Research internship (120 h)

Teacher(s)

Van Hemelryck Tania (coordinator);

Language

French

Main themes

The work experience is designed to complement and to question the training in the Master's degree in French and Romance Languages and Literatures by offering the students the opportunity to experience a professional setting linked with one of the direct or indirect openings linked to this research focus, in the knowledge that it is designed as a focus to provide openings (cf. description of the research focus).
Students have the opportunity of making use of the analytical and interpretative skills acquired during their linguistic and literary training in all the work environments where such skills may be required.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The work experience enables students to put into practice, within a specific professional framework, the analytical and critical knowledge acquired from studying literature and language. In this way, it prepares them to participate in contemporary society, as humanist intellectuals.

Content

The work experience is made up of 120 hours in an organisation or institution in which the specific skills of a Romance specialist might be required (see skills acquired), particularly in such fields as:

• culture: cultural centres, museums, writing workshops, intercultural institution, cultural management, theatres, etc.;
  
• continuing education: literacy centres, training centres, etc.;
  
• communication: the media, publicity, business communication, marketing, etc.;
  
• research: preferably in research centres outside UCLouvain.
  

The in-depth course cannot be undertaken in a publishing house or bookshop. These places are reserved exclusively for the specialised course.

Teaching methods

It is left up to students to find their own work experience and to ensure that it is worthwhile. They should submit a one-page proposal to the supervisory committee which should include

1. a description of the host institution and the role in it they will play ;
   
2. an explanation of why the proposal is relevant to the ROM Master's degree (particularly skill n° 8, mentioned above : in other words, they should show how the work experience will enable them to make use of skills acquired in the Master's degree) ;
   
3. evidence, where appropriate, that there is no overlap between the proposed work experience and other activities undertaken for the ROM Master's degree. (An activity which is compulsory for a class, a seminar or a thesis may not be validated a second time.)
   

Evaluation methods

A jury, made up of two members of the Master ROM jury (for the 2024-2025 academic year: Prof. Tania Van Hemelryck and Prof. Vincent Engel), is responsible for validating, monitoring and evaluating the internship.
At the end of the internship, students are expected to reflect on their experience: rather than simply recounting the experience or presenting anecdotes and personal motivations, they are expected to give a reasoned description and critical analysis. Development is expected in terms of the theoretical grounding and precise methodological framework associated with the field of knowledge mobilized during the internship (with bibliographical references and rigorous analysis).
With this in mind, the student writes a report (approx. 30,000 signs, spaces included, excluding notes and detailed bibliography) which, in a sustained and correct language,
describes the significant elements of the environment (institution, association, publishing house, etc.) in which the student carried out his/her internship. Doing an internship in an institution or company does not mean being subservient to one's internship supervisor; it is in fact necessary to take a critical look at how the institution or company operates, and to cross-check the information given by the internship supervisor. In other words, the trainee must be careful not to show too much empathy; his/her involvement must be professional and must remain critical and distant;

• gives a detailed account of experience, documenting the tasks performed, problems encountered, solutions found, etc., and illustrating them concretely and in depth (in particular by commenting on the appendices, see below);
• describes the knowledge and skills acquired in connection with his or her training. A well-founded link must be made with one or more courses taken during the training;
• analyzes his or her personal contribution, as a Romanist, to the host institution. The student should highlight any original solutions to problems encountered;
• attach any documents produced during the internship (specifying the nature of these documents).

This report is evaluated by the internship jury, made up of the two academic supervisors of the activity.
Registration for session N assumes that the internship has been completed in time for the report and assessment to be sent no later than the first day of the session for which the student has registered.
When students register for the examination, they present their report to the jury in an oral defense, ensuring that the written report and oral presentation complement each other.
The oral presentation will focus on a specific point that the student draws from his/her experience (a critical point, a particularly important aspect, etc.) and will not be a summary of the internship report. The presentation will be made without electronic support of any kind and will not exceed 10 minutes.
Following this presentation, the jury will award an agreed mark, taking into account the report drawn up by the internship supervisor at the host institution (bearing in mind that the impact of the internship supervisor's mark only accounts for 10% of the final mark).
The assessment of written work takes into account the quality of the language used. The procedures for assessing French language proficiency are set out in the document “Évaluation de la maitrise de la langue dans les travaux écrits, TFC, mémoires et TFE des programmes de bachelier et de master en langues et lettres françaises et romanes (orientations générale et français langue étrangère)”.
Rules on plagiarism and the use of AI 
As part of his/her internship report, the student demonstrates perfect mastery of the rules of bibliographic referencing; at the risk of being suspected of plagiarism, he/she is obliged to  
DO NOT copy a text without quotation marks and/or without mentioning the source; 
DO NOT reproduce graphics, data, illustrations, etc. without crediting the source; 
DO NOT reformulate or summarize an author's original idea without crediting the source; 
DO NOT translate, in whole or in part, a source without referencing it; 
DO NOT use the work of others as your own (even if the author of the work has given his or her consent); 
DO NOT purchase any work. 
Cf. https://uclouvain.be/fr/etudier/uss/lutter-contre-le-plagiat.html 
This definition supplements that set out in art. 107 §2 of the RGEE and constitutes a special provision within the meaning of §3 of the same article.
In the event of irregularity or plagiarism observed by the jury, students who fail to comply with the scientific referencing standards set out above may be subject to academic sanctions as detailed in the RGEE (section 7).
Generative artificial intelligence (AI), if used, must be used responsibly and in accordance with the practices of academic and scientific integrity. Since scientific integrity implies citing sources, the use of AI must always be reported.  

Other information

This internship is reserved for students in the advanced program (and therefore cannot be taken by students enrolled in the other two programs under the heading “Elective courses”).
The internship can take place during the first or second year of the master's program.
The internship agreement, duly completed (internship dates + precise schedule [minimum days]), as well as the risk analysis must be sent to the academic supervisor of the internship at least one calendar month before the start of the internship.
The sending of the agreement and the signature/acceptance of the agreement by the internship location do not constitute validation.
The internship can only begin once the academic supervisor has given their approval (by signing the agreement).
UCL external student internship agreement
Risk analysis 
In the workplace, the ban on wearing religious symbols, as stipulated in the work regulations, also applies to interns.

Faculty or entity

> ELAL