PKG Fall 2021 Update
Updated September 3, 2021
The PKG Center is excited to see you on campus again this fall! We will be offering lots of opportunities this semester, including academic courses, IDEAS, workshops, work-study opportunities, and more! Check the listings below to learn more about PKG fall programming and a preview of our January/IAP offerings!
Our team will be working both in-person at our office in W20-549 and remotely this semester. Regardless of whether someone is in the office or working remotely, we are ALWAYS available to you. If you’d like to connect with a particular staff member, click here to see the team’s office hours and emails to make a virtual or in-person appointment. We are also always reachable at pkgcenter@mit.edu.
Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter so that you don’t miss any deadlines or opportunities!
FALL
- SP.250: Transforming Good Intentions into Good Outcomes: This Discovery course explores hard choices, ethical dilemmas, and the risk of failure in the humanitarian, tech, climate change, and health sectors. Students examine case studies based on challenges faced by MIT alums, faculty, staff, students or community practitioners, and engage in simulations and facilitated discussions. By the end of the course, students will produce a set of guiding questions to ask of themselves and others as they embark on social change work. First-year students are prioritized for registration as it counts toward the 9-unit discovery-focused credit limit. Register by September 10th.
- IDEAS: IDEAS is MIT’s annual social innovation challenge and has been bringing MIT students together with mentors from industry, academia, and community organizations for 20 years to tackle pressing social and environmental issues through innovation. Any MIT student may recruit or join a team from anywhere to bring a context-relevant innovation to life in collaboration with impacted stakeholders! MIT student-led teams can secure grants of up to $20,000 and teams can hone their ideas with targeted feedback, workshops, and coaching from industry experts.
- Federal Work Study: Refine your leadership and communication abilities while collaborating with nonprofits, government agencies, or social enterprises. Strengthen your professional network and your resume, while you strengthen communities through Federal Work Study (FWS). To check your FWS eligibility, reach out to your financial aid counselor or sfs@mit.edu. To inquire about the program, reach out to studentworker@mit.edu and see here for more information.
IAP (January term)
- IAP PKG Fellowships: Through an IAP PKG Fellowship, you can develop and implement a service project in collaboration with a community agency, pilot a social enterprise, or explore a public service career. As a PKG Fellow, you will work collaboratively with your partner community agency and receive guidance from community partners and PKG Center staff. You’ll have a chance to apply what you’ve studied in the classroom to real-world challenges and have opportunities to reflect on your experience throughout the process. The program is open to all registered MIT students but is competitive. Required experience and skills depend on the specific project. Students propose projects in collaboration with community agencies. IAP Fellowships are full-time, typically last 3-5 weeks and all selected IAP Fellows receive a stipend of $2,500. Deadline for IAP applications: October 20th at noon.
- Social Impact Internships: Social Impact Internships deepen your analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills by applying what you learn in the classroom to “real-world” challenges. Refine your leadership and communication abilities while collaborating with nonprofits, government agencies, or social enterprises! Strengthen your professional network and your resume, while you strengthen communities. To search for Social Impact Internship positions on Handshake, use the filter feature. Scroll down to the “Labeled by Your School” field and select “PKG Funding Eligible” and/or “Federal Work-Study Eligible”. Have an idea of where you might like to intern but not seeing that opportunity listed? Reach out to our team at studentworker@mit.edu.
- Community-Informed Field Immersion (CIFI): CIFI is a collaboration between the PKG Center and Community Outreach & Patient Empowerment (COPE). As part of this experience, you can join a team of fellow MIT students in supporting COPE’s mission to eliminate health disparities and improve the wellbeing of American Indians and Alaska Natives. This internship will be held remotely, serving the Dine community living on or near the Navajo Nation. Part-time and full-time positions are available.
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?
If you would like to learn more about our programs and eligibility feel free to explore our website, connect with the PKG Center team during our office hours, or reach out via email at pkgcenter@mit.edu.
