Mini-Proposal - Due Sunday August 30 at 11:59 pm
Mini-Proposal - Due Sunday August 30 at 11:59 pm
Completion requirements
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:
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What is the general topic you hope to explore?
- What are the key questions you hope to answer?
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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?
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Why is this topic / why are these questions significant? What’s at stake in tracing this history?
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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.