Prospectus

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Internship (in combination with MA-thesis)

Course
2013-2014

The regulations below apply to all internships that are pursued as part of the student’s elective choices, assuming they are not under the auspices of other university course programmes.

Purpose of the internship

  1. To provide knowledge about and give insight into the performance of tasks and their corresponding staff functions as these are carried out in the practice of film and/or photography. Teaching the student to recognise his or her own potential and his or her suitability for the performance of a function with regard to film and/or photography in the host institution concerned.
    2.Learning to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in the required and elective courses of university study and integrate these into everyday practice.
    1. To make a contribution to the interaction between professional practice and university training, with an eye to improving the educational level of the graduates.

The above implies that the student:

  • Becomes acquainted with the host institution in all its relevant aspects;

  • Performs a delimited assignment, that is, one circumscribed in terms of its duration, extent and responsibilities.

Internship categories and credit

The intern must make a substantive contribution to a project with a clear film and/or photographic component, with regard to research and reporting. A clearly defined statement of the task for the student must be formulated in advance, involving one or more of the fields of conservation, management, visual analysis, methodological research, production, distribution and reception of the medium.

The point of departure for the internship policy is that the credit awarded depends on the amount of time invested in the internship. In principle, the award of credits is based on the number of hours worked. The number of credits to be awarded is determined by the Examination Committee after the completion of the internship. The elective component of the Masters in Film and Photographic Studies consists of:

  • 8 ECTS for students started in September 2007 – 10 ECTS for students started in September 2008 – 10 ECTS for students started in September 2009 – for students started in September 2010 and later years a maximum of 10 ECTS: 5 regular and, if chosen, 5 as part of the MA-thesis
    The mentioned number of ECTS is the least that must be obtained with one internship. 1 ECTS = 28 hours, 5 ECTS = 140 hours, 8 ECTS = 224 hours, 10 ECTS = 280 hours (nearly 6 – 7 fulltime working weeks, 6 × 40 hrs = 240 hrs).

For the internship, a minimum of 224 or 280 hours must be put in at the host institution. Part-time work is also permitted, as long as the total number of hours that are equivalent to 8 or 10 ECTS is met.

If the student has worked more than 224 or 280 hours at the host institution, then more ECTS might be awarded, after a written request to the Examination Committee. These ECTS are however extra, and may not be used to replace any other component of the Masters programme.

No numerical grade is added to the award of credits
The following applies for all internships: including the procedure prior to and during the internship and the writing of the report.

Application for internships

All internships should be approved by your staff supervisor in advance, via the internship form. This form is used to provide further information about the internship. If for any reason the internship is not applied for and approved in advance, the Examination Committee still retains the right to reject the internship on substantive grounds. You can find the form via the website of Film and Photographic Studies.

Supervision

There are two supervisors for every internship, namely one representing the institution where the internship is performed, and one representing the Masters in Film and Photographic Studies at the University of Leiden (hereafter: MaFPS). As a rule the primary input in the supervision will be from the institution where the internship is being performed. The role of the supervisor from the MaFPS will generally be in the sphere of conferences with the intern and the supervisor from the host institution. As a minimum, the intern supervisor from the MaFPS will be in contact with the (intended) supervisor from the internship institution for:

  1. The preliminary discussions in which binding agreements are reached over the work to be performed, planning for the time involved, supervision on the part of the host institution, etc.
    1. The final evaluation of the internship, on the basis of the internship report and the evaluation by the supervisor from the host institution.

It is desirable that the intern also makes contact with the supervisor from the MaFPS at least once during the internship, for instance at its midpoint.

Breaking off the internship

If the supervisor from the institution where the internship is being performed is of the opinion that the intern is not carrying out the agreed assignment in a satisfactory manner, he or she can decide to halt the internship. He or she will contact the supervisor from the MaFPS with regard to this. In the event that the internship is cut short, there will be no credit awarded. The student always of course has the possibility of appealing to the Examination Committee.

Report

The report should provide sufficient insight into the work performed. It should include:

  • The motivation for choosing this particular internship and institution.

  • A daily or weekly report of activities (maintaining a diary for eventual use in preparing the report is highly recommended).

  • An evaluation of the internship: the original plan, compared with what happened in practice, and the final result; an answer to the question of why the internship was helpful (or not); the work produced or a representative portion thereof, as an appendix.

The internship report should be sent to the internship institution and to the supervisor from the MaFPS. The internship institution must provide a written evaluation using a standardised evaluation form (Appendix 2).

A final conference, to include all parties involved, is optional.

In the event that the report does not provide sufficient insight into the work performed, or one or more of the required sections is not present, the Examination Committee can require the intern to redo the report.