• American Historical Association
• Organization of American Historians
• Southern Historical Association
• Georgia Association of Historians

• Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park
• Cannonball House
• Hay House
• Historic Macon Foundation
• Fort Hawkins
• Allman Brothers Band Museum
• Douglass Theatre
• Tubman African American Museum
• Museum of Arts and Sciences
• Museum of Aviation
• Otis Redding Foundation
• Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
• Capricorn Sound Studios and Museum
• Riverside Cemetery
• Rose Hill Cemetery
• Downtown Dublin Walking Tour
• 567 Center

• Internet Archive
• Documenting the American South
• National Archives
• Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives
• Georgia Archives
• Digital Library of Georgia
• New York Public Library Digital Collections

In the 2023-24 academic catalog and earlier, political science majors were required to complete either an internship or research practicum as part of their bachelor’s degree requirements. Students completing degree requirements under the 2024-25 and later catalogs may also complete an internship or research practicum (or both) for credit as part of the 18 semester hours of elective political science courses required for degree completion. The catalog that applies to you is shown in MyDegree in SWORDS.

If you want to change catalogs, please discuss this decision with your academic advisor as this may
affect your progress toward graduation in other areas.

Internships

To receive internship credit you will need to first identify an internship opportunity in
advance of the term/semester you plan to complete the internship. A good starting point is the MGA
Center for Career and Leadership Development, who can help you identify both paid and unpaid
internships. Some opportunities may also be posted in the Political Science Portal in Brightspace/D2L if they are received by the department.

For academic credit in the political science major you must complete at least 135 contact hours,
which is the equivalent of 9 hours a week over a 15-week semester.

We can also arrange internships over the summer or during 1st/2nd session terms, but the 135 contact hour requirement will mean you will need to spend more time in the placement (i.e. for a 1st session fall/spring internship, you will need to spend 18 hours a week over the 7½ week term). As political science is a liberal arts major, a wide variety of placements in the public, non-profit, and private sectors will qualify,
although many students in the past have chosen to intern with a government office, a law firm, or a
lawmaker’s staff. As long as the position has some link to what you’ve learned in your coursework
at MGA, we can usually approve it.

Once you’ve identified an opportunity and the employer has decided to offer you an internship, you
should contact me to make arrangements to ensure the internship course (POLS 4895) is put on the
schedule so we can register you for the class. This class will not ordinarily be listed on the schedule
unless a student has already signed up for an internship already. Once the semester starts you will
need to check in regularly with the internship supervisor, Dr. Erica Russell, assistant professor of
public safety.

Directed Research/Research Practicum

To receive the research practicum credit you will first need to identify an MGA professor to work with on a directed research project. In most cases this will be an MGA full-time faculty member who teaches political science courses regularly, but faculty teaching courses in other departments or disciplines and part-time MGA faculty (instructors/adjuncts) may also be approved to supervise projects for political science credit on a
case-by-case basis.

The expectation for a directed research course is that you will produce a written paper or similar project that is suitable for presentation at an academic conference such as the annual MGA Undergraduate Conference, the annual European Union Studies Conference, the Georgia Political Science Association conference, or another similar academic meeting or event.

The best papers may also be publishable in undergraduate-focused or other academic journals.
Ordinarily we will not permit a student to complete a directed research project/research practicum
until they have completed POLS 3000 (Research Methods) although exceptions for students are
possible if they are taking POLS 3000 while completing the practicum.

Once you’ve identified a willing faculty member and they’ve agreed to work with you on your
project, you should contact Dr. Chris Lawrence to make arrangements to ensure the research
practicum course (POLS 4898) is put on the schedule so we can register you for the class. This
class will not ordinarily be listed on the schedule unless a student has already signed up for a
research practicum course already. You will be expected to check in regularly with that faculty
member and they will be listed as the instructor of record for the course. (If multiple students
complete research practicum courses with different faculty supervisors, a distinct section will be
created for each faculty member’s student(s).)

Should you have any questions, please reach out to Dr. Chris Lawrence at chris.lawrence@mga.edu.

• Documents from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention
  • This website provides access to primary documents relevant to the formation of the Constitution, including copies of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
  • Two recommended readings include the timeline "America During the Age of Revolution" and the essay "To Form a More Perfect Union."
• Letters of Delegates to Congress
  • This website provides access to letters written by delegates to the Continental Congress.
• National Constitution Center
• The Federalist Papers
  • This website provides access to full text of all the Federalist Papers.
• The George Washington Papers
  • This collection of papers represents the life of George Washington, including his service in the Revolutionary War and his time as president.
• The James Madison Papers
  • Of special interest may be "James Madison and the Federal Constitutional Convention of 1787"

• C-Span and C-Span in the Classroom
  • Up-to-date legislative information and videos about Congress, other branches of government and foreign policy/government.
• The Center on Congress at Indiana University
  • A useful resource for learning about how Congress actually works. Of special interest may be the "Learn about Congress" module.
  • Recommended "interactive learning modules" available at this website:

• THOMAS - legislative information from the Library of Congress
• U.S. House of Representatives
  • The official website for the U.S. House of Representatives. Of special interest may be the "Kids in the House" section as it provides more insight into how a bill becomes a law, the role of committees and leadership, etc.
• U.S. Senate
  • The official website for the U.S. Senate.

• The White House
  • Official website for the White House.
  • Links to all of the Cabinet-level departments may be found here.
• The Electoral College
  • Of special interest is the "Frequently Asked Questions" page.
• USA Jobs
  • Managed by the OPM, the official clearinghouse of governmental job opportunities.

• The Supreme Court
  • Official website for the U.S. Supreme Court. Of special interest may be the "About" section.
• The Oyez Project
  • This website has complete information about Supreme Court cases (you may pull up the opinions on all cases decided by the Court - very user friendly site).
• United States Courts
  • The official website for the federal court system.

• The Center for Responsive Politics
  • Up-to-date information on campaign finance. On this website, users may explore a variety of data related to federal campaign finance.
• The Gallup Organization
  • A well-respected public opinion organization. Check out the website for information related to public approval ratings of the president, Congress and other important public opinion data.
• Georgia Secretary of State
  • Get registered to vote or find out information about Georgia elections at this website.
• Project Vote Smart
  • A non-partisan resource to help voters learn more about candidates and issues.
• Library of Congress - Elections
  • A clearinghouse of historical information related to American elections. Through the various websites provided, many aspects of American elections may be explored - from the fight for women's suffrage to the controversy of the 2000 presidential election.
• Votes for Women
  • Historical information related to the women's suffrage movement.

• Library of Congress - Elections
  • A clearinghouse of historical information related to the Civil Rights Movement.

• PBS - "Eyes on the Prize" documentary
  • An important, must-see documentary series about the American Civil Rights Movement.

• National Conference of State Legislatures
• National Governor's Association
• National League of Cities
• National Association of Counties

• United Nations
• European Union
• NATO
• Council on Foreign Relations
  • There are a lot of PBS Frontline documentaries available on-line that students may be interested in as well. The general website is http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/view/.

• American Political Science Association: the major professional association of political scientists in the United States.
  • APSA Style Manual for Political Science
  • Career Resources for Political Science Students
  • APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute: a program offered at Duke University for junior-level undergraduates from underrepresented groups and those interested in the study of traditionally marginalized groups who are interested in earning a Ph.D. in political science.
• Georgia Political Science Association: holds an annual conference in November that welcomes presentations of student research.
• Papers and Publications: Interdisciplinary Journal of Undergraduate Research : a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes undergraduate research from students in all disciplines in the southeastern United States.