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 2016-2017 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: 64507
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 and diversity. Completion of JPN/CHN201 is...
Spring 2018Spring 2019Winter 2018Winter 2019Winter 2017Winter 2016Spring 2016Spring 2017
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
Instructor Name: Kate Sackett Kerrigan
CRN: 64506
(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 2018Spring 2019Winter 2018Winter 2019Winter 2017
Homelessness Mental Health Disabilities Community Health
Instructor Name: Carol Holdt
CRN: 64058
The transition from childhood to adolescence is challenging, to say the least. How can we help Portland-area kids stay in school and focused on their futures? In this spring-term capstone course we will work with students and staff at the "I Have a Dream" Foundation - Oregon. The foundation provides supportive services and enrichment programs for "Dreamers" to help them graduate from high school and pursue either college or vocational education. Please visit http://www.ihaveadreamoregon.org...
Education-Youth
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: 64533, 81207
Click Here for Winter Tutoring Times and Locations.
If an opportunity fits your schedule, add your name and then email the instructor at mculley@pdx.edu for Department Approval.
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.
Coursework involves strategies for tutoring...
Fall 2016Fall 2017Fall 2018Spring 2018Spring 2019Summer 2018Summer 2019Winter 2018Winter 2019Winter 2017Winter 2016Spring 2016Spring 2017Summer 2016Summer 2017Fall 2015Summer 2015Spring 2015
Education- Adult
Instructor Name: Sarah Loose
CRN: 64516
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 2018Spring 2019Winter 2018Winter 2019Winter 2017Winter 2016Spring 2016Spring 2017Spring 2015
Education-Youth
Instructor Name: M. Khalil Zonoozy
CRN: 64534
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 2017Fall 2018Spring 2018Spring 2019Winter 2018Winter 2019Winter 2017Spring 2016Spring 2017Spring 2015
Community Health Criminal and Juvenile Justice
Instructor Name: Erik Bodegom
CRN: 64508
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 physics. This will be accomplished through the initial weekly readings and subsequent discussions of overarching publications on the subject of the role of science.
Scientific dimension: we will address the science needed to address the community partner’s...
Spring 2018Spring 2019Winter 2018Winter 2019Winter 2017Winter 2016Spring 2016Spring 2017
Business-Engineering-Technology Research Science
Instructor Name: Mitch Cruzan
CRN: 81201
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 2015
Business-Engineering-Technology Community Health Research Science
Instructor Name: Richard Clucas
CRN: 65412
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 2019Winter 2019Winter 2017Spring 2017Spring 2015
Community Health Political Science
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: 64497
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 2016Fall 2017Fall 2018Spring 2018Spring 2019Winter 2018Winter 2016Spring 2016Spring 2017Summer 2016Fall 2015Summer 2015
Sustainability Grantwriting Global Perspectives Online or Hybrid Courses
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,...
Disabilities Criminal and Juvenile Justice Business-Engineering-Technology
Instructor Name: Rick Hugo
CRN: 64548, 64549, 64550, 64551, 64552
In this course you will volunteer as a Science Mentor helping to lead inquiry-based outdoor investigations for K-12 students. Our educational approach is based on following student curiosity rather than leading prepared presentations. No science background is required. The primary skill you will gain is the art of communicating through a Socratic dialogue. You will also learn some basic outdoor skills, local ecology and environmental management, and the realities of the public education...
Fall 2016Fall 2017Fall 2018Spring 2018Spring 2019Spring 2016Spring 2017Fall 2015Spring 2015
Education-Youth Science Outdoors Ecology Sustainability Education
Instructor Name: Cynthia Carmina Gomez
CRN: 81173
CAP: GREENSPACES - LATINO YOUTH - UNST 421 SUMMER 2019
This Capstone offers students the opportunity to explore the outdoors with at-risk and gang-involved Latino youth enrolled in Latino Network's Summer Academia. Students can also choose from indirect service options such as research, data collection, and curriculum development. Through a partnership with Metro called Latino Greenspaces, youth make weekly visits to local natural areas and parks to experience the wonders of Oregon using...
Summer 2018
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: Ann Fullerton (Spring Term), Carolyn Bradley (Summer Term), Leann Horrocks (Summer Term)
NOTE: This course requires an application for registration. CRNS are provided after you apply. Get apps here*
Human diversity includes the variety of abilities and disabilities we all experience. In this capstone, students learn how the lives of persons with significant disabilities are similar and different than their own.
They examine the challenges and needs of persons with disabilities and their families in society. While working as student-counselors in a residential camp located near Mt...
Spring 2018Spring 2019Summer 2019Spring 2017Summer 2016Summer 2017
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: 64524, 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/...
Fall 2016Fall 2017Fall 2018Spring 2018Spring 2019Summer 2018Summer 2019
Sustainability Community Food Security Garden-based learning Sustainability Leadership Learning Gardens Food Literacy community engagement