Inserra Chair
Image of a performance stage as seen from the control room.

Internship Opportunities

Since 2016, the Inserra Chair, in collaboration with the Italian Program (MLL Dept.), has offered a vast array of pre-professional opportunities to students of Italian at MSU. The main internship program was created in Summer 2017 thanks to a special donation received from Mr. Inserra: it provides substantial funding to defray university costs and give students the chance to count on financial support via jobs in relevant areas for their studies.The program focuses on three areas: Italian Business/Made in Italy, Translation, and Teaching/Cultural Programming. Other internships have been offered ad hoc based on specific student projects, research initiatives, and collaborations with other institutions.

INSERRA PAID INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

This program counts on $10,000 a year in scholarships for internships, and includes partnerships with notable Italian organizations and companies: the Italian Trade Agency in New York, Choose New Jersey in Princeton, Safilo in Secaucaus, NJ, IACE in NY and the Sferisterio Arena in Macerata (in collaboration with the local university). It provides students of Italian with hands-on projects encompassing an international component. The program has supported two students with $5,000 scholarships in its first and second year of existence, and four students with a $2,500 scholarship each the third year. Overall, eight students have benefitted from this program, a unique offering for a state university. The program has expanded the possibilities for Italian majors looking to secure full-time jobs upon graduation. Read post about Talia Antonacci at Choose New Jersey.

1. Italian Business and Made in Italy sector

2. Italian Teaching/Cultural Programming

3. Audiovisual Translation (Sub- and Sur-titles and Audiodescriptions)

AD HOC INTERNSHIP AND RESEARCH ASSISTANT POSITIONS

The Inserra Chair has also involved Italian majors in research projects entailing travel abroad for video-interviews, exchange students of Italian Studies in the intensive summer program for HS students at MSU, and HS students for Italian language data gathering related to the intensive summer program for HS students. In this case, it has partnered up with the titling agency Prescott Studio in Florence, the University of Graz Exchange Program at MSU, and Montclair High School,

1. Audiovisual Translation (Sub- and Sur-titles and Audiodescriptions)

2. Internship for Summer Intensive Program for HS students

3. HS student Internship

4. Research assistant (Video-interviews)

These educational activities are integrated into the regular curriculum and have had a long-term effect on student success. In this sense, these experiences are in line with the 2014 Gallup/Purdue University study called Great Jobs, Great Lives which indicates that the three experiences that contribute to feeling prepared for life after college are:

1. Internships or jobs where students can apply what they learned
2. Active involvement in extracurricular activities (cultural events, clubs, etc.)
3. Working on a project that took a semester or more to complete

Graduates who participated in all three experiences had double the workplace engagement than those who did not take part (59% vs. 30%), in terms of actively pursuing goals and trying to improve their skills, communicating well with other employees and employers, and expressing a sense of satisfaction towards their job experience. Deep learning experiences coupled with steady academic and emotional support from faculty members produce long-term outcomes for college graduates.

Resources:

When Internships Don’t Pay, Some Colleges Will (Nov. 2, 2017, The New York Times)