Outside the Classroom - Practicum Field Placements

Serving a wider population of about 120,000 people, Williamsport is the epicenter of human services for not only Lycoming County but several surrounding counties in north central Pennsylvania. Opportunities for internships (practicum field placements) abound right outside your classroom door. Additionally, we have a history of placement of anthropology-concentration students in nationally-competitive summer internship programs at both the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

Examples of recent local practicum placements for the Department of Sociology-Anthropology include, but are not limited to:

  • Americorps — Americorps is about helping others in the community. They focus on tutoring/mentoring the disadvantaged youth, improving health services, building more affordable housing, keeping the environment clean and our water pure, and help create/continue after-school programs.
  • Big Brother Big Sister — This program is all about keeping today's children out of trouble with the help of mentors creating one-on-one relationships with them. The mentors are matched with children ranging from 6 to 18 years old either in community-based mentoring or school-based mentoring.
  • Office of Codes, City of Williamsport — This department is working towards keeping the people of Williamsport informed of what is going on their community such as community development programs and through the council's agenda, resolutions, and ordinances.
  • Community Traffic Safety Project — This project works to keep the roads and highways of Pennsylvania safe and wants to make sure the drivers on the roads are doing their job to keep others safe as well.
  • Girls Scouts of America — This program focuses on girls becoming self sufficient, strong, independent women and also includes becoming leaders through experiences such as community service and any sort of work with the community to help make it a better place.
  • Ombudsman Programming, PA Office of Aging — This program works to provide services to their clients and strives to make sure elderly rights are not taken away. It wants to improve life for the aging community in Pennsylvania to make sure they are not forgotten about.
  • Susquehanna Health System Pharmacy — This system offers help to women, children, seniors, and the disadvantaged. They work with other community organizations to try to keep the community healthy and happy.
  • The Guardian, Williamsport's Alternative Newspaper — This newspaper is progressive, non-profit organization run by a volunteer staff and board of directors that focuses on under-represented political viewpoints. They want to help the community connect with families and the national connect with local.
  • AIDS Resource — This is a non-profit organization that provides educational programs, prevention and outreach to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. It also helps provide assistance to people already living with HIV/AIDS.
  • Eckel's Adoption Agency — This is a private company that strives to make sure children of unwanted pregnancies can have a good home and life and also allows people who are unable to have children to create their own family through other means.
  • HOPE Enterprises, Inc. — This program works with people who have mental retardation. This gives them a place to go to get help with learning and also provides residential programs so people with mental retardation can live together.
  • Lycoming College Office of Student Programming & Leadership Development — This co-curricular program allows students to have personal growth and intellectual development. It includes educational, social and recreational programming, and leadership training of student organizations.
  • Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — This program is about preventing cruelty to animals. This program rescues animals of cruelty, helps them get better, and hopefully finds a good home for these pets to go to.
  • Campbell Street Family, Youth & Community Association — Campbell Street Family, Youth & Community Association: This program works directly with the Williamsport community and offers youth and adult educational programs, minority health outreach programs, recreational programs, and volunteer programs to get the entire community involved with their home.