Internships

A major component of a Next System Fellowship involves an internship with a partner organization, union, or research group, or with Mason’s own Next System Teach-In Organizing Committee, Community Power Lab, Democratizing NOVA, Digital Commonwealth Lab, or Next Constitutions Lab. 

In the process, Fellows gain practical experience and skills and build networks that advance them toward a rewarding and meaningful post-college career. They also make important contributions to building a better society in the here and now.

Admitted Fellows choose from one of two internship tracks:  

Track 1: Mason Project - On this track, required for all graduate students, Next System Fellows intern with one of Mason's Next System Studies research and action projects:

    • The GMU Next System Teach-In Organizing Committee is organizing the next Next System Teach-In at George Mason University, planned for April of 2027. This will be one of scores of such Teach-Ins taking place around the world at that time. See NextSystem.org 
    • The Democratizing NOVA (DNOVA) project is a community-engaged civic research project of the Center for Social Science Research (CSSR) and NSS' Community Power Lab dedicated to deepening democracy in northern Virginia ("NOVA"). 
    • The Digital Commonwealth Lab joins leading technologists with community groups, civic leaders, labor, business, and academic scholars to design and deliver a democratic and accountable digital platform for community wealth, service provision, civic participation, climate resilience, and mutual aid. 
    • The Next Constitutions Lab coordinates a global network of scholars of constitutional change, maintains the Constitutionalism and Democracy Movements Dataset, and is currently focused on creating a new set of resources on Popular Constitutional Constitutionalism Beyond the Nation State. 

Track 2: Partner Organization - Another alternative for undergraduate students involves securing an internship with a partner organization (see list of confirmed partners, at right). To do this, a Next System Fellow must apply for an internship with the organization of their choice, and notify us that they have done so. We will follow up with our partners to confirm that the applicant has been accepted into the Fellowship and to discuss collaboration. For those admitted Fellows who seek yet fail to secure an internship with a partner organization, the DNOVA internship remains as a fallback - you will have an internship either way.

In addition to an internship, each Fellow enrolls in an Internship Practicum course (in Sociology, this is SOCI 416/616, but students can take a version of this course through other programs as well).

Undergraduate Next System Fellows take this course for 6 credits, completing 270 hours of internship work over the semester, and perform independent research related closely to their internship experience. 

Graduate Next System Fellows may enroll in this course for anywhere between 3 and 6 hours, with internship work proportionate to enrolled credits (135-270 hours, depending).