Search Courses
You may search for a Senior Capstone course by selecting a THEME or TERM from the menu at the left. You may also search by entering a part of the title or the instructors name in the box below. For concise listings of all 2019-2020 Capstone offerings, review our Capstone Capsule. If you need assistance, contact the Capstone Office/University Studies at 503.725.5890.
Please refer to the PSU Class Schedule regarding the days, hours, and meeting location. For information about when the new class schedule is available or when you can register for the new term, follow this link: When to Register.
NOTE: Due to the intensive nature of Capstones, students must receive permission from the course instructor prior to the first day of class if they are going to miss the first class session. For on-line Capstones, students must demonstrate active participation during the first week of the term. All Capstone courses factor in student attendance and participation into the final grade which is deeply impacted by missing the first week of the term.
NOTE: "Sustainability" tagged courses will NOT automatically count toward the Sustainability Minor. Students must seek approval from Joseph Maser, Ph.D. in the Environmental Science & Management department to count any Capstone toward that specific minor.
SEARCH BY Title or Instructor: Enter a single word from the title of a Capstone, "gardens", "justice", "literacy", etc., the Course Registration Number (CRN), or a professor's first or last name in the box below.
Instructor Name: Yoko Sakurauchi
CRN: 64011
Japanese & Chinese Language Program for Youth
This Capstone takes place over the winter and spring terms. Over two terms, Winter and Spring, Capstone students will work with elementary school programs in the Portland area by assisting the classroom teachers. They will also engage in activities to promote foreign language education for young children. The class addresses various issues concerning language learning and teaching, learning styles, language policies, Japanese/Chinese culture...
Spring 2020Spring 2021Winter 2020Winter 2021
Global Perspectives Education-Youth
Instructor Name: Sergio Palleroni
Cities harbor significant natural systems, though they are often culturally miscast as the antithesis of nature. The trend in city building over the last couple of millennia has increasingly focused on making our cities more efficient machines to support human habitation. New trends and a study of alternative historical models show us, though, that cities have the potential to contribute to the planet's capacity to support humans as well as other species. To promote a greener city, we must...
Sustainability Education-Youth Community Health Retired-course
Instructor Name: Eric Mankowski
CRN: 44282
(Note: This is a two term Capstone (winter and spring), and is three credits per term.
This course focuses on applications of basic psychological knowledge and methods to community problems. Students join a work team providing consultation to a community organization or agency. Students have an opportunity to choose from a number of field projects in cooperation with community agencies engaged in social service in the fields of health, education, corrections, welfare, and others. Projects...
Spring 2020Winter 2020Winter 2021
Homelessness Mental Health Disabilities Community Health
Instructor Name: Sabina Haque
CRN: 64123
Scott SUN and Portland State University (PSU) coordinate the "Art & Community Mapping" after-school program. PSU Fine Arts professor Sabina Haque leads the class of 20 Scott students (gr. 4-8) and 20 volunteers from her PSU capstone class. PSU and Scott students are matched for individual mentorship. PSU students will learn about local and national issues in Arts education, and the role of community based Art to support child and youth achievement.The class meets once a week at the school...
Research Education-Youth Arts
Instructor Name: Michelle Culley
CRN: 64037, 81180
Click Here for Tutoring Times and Locations.
Students should sign up for a tutoring opportunity via the link at the top of the page and then contact Michelle Culley, mculley@pdx.edu, immediately after registration.
Capstone students will work with adult English as Second Language learners for 2.5 to three hours a week at local community colleges (locations and times vary). Capstone students must be proficient speakers of English but are not required to be native English speakers. ...
Spring 2020Spring 2021Summer 2020Summer 2021Winter 2020Winter 2021
Education- Adult
Instructor Name: Sarah Loose
CRN: 44294
Learn about local queer history from the folks who paved the way and help preserve their stories. Our community partner is the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN). Help GLAPN save our history by doing an oral history/interview of an elder member of the community. GLAPN selects the folks students will interview. Students will work in pairs for the interview. Before the interview, students will learn about local queer history including anti-gay ballot initiatives,...
Spring 2020Winter 2020Winter 2021
Education-Youth
Instructor Name: M. Khalil Zonoozy
CRN: 64038
A comprehensive and engaging examination of contemporary multicultural and cross-cultural imperatives, this capstone explores the barriers to justice for ethnic and racial minorities. Special attention will be given to the U.S. institutional structure and the justice system. Utilizing a progressive and proactive approach, students will acquire a deeper understanding, awareness and appreciation of the root causes of the existing disparities. Their learning outcome will be enhanced through...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Spring 2021Winter 2020Winter 2021
Community Health Criminal & Juvenile Justice
Instructor Name: Erik Bodegom
CRN: 64048
IMPORTANT: This Capstone course will not be available for the 2020-2021 academic year.
This Capstone takes place over the winter and spring terms. Students enrolled in Research Experience for Science Majors will develop an understanding and appreciation for scientific, societal, economic, political, and ethical dimensions of science. This will be accomplished through group work, where a selection of readings will be the springboard for presentations and discussions. Further work is...
Spring 2020Winter 2020
Business-Engineering-Technology Research Science
Instructor Name: Mitch Cruzan
CRN: 81160, 81210
The objectives of Research and Society are: Community service with an emphasis on the sciences and your research interests; Learning to communicate scientific material in various media to professional and lay audiences; Higher level thinking about questions about scientific processes & ethics—synthesizing knowledge; and, Preparation to complete undergrad work and enter grad school and the workforce.
Summer 2019Summer 2020Summer 2021
Business-Engineering-Technology Community Health Research Science
Instructor Name: Richard Clucas
CRN: 64564
Students who are interested in taking the course, or simply want to know more about it, are encouraged to email the instructor as early as possible to be added to an email list that provides more information.
This Capstone takes place over the winter and spring term, and is only offered every other year, when the Oregon Legislature has a full session. One of the most pressing problems in American politics today is that the public feels increasingly distant from elected leaders. To many...
Spring 2021Winter 2021
Community Health Political Science Politics Government Legislature Oregon
Instructor Name:
Asset mapping methods combined with geographic information systems (GIS) technology have proven to be effective ways to help citizens and organizations identify, analyze, describe, and mobilize around assets and issues of concern to them.The Community Geography Project of the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies has a history of training PSU students, community groups, and middle and high school students in asset mapping and GIS technology to enable them to ask new questions and better...
Business-Engineering-Technology Education-Youth Community Health Research
Instructor Name: Kofi Agorsah, agorsahe@pdx.edu
Experiencing African Culture in Ghana Accra the capital city, and Cape Coast in the Central Region, will be the main rendezvous sites. Participants will spend much of their time interacting with communities in other cities, towns and villages in at least three other regions with over sixty ethnic, language and dialect groups. There will also be opportunities to observe Ghana’s vibrant agricultural system, and local and small-scale textile, basket, woodcarving, pottery and leather industries...
Global Perspectives International Capstones
Instructor Name: Nariyo Kono
CRN: 63997
Grant Writing for Indigenous Sustainability In the online Capstone course Indigenous Grant Writing, students work collaboratively in teams to research and write grants, and to understand the issues of Indigenous communities. Students gain an understanding of collaborative work and the importance of equal participation from every team member. Students examine the role of non-profit organizations in addressing social, ethical, and political issues. They also consider the role of funding and...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2021Winter 2020
Sustainability Grantwriting Global Perspectives Online or Hybrid Courses Hybrid or Fully online
Instructor Name: Colleen Kaleda
Street Roots: Exploring Issues of Homelessness In this Capstone students explore and expose various issues surrounding poverty and homelessness through direct contact with non-profits, businesses, government and the homeless community. Students will report and write stories, complete with original photography, for publication in Street Roots, Portland's homeless newspaper. Students will learn and put into practice the basics of journalistic research, interviewing, writing, photography, and...
Disabilities Criminal & Juvenile Justice Business-Engineering-Technology
Instructor Name: Rick Hugo
CRN: 64043
During the pandemic: we will work on bringing the outdoors to K-12 students. Your course project will be to create a Virtual Field Environment (VFE) which will be used by K-12 classroom teachers and community educators to "visit" local field sites with their students. (See a Spring 2020 example here). Your challenge will be to go beyond the typical virtual tour and create a rich, engaging learning environment that facilitates student-centered inquiry. You must also strive to engage learners...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Spring 2021
Education-Youth Science Outdoors Ecology Sustainability Education
Instructor Name: Cynthia Carmina Gomez
CRN: 81132
Since 2009, GREENSPACES - LATINO YOUTH has offered students the opportunity to explore the outdoors with at-risk and gang-involved Latino youth enrolled in Latino Network's Summer Academia.
:: COVID-19 UPDATE ::
I have been in close communication with our partners to carefully design our summer course in light of COVID-19. Students will be given the option to work on several remote service-learning projects:
1) Work with adjudicated youth and their families participating...
Summer 2020
Online or Hybrid Courses Social Sustainability Community Development Community Health Criminal Justice Sociology Business Gender Race and Nation Studies Chicano Latino Studies Aging Services Black Studies Indigenous Nations Studies
Instructor Name: Brenna K. Wood (Spring Term), Leann Horrocks (Summer Term), TBA (Summer Term)
Website for more information: https://www.pdx.edu/education/kiwanis
Through coursework using a social justice framework, students will broaden their understanding of the lived experience of persons with disabilities by exploring histories, personal stories, and social movements. Students will explore the intersection of that lived experience and society (attitudes, assumptions, accessibility, inequity, politics, culture, services, inclusion/exclusion). Further, students will learn how the...
Spring 2021Summer 2021
Education-Youth Disabilities Community Health
Instructor Name: Michael Chamberlain
Organizing and Defending Immigrant Workers Explore the contentious issues surrounding immigration and the growth of an immigrant workforce. Partner with a local immigrant rights organization to explore ways to defend immigrant rights and to improve the working conditions of immigrants.Student Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Critically analyze important social and political questions related to immigration.
Participate in a constructive and respectful...
Global Perspectives Community Health
Instructor Name: Denissia Withers
CRN: 14182, 81212
Students will explore community food security through community engagement in learning garden programs. Class time will focus on issues of community food security and ways to create food justice through community engagement and learning gardens. Students will work with a variety of people and organizations partnered with the Learning Gardens Laboratory (SPR term) and the Oregon Food Bank Learning Gardens (SUM/FALL term). View Video of Seed to Supper Program
https://www.youtube.com/...
Summer 2019
Sustainability Community Food Security Garden-based learning Sustainability Leadership Learning Gardens Food Literacy community engagement
Instructor Name: Cynthia Gomez
Social Justice Education for Adolescents is an advanced exploration of diversity and social justice in the United States. Capstone students are provided with a framework for understanding specific forms and the interlocking systems of oppression; exploring how oppression affects our lives; taught teaching and training conceptual frameworks about oppression and diversity; and an application of these ideologies and skills in community settings. Please contact gomezc@pdx.edu for further...
Retired-course