The ideal FLAME student is the product of rigorous training processes and brings a wide range
of talents and temperaments to any organization as a result. The structures of learning at
FLAME blend STEM fields with the soft skills and ethical compass that the liberal arts help
inculcate. At different stages of their coursework, students work on projects that demand
critical thinking, creative work, social outreach, and the entrepreneurial spirit. The profusion of
major-minor combinations available to students helps them bring an interdisciplinary mindset
to real-world problems. Internships are a way to test and recruit such talent for the future.
Liberal arts graduates adapt well to uncertainty. In dynamic and unpredictable times, they can
exhibit flexibility and open-mindedness. This is the result of exposure to a wide spectrum of
skills and ideas across diverse systems of thought. The liberal arts teach us to be lifelong
learners, look beyond partitions of knowledge, work with ambiguity, and find the balance of
humility and self-confidence that is unique to each situation. The concept of the liberal arts is
growing in India; in the West, corporate firms, NGOs, and government branches have always
hired liberal arts graduates—offering jobs and internship positions—for their long-term value.
The SIP (Summer Internship Program) is scheduled for the period between the start of May and
mid-July. Undergraduate students must submit their final report in the prescribed format by
July 16th; postgraduate students must do the same by July 22nd. All students must obtain a
Completion Certificate from the organization at which they interned. Presentations and vivas
take place virtually in the first week of August and are facilitated by faculty advisors.
The SIP provides a platform for students to integrate classroom knowledge with related
practical applications and skills in a professional ecosystem. Further, it affords students
exposure to aspects of corporate or institutional work that call for skills, temperaments,
attitudes, and effort that may be different from those demanded by university settings. The
dovetailing of the SIP with the academic journeys of students thus enhances their intellectual
maturity, work ethic, and all-round development. The SIP thus helps integrate the academic
side of university life with the varieties of real-world exposure that the industry can offer them.
These have varied greatly in the past. To name a few roles, our student interns have served as
Junior Creative Director, Social Media/ Content Writer, Production Analyst, and Marketing
Analyst. They have worked in functions such as Account Management, Client Relations, Digital
Marketing, Public Relations, and Sales and Operations. The industries in which they have
interned have ranged from Financial Services, FMCG, Healthcare, Consulting, and Tourism and
Hospitality to Government, NGOs, think tanks, and research institutions. While these are, in
most cases, relevant—at least in part—to the student’s major-minor combinations, students
are not necessarily limited by their major and/or minor. Every year, some students have found
niche internships that match their career interests or that are meaningful to them in other ways.
