Capstone Plus (Capstone+)

Many majors require a senior capstone project as part of your degree. As an Honors student, you don’t have to complete both a capstone and a separate Honors thesis – you can build your thesis out of your capstone work! Program capstones are overseen by a faculty member and are often connected to a course. If you choose to build your Honors Thesis out of your capstone work, please approach the capstone faculty about it. You will need their consent to use the capstone work for your thesis. Capstone faculty can serve as Faculty Thesis Advisors for your Honors thesis, but you will have to inquire about their availability to serve in this role.  

Because a capstone is already part of your degree requirements, it cannot serve as a 1:1 equivalent for an Honors thesis. Capstone projects are also often completed as group work, while your Honors thesis must reflect your individual contribution. The Capstone Plus pathway asks you to extend that work in a meaningful way that is distinctly your own.  

                   Some examples include: 

• Refining or testing an aspect of your capstone solution individually 

• Applying the group design to a different context or case 

• Exploring the broader implications or societal impact of your team’s work 

• Adding an additional application, analysis, or layer of background research 

Your Faculty Thesis Advisor can help you think through what additional work would be most meaningful given your project and discipline. 

Architecture Directed Research – B.Arch ONLY (Directed Research+)

 In their final spring semester, B.Arch students complete a Directed Research (DR) course – a faculty-led capstone experience. As an Honors student, you don’t have to complete both Directed Research and a separate Honors thesis – you can build your thesis out of your DR work! It 

• Your Honors thesis can be built out of your Directed Research work rather than completed separately. Because DR is already a degree requirement, it cannot serve as a 1:1 equivalent for your Honors thesis – your project will go beyond the DR requirements and reflect independent scholarly contribution.  

• If you are pursuing this path, we strongly encourage you to connect with your Directed Research faculty and your Honors core faculty in Architecture early to ensure your project is scoped appropriately and that you are set up for success. Your Directed Research Faculty can serve as your Honors Faculty Thesis Advisor 

• The work in addition to your Directed Research can come in many forms. Please make sure to connect with your Faculty Thesis Advisor to determine the scope of the extension work. 

Internship-Based Thesis

Many students choose to participate in an internship as an experiential learning opportunity, some as a required part of their program of study, others as a way to broaden their professional and educational experience. The result is a thesis that bridges practical, real-world learning with academic inquiry, and that can serve as a compelling addition to your professional portfolio. 

•  If you choose to build your Honors Thesis out of this experiential learning opportunity you will need to plan ahead. First, as with every other thesis path, you will need to secure the support of a Faculty Thesis Advisor. Second, this pathway needs to be planned with a research question already in mind and use the internship experience as an opportunity to explore this question.  

• A few important considerations if you are thinking about this path: if the internship is already part of your degree requirements, it cannot serve as a 1:1 equivalent for your Honors thesis and will require an additional scholarly layer. You will also need to think carefully about whether the organization would permit you to collect and use their data or work product as part of your thesis research – this is a conversation to have early. 

Please set up an appointment with your Honors advisor ideally ahead of your Junior year to discuss whether this is the right path for you.