Section outline

  • Due Sunday 8/30, 11:59 pm: Please upload (as a PDF or Word doc) a one- or two-paragraph proposal for a potential capstone project, indicating the topic and key questions you hope to explore this semester. If you are not certain about your topic yet, you can submit two (one- to two-paragraph long) proposals. 

    IN CLASS: Monday 8/31: Class Meeting: Proposing a Topic
    In class, we will discuss the challenge of choosing a project topic – what makes a good historical topic and/or question, how do you decide the appropriate scale and scope of the project, and how might availability of sources shape your thinking. We will also read some topic statements from last year.

    • Mini-Proposal - Due Sunday August 30 at 11:59 pm Assignment
      Opened: Wednesday, April 8, 2026, 12:00 AM
      Due: Sunday, August 30, 2026, 11:59 PM

      Due Sunday 8/30, 11:59 pm: 

      Please upload to Moodle (as a Word doc or PDF) a one- or two-paragraph mini-proposal for a potential capstone project, addressing the following questions: 

      1. What is the general topic you hope to explore?
      2. What are the key questions you hope to answer? 
      3. What kind of archival (primary) sources might you look for? And/or who do you see as the key voices or historic actors whose story you want to trace?
      4. Why is this topic / why are these questions significant? What’s at stake in tracing this history? 
      5. What form do you think the project will take?
      Most students write a 20-25 page essay, but you may also produce an alternative assignment — for example, a digital project, a proposal for future research (approximately 15-20 pages); or a syllabus for a course with a supporting document (approximately 10-15 pages) explaining why and how it is designed and to what pedagogical ends. Whatever form it takes, the final project should articulate your research question and your findings, demonstrate competency with primary and secondary sources on which your project is based, and be supported by evidence and rigorous analysis.  
       
      Your topic may build on something you’ve worked on before, or it could be something totally new. You are not committing to a topic, but please do take some time with the assignment. The senior seminar is an opportunity to delve deeper into a topic than you’ve have gotten to before, so one key goal is to figure out a topic you’ll feel excited to spend a semester (or longer) with. If you are still between topics, you may submit two mini-proposals.