Jean Hardisty was the founder and president emerita of Political Research Associates (PRA), a Boston-based research center that analyzes right wing, authoritarian, and anti-democratic trends and publishes educational materials for the general public. A political scientist with a B.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University, she left academia after eight years of teaching and researching conservative political thought to establish PRA in response to the emergence of the New Right in 1981. After 23 years, she retired from PRA in 2004 and served as a senior scholar with the Wellesley Centers for Women until her death in March 2015.
Dr. Hardisty was a widely published author and an activist for social justice issues, especially women's rights and civil rights, for nearly four decades. She served on the Board of Directors of the Highlander Center for Research and Education, the Ms. Foundation, the Center for Community Change. and the Center for Women Policy Studies. Her book, Mobilizing Resentment: Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers, first published by Beacon Press in 1999, is available in paperback. Her most recent work, on race and child care in Mississippi, is on the WCW website.
Senior Scholar
Michelle Seligson arrived at WCW in the fall of 1978 to begin work on a national research and action project on afterschool programs, for which she received a small Ford Foundation grant. Originally titled The School-Age Child Care Project, it is now known as the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST). This work grew out of Seligson’s several years of community organizing and program development for the Town of Brookline where she was the assistant director of the Town's Human Relations/Youth Resources Commission. In that role she helped parents and others start afterschool programs in the public schools. When two mass-market magazines wrote about the Brookline programs, Seligson received thousands of letters from across the county, leading to her bringing the School-Age Child Care Project to WCW.
After more than 20 years as founding director of NIOST conducting research, technical assistance, training, and advocacy to stimulate more development of programs and policy in afterschool programs, Seligson began a new project at the Centers. This project, Bringing Yourself To Work: Caregiving in After School Programs, produced a book, Bringing Yourself to Work: A Guide to Successful Staff Development in After-School Programs (Columbia University, 2003), and a training program geared to adults who work with children. Its intellectual base is social-emotional learning and relational-cultural theory, among other theory frameworks.
Seligson has co-authored a number of publications through the years, beginning with School-Age Child Care: An Action Manual in 1982. During the mid-eighties, she embarked on an investigation of early childhood programs and the role of public schools, and this resulted in a book titled Early Childhood Programs and the Public Schools: Between Promise and Practice.
Seligson’s work at WCW reflects an interest and abiding belief in the power of good ideas to attract others to solve problems and a recognition that it takes at least 20 years to create a movement and a context in which that can happen.
In late September 2000, she embarked on a new venture in addition to her work on the Bringing Yourself to Work Project. She was accepted into the analytic training program at the Boston Jung Institute and participate in seminars and other activities associated with becoming a Jungian analyst. In 2003 she began collaborating on a documentary about mothers who are also women artists which is set for release in January 2008. Seligson retired from WCW in the summer of 2007.
Other interests have always been in the literary area—reading novels and writing poems, something she has done since adolescence. She is a swimmer, walker, and unabashed lover of her cat, Shadow. She is proud of her two adult children and their different life choices--one an attorney, and the other a musician and composer.
Staff at the Wellesley Centers for Women conduct research on issues that affect women and girls, families and communities. However, we do not provide direct care, legal advice, advocacy, or referrals. If you are in need of mental health, domestic violence, or sexual assault services, please refer to this list of resources:
National Alliance on Mental Illness
1 (800) 950-NAMI (6264)
NAMI offers an array of support and education programs that help build better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255
The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.
Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator
Sponsored by the U.S. DHHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1-800-662-HELP (4357)
1-800-487-4889 (TDD)
Use the Locator to find alcohol and drug abuse treatment or mental health treatment facilities and programs around the country.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
1-800-787-3224 (TTY)
The staff at the National Domestic Violence Hotline believe that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. They believe that every family deserves to live in a world free from violence. They believe that safe homes and safe families are the foundation of a safe society.
National Network to End Domestic Violence a social change organization, is dedicated to creating a social, political, and economic environment in which violence against women no longer exists.
Feminist Majority Foundation has a list of domestic violence hotlines and resources.
National Human Trafficking Hotline
Call 1-888-373-7888 ( TTY: 711) | Text 233733 | Live Chat
ECPAT-USA
ECPAT-USA is the leading anti-trafficking policy organization in the United States. ECPAT-USA belongs to an international network of organizations in 73 countries, all working to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline
1.800.656.HOPE
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) is the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and carries out programs to prevent sexual assault, help victims and ensure that rapists are brought to justice.
The National Center for Transgender Equality advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people; all persons have the right to access help as a survivor regardless of gender, transgender status, or gender expression.
WomensLaw.org provides resources to help women to learn their rights and to find information about teen dating violence, domestic abuse, and sexual assault.
Each year, the Wellesley Centers for Women offers five to six paid internships to Wellesley College students through the Class of 1967 Internship Program. Throughout the academic year, students who participate in the program:
The program is open to rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Throughout the academic year, interns are expected to work an average of 8-10 hours per week. Interns are asked to submit a final report.
Apply in Workday. Log into the “My Wellesley” portal and select “Workday”. Go to the Career worklet in your Workday main menu. You can then search by the requisition number to locate the role and apply for the position. The requisition number for each internship is noted below.
Applications for the 2024-2025 Academic Year will be accepted until the positions are filled.
Currently, several research projects are being conducted under the umbrella of Work, Families and Children at the Wellesley Centers for Women. Much of our work is on child development (birth to age 8) and early education and care. I am willing to supervise any research project a student wishes to complete on any topic in human development, early education and care as well as on any topic that includes children, women, families or work.
The intern will develop an independent project that will be completed over the academic year. Projects may include data collection through surveys, observations or interviews. They may also be more academic in nature and delve deeper into a current problem or concern of interest to the student. Often our interns have done both and use surveys, observations and interviews to supplement and support their research. Supervision and mentoring will be provided to help guide the intern.
Intern's Responsibilities: Develop a topic of exploration and accompanying research questions, complete a literature review, design a study, collect data, do analyses, write a paper, and present at the Ruhlman conference. Weekly meetings with Dr. Robeson will take place.
Skills Required: The intern must be able to work well independently. Having prior psychology classes in child development or education classes is a plus. Prior work in conducting analyses is also a plus but not a requirement.
Requisition number: R0004674
Subject of Intern's Project: Adolescent mental wellbeing on social media
Dr. Charmaraman leads several research projects within the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab pertaining to the risks and benefits of using social technologies in adolescence. These projects include a) survey and interview studies of middle school students and their parents on how they manage social technology use, b) implementing digital wellbeing, identity, and STEM workshops to middle school youth, c) collecting and analyzing survey data related to online civic engagement and identity (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation, political), and d) developing and piloting digital citizenship lessons for youth. Depending on funding at the time of the internship, the intern may be involved in a new NIH project that involves interviewing teens about their pets and their technology use. Because disseminating our research findings is key to making positive changes in our communities, our intern will actively engage in disseminating our upcoming events and research findings such as maintaining a strong Instagram presence for our lab @youthmediawellbeing. Dr. Charmaraman hopes to mentor someone who is interested in exploring graduate school or a future career in either research or nonprofit work. In addition, there is a possibility of co-publishing a peer-reviewed article depending on the motivation and dedication level of the intern.
Intern's Responsibilities:
Skills Required:
Requisition number: R0004721
Subject of the Intern’s Project: Work with our research team to analyze and summarize afterschool program observation data as part of our local and national program quality improvement initiative.
Intern’s Responsibilities: Provide support to the research team on data organizing and analysis tasks. Assist researchers with writing, summarizing, and sharing findings. Conduct background research to help prepare research briefs and conference presentations. Potential travel with a research team for data collection or presentation of research findings.
Skills Required: Writing, summarizing, experience with excel, stats, and powerpoint a plus. Will have the opportunity to learn NVivo software program for coding and analysis.
Requisition number: R0004678
Subject of the Intern’s Project: Are you a student passionate about making a difference in the world and eager to gain practical experience in addressing real-world challenges? We have an exciting internship opportunity for you within an NGO incubator/course led by Ms. Dorani at Wellesley College.
As an intern, you will have the unique opportunity to work closely with Ms. Dorani and contribute to community development initiatives, particularly focusing on crisis situations and advocating for the betterment of Afghan women. You will be involved in planning and other project activities, gaining hands-on experience in project management and resource mobilization.
This internship will provide you with valuable insights into sustainable development practices within crisis contexts and the opportunity to engage with other students at Wellesley College, enriching your understanding of humanitarian response and sustainability. You will also have the chance to contribute to the broader discourse on sustainable humanitarian practices, further solidifying your role as a thought leader and practitioner in the field.
If you are a proactive and dedicated student looking to make a meaningful impact and enhance your skills in the areas of community development, sustainability, and humanitarian practices, we encourage you to apply for this internship opportunity. Join us in creating a dynamic learning environment that fosters growth and positive change.
Apply now and be part of a team that is committed to shaping a better future for communities in need. Please note this project is more practice based than research.
Responsibilities:
Skills Required:
Requisition Number: R0004694
Subject of the Intern’s Project: Dr. Maparyan is the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Lead for the Higher Education for Conservation Activity (HECA), sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This project aims to improve higher education and early career development in forestry, biodiversity, and conservation in Liberia, West Africa, with an emphasis on greater inclusion of women, youth, people with disabilities, and people from rural forest communities. Dr. Maparyan’s activities include landscape research and program development. Dr. Maparyan is also initiating new work with a large international team funded by a major foundation to develop a program to address and reduce sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV) affecting college students in and from Africa. This project will have touchpoints in Ghana, Kenya, and other countries. Last but not least, Dr. Maparyan is working on a book on womanist methodology. As an intern, you will engage in various tasks related to each of these projects.
Intern’s Responsibilities:
Skills required:
Requisition Number: R0004683
Apply in Workday. Log into the “My Wellesley” portal and select “Workday”. Go to the Career worklet in your Workday main menu. You can then search by the requisition number to locate the role and apply for the position. The requisition number for each internship is noted under the description.
Any registered Wellesley College student with a GPA of at least 3.0 may apply for the Class of 1967 Internship Program. Students must be registered at the College during the year of the internship. Interested students should become acquainted with the mission of WCW and the work of their desired mentor.
If there are any questions about WCW’s internships, please email wcw@wellesley.edu. If there are questions about the application process in Workday, please contact Wellesley College Student Employment at studentemployment@wellesley.edu.
I am a first year student and only have shadow grades. Can I apply?
Yes. There is a way of showing your actual grades on your transcript. Please send your transcript in a way that displays those grades.
I will graduate in December during the internship year. Can I apply?
Yes, you can apply provided you meet the other qualifications. Note: it is ultimately up to the mentor whether or not a December graduation will be okay in their situation.
I am going to be abroad for a semester next year. Can I apply?
Yes, you can apply. Note: it is ultimately up to the mentors whether or not a semester abroad will be okay in their situation.
Thanks to the generous donors who make these internships possible: