Practicum Spotlight

The Food Network/Warner Bros Discovery (New York, New York)

"Not only did this internship allow me to work on various projects every week, gaining invaluable insight into television production at a major network, I was also able to create meaningful relationships with producers from across the company-- producers who generously connected me with industry resources, introduced me to potential employers whose work aligned with my own, who validated my critiques of the industry and quelled many of my fears as a queer person of color entering entertainment. Each person I met at the Food Network, and Warner Bros Discovery, helped to soothe my own self-doubt-- that I wasn’t interesting, talented, or creative enough to find success in entertainment-- and led me to a new confidence in myself and my ability to succeed in a creative industry."

VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab (Stanford University)

"My mentor also inspired me to continue pursuing my academic interests in graduate school. As a PhD in Sociology, she gave me insights into the career of a professional, which allowed me to resolve some of my previous concerns. By working with her and understanding how her academic interest develops throughout the course of her education, I felt less intimidated by the requirements to complete the research tasks in graduate studies. Seeing how she handles administrative tasks such as applying for funding and going on interviews, as well as attending conferences, lended me a deeper understanding of what to expect."

Field Research with Dr. Soledad Artiz Prillaman (Palo Alto, USA)

"...I was asked to sift through two existing national-scale datasets for relevant violence against women (VAW)-related information and ultimately, to code and produce several figures in Stata using that information. The two datasets that I worked with were from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) Project and the Indian National Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) from 2015-2016. The process for doing this was time consuming but certainly valuable seeing as I was able to improve upon my Stata-related knowledge and skill set. By the end of the summer, I had produced around fifty figures that either informed conclusions drawn in Professor Prillaman’s book or were incorporated into the book itself " -Somer Khambu Bryant

AMC Networks & Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Los Angeles, CA)

"By the end of the summer, I somehow created 8 films, interned with AMC Networks as a Scripted Programming Intern, and completed the Academy Gold Rising program with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I gained so much from taking a chance on myself
and pursuing the things that matter most to me..." -Kiara T Dunbar

Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Summer Internship (Palo Alto, CA)

"I never realized just how embattled the program was--how hard people had to work for me to be able to study what I love today. Discovering the reality of the situation has altered the way I view my own education. If it was so easy for me, someone who is deeply invested in the program and who cares much about its success, to go through nearly all four years of my time at Stanford without knowing the significance of FGSS existing on a University campus, even in the 21st Century, then I can only imagine how many others have. And that is harmful. Not knowing, recognizing, or understanding the institutional struggle programs like FGSS have faced diminishes the program’s significance and negates a seriously important piece of feminist history." -Brionna Bolaños

Peacock Rebellion (Oakland, CA)

"[My] presentation ended up being given to some members of the California Arts Council, and could move millions of dollars toward underfunded QTBIPOC-focused organizations! I also left written-out explanations of the data analysis I’d done, so people with more experience than I can take on the task of creating more in-depth analyses of the CAC’s grantmaking patterns this year. Overall, I think that’s what I’m the proudest of from my internship: that even as someone with limited knowledge of statistics, my data analysis work could be so impactful for folks in the arts-activist sphere." Connor Yankowitz

Our Family Coalition (San Francisco, USA)

"Meeting Gert and Michael was not only a profound experience of queer relation, but it underscored the importance of intergenerational dynamics. I would argue that they were in fact keepers of queer lineage simply by passing on their lived experiences with us but also for creating physical sources of queer presence through the quilts. The opportunities that the internship awarded me were incredibly impactful and I was able to learn a lot about on-the-ground work being done to improve not only our education system but also our local kinship networks. Similarly, as we develop an accessible queer memory, we will tranform our ability to interact with the past, present and future." -Chanté Cottman

Queer Musics Research (Cape Town, South Africa)

"With the threat of various environmental and epidemiological calamities in this time and age, as well as the digitalization of human interaction in general, conducting research and ethnography through virtual means is an inevitability. This experience has taught me that distance and separation is not also an inevitability with virtual communication. Rather, my interview with Sky was one of the most intimate, enlivening dialogues that I have ever had. The skills necessary to engage in dialogue, particularly in dialogical performance, are critical for any ethnographer wishing to use their platforms for transformative justice. I am indebted to Sky for all that she has taught me, and I hope to carry this experience with me in my pursuit of academia as a profession." -Christina Misaki Nikitin