace Corps Prep Program in the United States. In addition to helping to effect change in the world, Peace Corps Volunteer Service opens doors to federal employment, provides a network of professional and personal contacts and offers wide-ranging skills development across many disciplinary fields.

Organizations focused upon Internships and Summer Jobs (and Jobs after Graduation!)

AIFS (summer internship programs)
CAPA: The Global Education Network
CEA Summer Internships Abroad
CIEE Internships
Cultural Vistas
FIE Internships (an optional component of FIE study abroad programs, available in summer and during the academic year, in London and Dublin)
IES Internships and Service Learning
ISA Internship and Service-Learning Programs (and the ISA internship page)
Performing Arts Abroad: Internships
SIT Internships (an optional component of some SIT study abroad programs, available in summer and during the academic year)
TEAN Internship Programs
NexStep Connections - Advanced Experiential Learning (internships in Asia)
Overseas Professional and Intercultural Training Program (OPIT), American Councils (competitive and prestigious)
Linguistic Horizons (internships and study)
Global Vision International (international internships)
Work in Ireland
Work in the United Kingdom
EUSA Internships
CRCC Asia
InterExchange (Work & Travel/Volunteer Opportunities)
The Intern Group
StudentsGoAbroad
Most international internships for undergraduates are structured like study abroad programs - you will pay for the experience; you will not be paid; you may receive credit for successful completion of the academic components of a summer internship program with a recognized study abroad provider - you would submit a request for review of summer transfer credit to the Knox Registrar's Office, just as you would for summer transfer credit from a summer course at a local university in the States.
Job-seeking seniors and recent graduates: Be aware of fee structures for the non-academic internship organizations that provide competitive internship placements and comprehensive services (particularly but not only in Europe) - the services and placements provided are impressive but the costs are often high. Read reviews; read testimonials; consider how fully the organization vets you through interview(s) and questionnaires (the more in-depth and personalized the better); trust your sense of the rightness of the fit of the internship placement organization for you as an individual.
Some internship sites are SCAMS! Trust your sense of what is right - do not submit large fees and provide personal information until you have researched the internship organization.
For a fair (and more positive than you'd think from the title) overview of the pros and cons of international internships, see the New York Times article, "Internships Abroad: Unpaid, with a $10,000 Price Tag" (Best practice is to choose a summer internship with a recognized study abroad organization, such as IES, CEA, CAPA, CIEE, FIE, ISA, SIT, TEAN, Performing Arts Abroad, AIFS, etc).

Opportunities to Teach Abroad and Summer Camp / ESL Counseling

Teach Away
World Teach
JET - Japan Exchange and Teaching Program
Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship Program
U.S. Teaching Assistantships at Austrian Secondary Schools
Teach English in Spain
English Open Doors Program in Chile
Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) (and the page for prospective applicants)
Ambassador Year in China (AYC)
Cultural Ambassadors: North American Cultural Ambassadors and Language Assistants in Spain (and see also this helpful description of the program from the International TEFL Academy)
CIEE: Teach Abroad with CIEE
International TEFL Academy (with a page specifically for Knox students)
Teach and Learn in Georgia
Interac (Japan)
English Program in Korea
Teach for Thailand
Princeton in Africa
Princeton in Asia
Princeton in Latin America
Schrole Advantage: International Teacher Recruitment
TIC Recruitment: Employment Site for International Schools
Greenheart Travel: Homestay Abroad (Teaching English to a Host Family)
Tokiha Summer Camp Counselor (Japan)
Online resources about teaching jobs and TEFL certification may be found in the Country Comparison Chart for Teaching English Abroad and the Guide to Teaching English Abroad (both resources created by the International TEFL Academy)

Internships and Jobs in International Relations, Peace and Justice, and Human Rights

Global Youth Connect
United Nations Careers and Internships
US Department of State Internship Opportunities
Consular Fellows Program (US Department of State)
IREX Careers and Internships (for students interested in international relations/ international policy/global development)
IIE Careers (international education/international relations/global justice and security)
NGOAbroad: International Careers and Volunteering
Woodrow Wilson Center Internships
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (the internship website takes some digging; there are regular open houses about internships in DC)
United States Institute of Peace
World Affairs Councils of America (internship opportunities at the regional Councils level)
Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program (food security, nutrition, natural resource management, women's empowerment)
Emerson National Hunger Fellows Program (social justice program in leadership training, in U.S.)
Peace and Collaborative Development Network
Human Rights Careers
Human Rights Job Board
Amnesty International Internships
International Rescue Committee Internship Program
Scholars At Risk - Engagement Opportunities
Clinton Foundation Internships
Human Rights Watch Internships
United Nations Development Program
UNICEF Internships
USAID Internships
Smithsonian Internships and Fellowships
The Immigration Project (offices in Illinois welcome Knox interns and volunteers)
World Relief (offices across the States; the office in Moline welcomes Knox interns and volunteers)

Short Summer Trips to Promote Global Understanding

Japanese American Citizens League: Kakehashi Project (2 week trip to Japan)

Internship and Volunteer Opportunities in the area of Health and Medicine

Note that the University of Minnesota's Global Ambassador for Patient Safety (GAPS) page offers a free online workshop to educate all students before they go abroad on health-care related programs: the are the leaders in pre-health ethical behavior in international contexts.

You will also find a valuable guide to health-related volunteering on Georgetown's Contemplation in Action: Lessons from Medical Mission Work.

Child Family Health International
Seed Global Health
Global Health Corps
UC Berkeley - Public Health Internships Page
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health: Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Fellowship
Atlantis: Pre-Med Study Abroad
Unite for Sight Global Impact Corps
World Health Organization Internships
University of Colorado Department of Emergency Medicine, Wilderness Medicine Section - Colorado Program (Wilderness Medicine)
Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (summer international health fellowship program for undergraduates)
ArchaeoTek (human osteology and bioarchaeology research workshop and field school opportunities in Romania)
Pre-Med Fellowships in India - Comprehensive Rural Health Project (Jamked) (candidates must be admitted to medical school, which they would defer for a year upon this award)
Ecela: Spanish & Medicine in Peru and Chile
Shadow Doctors in Italy
Uganda Village Project Summer Internships
Global Semesters: Summer Programs in Cyprus (pre-med; health studies at Nicosia University)
Operation Wallacea: Conservation Research Through Academic Partnerships (with pre-med program options)
Baltimore Health Immersion (Loyola University Maryland)
The Education Abroad Network (TEAN): Summer in Thailand (Public Health in Southeast Asia)
Tiritose Volunteering & Internships in Zimbabwe
Project Horseshoe Farm Fellowship - community health fellowship in Alabama
FHI 360 (non profit global health organization)
Doctors without Borders / Medicins sans Frontieres

Internships and Volunteer Opportunities in the area of Environmental Action, Research and Policy

Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF)
Global Sustainability Scholars (competitive, continuous 3-summer program)
Earthwatch Internships
Operation Wallacea: Conservation Research Through Academic Partnerships
Sierra Club Internships
Engineers without Borders