Please see student testimonials below. Students interested in participating in the SOCI 3950/ANTH 3950 practicum in the Winter term should contact Professor Blair Rutherford at Blair.Rutherford@carleton.ca by the October 1st prior to the Winter term in which they are interested in doing a placement.
"During my time with Digi60 Filmmaker’s Festival, I created a podcast and web series, Film Chats, to explore issues of representation in the film and media industry. Creating this series involved contacting guests, drafting a list of semi-structured interview questions, and editing the audio and video projects. On March 8th, International Women’s Day, I moderated a public panel for Digi60, Vision 2020: Womxn in Film and Media. It was an amazing experience to host an event where women creatives could come together and discuss how to establish themselves as filmmakers, audio mixer, editors, actors, and so much more. My time at Digi60 Filmmaker’s Festival merged a critical, feminist lens with my love for TV and film, and provided me an opportunity to network with other women and industry professionals.”– Samphe Ballamingie, Sociology
“For my Anthropology field placement, I had the opportunity to work with Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services. Rideauwood offers a holistic, person-first approach to addiction treatment. In my placement, my primary focus was a project that worked with staff members and an external consultant in order to centralize their educational materials and resources. This drew on my abilities learned throughout my program at Carleton, including listening skills, skills in data gathering, interpreting data, and communicating effectively with others. Furthermore, the nature of the work that Rideauwood does connected to my own research, which looked at addictions as well, from an anthropological lens. This experience was valuable in better understanding what it is like for those who work in the field of helping people who have addictions and all of the considerations that they must make in order to better serve their clients. It was inspiring and refreshing to see a team work together so passionately and with so much care for the work that they do each day. I would recommend a field placement to Anthropology students, especially in a field that is of interest to them or that they are passionate about. It was a great way to learn and overall felt exciting and engaging.”– Hannah Edwards, Anthropology
"This winter, I was given the opportunity to act as a volunteer for the Street Smarts program in Ottawa. This provided me with a unique first-hand perspective on the homelessness emergency in the city and the extensive field of social work. It was an incredible, eye opening experience that had huge benefits for me and my future. I was part of the outreach team, providing emergency supplies and building meaningful relationships with the street community. As somebody who hopes to work in the social work, this presented a valuable opportunity for me gain experience in the field. Overall, I had a very positive experience, and had the opportunity to gain a lot of valuable skills. Upon the completion of my practicum, I volunteered to continue with Street Smarts and I will be walking every Wednesday night with my team. I’m proud of the organization I volunteer for, and I stand by their mission.”– Alex Aikman, Sociology
“During my practicum I did homeless outreach, which is so much more than handing out emergency supplies. It is creating connections and relationships and learning compassion and effective communication with those who are homeless and/or suffering from substance use disorders. Doing outreach provided me with the opportunity to learn about the things I learned through my sociology degree from those with firsthand lived experience and provide those with lived experience an opportunity to share their personal stories, just because they wanted to. I would also like to add that my supervisor was an incredible resource throughout this, always thinking of different stories to add. He taught me an incredible amount about substance use disorders and how devastating they can be in every aspect, but also that they can be overcome.”– Ivana Stanic, Sociology
“Over the winter term for 2022 I did my placement at Parkdale Food Centre (PFC). Over the course of this placement I learned about how PFC supports its neighbours with many of its programs that provide food, and more importantly, connection. I supported PFC by creating a good rapport with those I worked with, filling food bank orders, conducting qualitative research, and supporting with data entry for the Knowing Our Neighbors Survey (developed and used for grant funding by PFC). By developing these relationships with neighbors and staff I acquired much more knowledge regarding what food security means and how food banks in the Ottawa region are akin to a harm-reduction method. In conclusion, I have fostered professional relationships, garnered knowledge on qualitative research, and most importantly I was able to support the community in which I live.”– Leif Harris, Anthropology
“In my practicum, I was able to gain critical workplace skills as well as expand my knowledge of one of the ways which sociology is applied to organizations outside of academia. In particular, by working with Planned Parenthood Ottawa I learned interoffice communication tools, workplace conduct and was informed of the association’s targets/goals. Furthermore, I was allowed to work on analyzing current data in reference to women’s sexual and reproductive health, and through this I learned how to use tools for further data analysis projects I might conduct in the future.”– Taylor Currier, Sociology