Capstone and Proseminar Information

Capstone Requirements

The Capstone is your opportunity to demonstrate the accumulated skills and abilities you have gathered during your college years. Many students finish this requirement feeling it was one of the best learning experiences of their undergraduate careers and ready to enter the world of work or graduate school after graduation.  

For your Capstone, you must have completed Soc 1001, 3701, 3801, 3811, and at least 4 out of the 5 sociology electives prior to taking the course. Enrollment is controlled via a permission number, and when you declared the major you let the adviser what term you were planning on taking it. Permission numbers go live on the first day of registration. Keep an eye out for an email from Sociology Advising with instructions on how to get your permission number. This email usually goes out about a week before registration starts. Most students will get their permission number in the first week of registration and all students must be registered for the course within the first two weeks of registration.

Capstone classes will include a combination of lectures, active learning exercises, writing exercises to help you prepare your main paper(s), and discussions of the required readings. You have spent a great deal of time and energy in the last few years developing core knowledge, skills, and ethics that are central to the practice of Sociology. The Capstone class is the final venue in your undergraduate experience to engage deeply in a research or action effort and showcase your skills earned via your individual sociological course work.  When you get instructions on how to get your permission number you will also get copies of the course syllabus

Options for the Capstone other than Soc 4966W

Please come see Sociology Advising to discuss these more, but some students may want to do Soc 4094W (4 credits) with a faculty member or take an extra elective and add Soc 4994W (1 credit) onto that class. Both options require faculty member agreement and approval by the Departmental Adviser via a Directed Study Contract. Five to ten students will do this option a year, so it is not especially common but can be a great fit for students looking to do a more independent research paper.  The prerequisites are the same as Soc 4966W.

Honors students take Soc 4977V: Honors Proseminar (3 credits) in the Fall of their graduation year and then Soc 4093: Directed Research (3 credits) that following Spring term to complete their thesis.  Please see both Sociology advising and your UHP advisor for more information and to plan for this rigorous and engaging experience.  Honors students must have completed Soc 1001, 3701, 3801, 3811, and at least 3 out of the 5 Sociology electives prior to taking 4977V. 

Multiple majors and students outside of CLA

If you have two or more majors in the College of Liberal Arts, you only need one Capstone or proseminar sequence. If you choose to do your major project in another major, you must take one additional upper-division elective in lieu of 4966W or 4977V. For students in another college at the University (or outside CLA), the college requires students to complete the Capstone or proseminar sequence.