Capstone Project

As the culminating experience for the American studies minor, students must (during the spring semester of their senior year) pursue an independent research project, internship or service-based project that will be advised by two professors from different departments and presented at an end-of-year American studies symposium.

The project provides students with an opportunity to bring together the perspectives of two different disciplines on a research area of particular interest.

Before the student begins the project, he or she will need to submit a proposal (PDF) that describes the project and contains the signatures of the two faculty members they’ve chosen to advise the project. The student will also need to decide whether to register for the course within English (EN 405), history (HS 490) or political science (490). If neither of their advisors come from one of these departments, the student will need to contact the American studies committee chair (Douglas B. Harris at dharris4@loyola.edu).

The proposal must be submitted to the American studies committee by Dec. 1. The project must contain both a research and a formal writing component (the equivalent of a 20- to 25-page research paper).