Introduction

The Capstone Project is your opportunity to complete a major research thesis or creative project in your major. It is how you fulfill the “Depth” requirement. You work on a topic you care deeply about, which you choose yourself (although science students’ choices may be more constrained). You have the resources of a major research university at your disposal; you are mentored by a faculty member you have asked to supervise you, and you complete a project that serves as the “capstone” of your major: the final element that makes a whole of your entire undergraduate career. For many it also marks the beginning of a serious research or professional trajectory. It’s an exciting, pivotal project.

The project typically takes four semesters to complete. Capstones come in many varieties: screenplays, films, performances, paintings, engineering projects, written theses, and more. Most students will tell you that it is hard work, but they also say it is among the most rewarding aspects of their college experience. They also give the same advice, year after year, to the students who follow them: choose a topic you are passionate about, and start early!

Overview of the Process

You begin the Capstone Project in the fall of your junior year, when you select a topic, find an Advisor, and submit the Capstone Proposal Form to Honors for approval in November. You’ll learn more about how to do that below. In the following spring, you continue to develop your project with your Advisor, and submit an Update Form describing your progress in April. The junior year process assures that you make a strong start on the project. Many students continue to work on the project over the summer. We make special accommodations, where necessary, for students who study abroad during the junior year.

In the fall of your senior year, we encourage you to register for an independent study in your major, if your schedule permits, to give you time to work on the project. Fall of the senior year is a crucial time: you will complete much of your research and begin writing drafts of chapters or creating first iterations of your project. At this point, you are probably meeting with your Advisor every two weeks to review your work and exchange ideas. By the end of the semester, you will have significant results. During the fall, you select an Honors Reader to offer additional insights and to provide a fresh perspective on your project. Students doing written theses should be submitting drafts of chapters to Advisors by late in the fall semester.

In the spring, you register for XXX 499 (where XXX designates your major). You complete the project, including in it your Capstone Written Summary targeted to a non-expert audience, turn it in on Capstone Project Turn-in Day, and present your project to the wider Honors community on Capstone Presentation Day. At Honors Convocation we celebrate your achievement: you are individually recognized, applauded, and given a medal to wear to your College Convocation and to Commencement -- and to keep. Every completed project is printed in a bound volume; the complete collection of volumes is in the Honors Library in the Honors Suite, 306 Bowne Hall; stop by to have a look at them.

There is significant funding for Capstone Projects, awarded competitively, in amounts up to $5,000. Each year, Honors funds between ten and twenty projects through the Crown/Wise-Marcus Scholars program. Additionally, prizes (including $500 cash awards) are given annually for the best project in various categories, awarded at Convocation.

Examples of recent projects:

  • Le Donne di Dante:An Historical Study of Female Characters in The Divine Comedy
  • Islam Through My Eyes: a Photographic Essay
  • Understanding al-Qaeda: History, Ideology and Infrastructure
  • Sexual Conflict Over Egg Allocation: A Dynamic Programming Approach to Modeling the Evolution of Male Harm and Female Resistance
  • Inspired Women: Changing the Face of the Film industry: A Short Film
  • An Original Line of Bridesmaids’ Dresses
  • Root Production and Herbivory in an Upland Grassland Community in Yellowstone National Park
  • Hip-Hop: The New Answer?
  • Ethical Marketing: Controversial Products and Promotional Practices
  • La Petite Piaf: The Development and Performance of an Original One-Woman Show
  • Splinter Nest: Poems
  • The Media’s Influence in Everyday Life on Women’s Perception of Body Image
  • Accessible Interactive Campus Mapping System for SU/SUNY-ESF
  • “Leaving Neverland” an original screenplay
  • Novel Synthetic Routes Toward the Alkaline-Earth Metal Amides
  • Urban Renewal, the 15th Ward, the Empire Stateway and the City of Syracuse New York
  • Editing Shakespeare: Violence, Text, and Commodity in The Taming of the Shrew
  • Executive Compensation: Aligning CEO Pay with Performance to Create Long-Term Shareholder Value
  • Horse Saddles for Adaptive Riders
  • Poetry’s Outsiders: Why the Academy Should Embrace Poetry Slam and Its Audiences
  • Parallel Dichotomies: Serialism, Folk Song, The University, and Authenticity
  • Do Children’s Hospitals Have Lower Mortality Rates? Evidence from the 2003
    Kids’ Inpatient Database
  • What the Health Magazine: A Student Publication
  • Optimization of Zero Net-Mass Flow Actuators for Aero-Optics Applications
  • Hamas: From “Terrorist” Organization to Governing Party – the Implications of Hamas’s 2006 Electoral Victory
  • A History of Twentieth-Century Handmade Metalsmithing in Europe and America
  • www.200hearts.net
  • Pure: Life and Design in Finland