Details

D.C. Summer Institutes

DCSI enables outstanding W&M faculty to spend two weeks at the end of May living, teaching, visiting and meeting with topical experts in Washington, D.C. It offers you the chance to teach a curriculum built around a topic that you propose. Interested students apply to a specific Institute and interview with the W&M Washington Center team. Those selected gain tremendous insight into the field of study through your classes and their related internships.

DCSI gives you the added benefit of having the Washington Center team available as a resource throughout the spring leading up to and during your summer D.C. The Washington Center team works closely with you to:

• Find speakers for classes
• Make contacts with organizations/institutions with which you wish to work
• Work with local alumni from your department

How it Works

DCSI professors design and teach a 3-credit course that uses D.C.'s unique educational opportunities and aligns with their overall Institute theme. This course should be a seminar, built around theme-appropriate speakers and site visits. This class meets from 9:00am - 5:00pm, Monday-Friday, for two weeks at the end of May (immediately following commencement on campus).  

Students then spend the next 10 weeks working in full-time internships. Institute professors are not responsible for finding internship opportunities, working with supervisors, or teaching the academic course tied to students' internships - the W&M Washington Center handles those tasks.