Please see your syllabus for guidance and requirements.
Final Project (40% of final course grade):
The senior capstone final project permits some flexibility in choice of topic and type of project. You are encouraged to consult with history faculty whose research specialties correspond more closely to your topic. In terms of the type of project, the options are:
- Original Research Paper: a primary source-based paper comprising original research. Students identify a topic, develop a thesis, and write a historical essay in the style of an academic journal article. The paper will be a minimum of 25 pages in length, not including the bibliography, utilizing at least 15 appropriate primary sources and at least 15 appropriate secondary sources.
- Historiography Essay: a secondary source-based paper affording students the opportunity to trace and analyze the “history of the history” of a particular topic in depth. In this choice of project, you will not consult primary sources; instead, the secondary sources (monographs and journal articles published by historians) become your primary sources, as we will discuss early in class early in the semester. The historiography essay will be a minimum of 25 pages in length, not including the bibliography, utilizing at least 25 secondary sources (at least 10 of which should be monographs) from several different eras.
- Hybrid / Technology-Based Project: a project that will afford interested students the opportunity create a technology-based product, such as a website or documentary film, that will be complemented and supported by a shorter original research paper. Source requirements will be the same as outlined in option one, above, but the research paper itself will have a minimum of 12 pages, not including the bibliography.
