All political science majors must complete POSC396 Senior Project / SAGES Capstone.
This course fulfills the capstone requirement for both the GER and SAGES.
The capstone is an independent study supervised by a department faculty member, resulting in a paper and an oral presentation. For examples of past projects, see here.
The Director of Undergraduate Studies is currently Professor Hodgetts. He can be reached at mkh83@case.edu. Please direct all questions about capstone policies to him.
Policy Updates Beginning Spring 2025
Students may write the capstone in either semester of their junior or senior year but must be on campus to do so. Please plan accordingly.
All students must identify a supervisor by the last day of classes the semester before they wish to write their capstone. Upon identification of a supervisor, students must then submit the capstone declaration form before the last day of classes. During exams period, the Director of Undergraduate Studies will confirm with all students that submitted the form that they are approved to write their capstone the following semester.
If a student wished to write in the Fall (or their second last semester) but did not submit the form by the deadline, they will not be permitted to write their capstone that semester unless approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
If a student is writing in the Spring (or their final semester) but did not submit the form by the deadline, they will be required to meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies to be assigned a supervisor. They will still (of course) be able to write the capstone – we want you to graduate!
Meetings with the Director of Undergraduate Studies must occur within the first week of the new semester, given the project must be approved prior to the end of add/drop.
Individual Faculty Requirements for Capstone Supervision
You are encouraged to consider writing in the Fall semester when historically fewer capstones are written. The norm for supervision is to have worked with a faculty member in at least one 300-level course. The following faculty members have published specific requirements for supervision:
Capstone Proposal and Course Registration
Students enroll in POSC396 by requesting permission in SIS from the faculty member who has agreed to supervise their capstone. Registration must be completed by the end of add/drop (the second Friday) each semester. Registration is not considered complete until a capstone proposal form submitted by the supervisor is received by the Department Administrative Office.
The capstone proposal form is not the same as the capstone declaration form.
The capstone proposal form should include:
- Identification of the topic and the research question
- What written work will be required, and by which dates
- An overview of how the research will be addressed (that is, the means or methodology)
Additionally, the student and supervisor must agree upon and indicate on the form a date for the submission of the final paper, and both need to sign and date the proposal.
Oral Presentations
All projects are presented in a public forum, typically scheduled on an evening during the penultimate week of the semester. Students are not expected to have their final capstone paper completed prior to presenting but are expected to have advanced their work sufficiently to be able to speak meaningfully about their project.
The format of the presentations is modelled on an academic conference. Students should expect to present for ~8-10 minutes followed by ~5 minutes of Q&A.
A buffet dinner follows the presentations and students are welcome to invite friends and family members to attend both the presentations and dinner.
Final Submission
Students are required to submit their final paper to their supervisor by the agreed-upon deadline. Students are reminded that a grade of incomplete may only be issued in compliance with the conditions set by Undergraduate Studies, which requires incompletes only be granted to “a student who has completed the majority of the work in a course.”