ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Carleton’s Social Justice Internship Program was established in 2007 to provide financial support to students pursuing unpaid or low-paying summer internships or training programs in not-for profit or other organizations promoting social justice in the United States.  Examples of qualifying internships/training programs include work in human rights, community or union organizing, environmental or social activism, conflict resolution, or community development.  We hope to fund 1 or 2 internships in Rice County.

The program is administered by the Chaplain’s Office.  Four to seven grants, up to $3,000 each, are awarded competitively by a selection committee. Candidates should have a demonstrated commitment to and involvement in social or environmental justice work.  Students from all class years are eligible, including graduating seniors. 

How to Apply

1. Secure a written agreement from an organization documenting their commitment to sponsor you in a summer internship or training position. For help in how to approach organizations about an internship, please contact the ACT or Career Centers, Academic Civic Engagement, or the Chaplain’s Office.

2. Apply for the Carleton Social Justice Internship by submitting a written copy of your proposal to the Chaplain’s Office, by March 15, 2010.   Your proposal must include:

            a) a cover letter explaining your interest in this particular work, what you will actually be doing during your internship or training, and how this might fit with your long term goals;

            b) your resume that includes your previous service experience, involvement in social or environmental justice issues, and your language skills, if relevant;

            c) the written commitment from your sponsoring organization;

            d) a budget worksheet  including any salary/stipend information associated with the summer position;

            e) contact information for two references.

3. Recipients will be notified by April 9, 2010. 

History

In establishing the Carleton Social Justice Internship program, the families of Mike Casper, Paul and Shelia Wellstone, Clem Shearer, and the anonymous donors to the Interfaith Social Action Fund, hope that dedicated, socially concerned Carleton students will have greater opportunity to enact their ideals and have a positive impact on the wider world.

Barry “Mike” Casper, professor emeritus of physics at Carleton and a leading figure in the peace movement, died on January 27, 2007. Along with close friend and faculty colleague Paul Wellstone, Casper chronicled the story of the 1970s struggles of western Minnesota farmers to oppose a high voltage powerline in the book, Powerline: The First Battle of America’s Energy War (University of Massachusetts Press, 1981).  Never ones to observe from the ivory tower, the duo became central figures, along with a number of their students, in the highly charged protest movement.

Casper later became a key strategist in Wellstone’s 1990 U.S. Senate campaign and his policy adviser in Washington. The experience informed his final book, Lost in Washington: Finding the Way Back to Democracy in America (University of Massachusetts Press, 2000).

As a professor, Casper co-created Carleton’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy program and supervised annual policy projects in which students were confronted with pressing societal problems—nuclear weapons proliferation, the AIDS epidemic, a national energy strategy, health care reform—and charged with solving them. Throughout his teaching, Casper put the ideals of equality, sustainability, and social justice into action.

Senator Paul and Shelia Wellstone, along with six others, died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. Wellstone was first elected to the United States Senate in 1990 and became an outspoken advocate for many social justice issues and a leading voice for liberal Democrats. His book, Conscience of a Liberal:  Reclaiming the Compassionate Agenda (Random House, 2001), still helps to shape the progressive agenda.  His wife Shelia played a critical role in all of Paul’s campaigns and was known for her influential work in issues regarding domestic violence.

A professor of political science at Carleton for 21 years, Wellstone, like Casper, was known for using his professorship as a successful platform for tangible, ground-level social change. Students in introductory political science classes taught by Wellstone found themselves not only challenged to think about issues of poverty and inequality but actually knocking on doors throughout Rice County in an effort to organize around local issues of fairness.  Wellstone described this work in his How the Rural Poor Got Power:  Narrative of a Grass Roots Organizer (University of Massachusetts Press, 1978).

Clement F. Shearer was Carleton’s Dean for Budget and Planning and Professor of Geology when he died in 1998.  Before coming to Carleton, Shearer had a distinguished career in government service, first as a congressional science fellow, then as director of the national hazards program at the U.S. Geological Survey, providing analysis and early warnings for volcanoes, earthquakes and other national hazards. He began his tenure at Carleton as the Bernstein Geologist in residence, taught a popular seminar in hydrology in the Geology Department, and became one of the most admired and respected administrators of the College.

In addition to his contributions to the planning and management of the College, Shearer continued to be a strong advocate of community service.  He was a dedicated volunteer leader in many Northfield activities, held several positions on the Board of Directors of the Greater Minneapolis Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, and served as advisor to a number of national organizations.  In recognition of his unusual ability to guide individuals through conflict resolution, the Clement F. Shearer Fund for Achieving Common Ground was established through gifts received in his memory. 

The Interfaith Social Action Endowed Fund was established in 2008 to provide support for programs and activities related to the intersection of faith and social action through the Carleton College Chaplain's Office. The fund has become an important source of support for the Carleton Social Justice Internship Program as well as the activities of the Carleton Interfaith Social Action Group.