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 2021-2022 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: 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: Judith Patton
The Portland Actor's Ensemble Grant Writing Project Students in this Capstone course partner with the Portland Actors Ensemble (http://www.portlandactors.com/). Class uses an experiential approach: that is, students learn to write compelling grant proposals by engaging in the process of writing actual proposals to be used by PAE in its pursuit of funding.
The objectives of this Capstone address both course content and the University Studies goals of communication, critical thinking,...
Grantwriting Education-Youth Disabilities Arts
Instructor Name:
Some of the essential questions driving the curriculum of this Capstone are: How can Art be a force for social change? How is it? What limits, if any, should there be? What are the differences between change and voice? What are the differences between protest and change?
This course is open to anyone intrigued with the questions raised by public art (and possibilities of Art) in our society. This capstone should be of particular value and interest to students who have a desire to teach, create...
Education-Youth Community Health Arts Retired-course
Instructor Name: Eden Isenstein
In this class, students will learn about the dynamics of sexual assault as they practice using theater as a tool for social change. Students will develop a short play about sexual assault and its prevention based on classroom readings, discussions, prior learning, and lived experiences. This play will then be performed for various campus audiences based on the Theatre of the Oppressed Open Forum model, in which audience members are invited to stop and shift the action by joining the play,...
Arts Education-Youth
Instructor Name: Conrad Schumacher
CRN: 63533
Teaching Art and Social Change The working Thesis for this class is that for Art, or indeed anything/anyone, to effect change in a society the work/ideas must be palatable to the majority, real and tangible in terms of outcomes and sustainable over time. We never get far when we try to change using hate, anger, force or such "clubs."
This course is open to anyone intrigued with the questions raised by public Art (and possibilities of Art) in our society. This capstone should be of particular...
Fall 2023Spring 2021Spring 2022Spring 2023Spring 2024Summer 2021Winter 2021Winter 2022Winter 2023
Community Health Arts
Instructor Name: Jen Delos Reyes
Community-Based Art as a Force for Social Change What can art do? This course will examine the potential that creative acts have to effect social, political,local and personal change through the social application of art in the context of an arts program geared towards homeless and transitional populations facilitated and directed by PSU students.
Through examining art historical context this course will look at the ideas surrounding community art, dialogical art, new genre ublic art, and art...
Education-Youth Community Health Arts
Instructor Name: Amy Steel
CRN: 64565
This class typically facilitates a Creative Reuse S.U.N. after school art class at Vestal Elementary School for Social Justice. During Covid 19 remote instruction this class will operate slightly differently. We will have scheduled remote meetings on Thursday from 2-450 with up to 3 hours a week of homework a week due on Wednesday nights before class. We will work with SCRAP (School and Community Reuse Action Project) to develop creative reuse video lessons for elementary students for...
Spring 2021
Sustainability Education-Youth Arts
Instructor Name: Suzanne Savaria
CRN: 63522
Description
The arts play a critical role in stimulating creativity and in developing vital communities. They have a crucial impact on our economy and are an important catalyst for learning, discovery and achievement in our personal lives and for our country. In this course we will examine what it means to advocate for the arts and define our roles as advocates. We will explore the world of arts advocacy and arts education and gain a deeper understanding of how to better sustain a...
Fall 2021Spring 2021Spring 2022Spring 2023Spring 2024Winter 2021Winter 2022Fall 2019Fall 2020Winter 2020
Education-Youth Business-Engineering-Technology Arts
Instructor Name: Ann McClanan
CRN: 63502
The Medieval Portland capstone is a great fit if you love research, for in this class each student undertakes--with mentoring from the Professor--an individual research project about either a locally housed medieval object or a Portland building with influence from medieval architecture. Students from many different majors have done well in the capstone, as long as they work hard doing the detective work involved in original research. The community partner varies depending on the term, but...
Spring 2022Spring 2023Spring 2024Spring 2020
Research Arts Hybrid or Fully online Online or Hybrid Courses
Instructor Name: Amy Greenstadt
Inside/Out Prison Exchange: Imagining Justice
This course is taught on the model of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, which brings together college students living in prison (in this case, Coffee Creek Women’s Correctional Facility) with students on the outside. In this unique classroom environment we will focus on the question, “What Is Justice?” The premise of the course is that living a just existence means living imaginatively. “Justice” is not a thing, but an abstract ideal that we...
Criminal & Juvenile Justice Arts
Instructor Name: Molly Gray
CRN: 14642
Queer Rock Camp is an annual summer camp that works to engage LGBTQ-identified youth through performance and musical self-expression, as well as empower youth of diverse backgrounds in peer alliance and community building skills. Students in this Capstone will examine contemporary social issues related to the lives of LGBTQ youth. Students will also participate in Queer Rock Camp volunteering, programming & the creation of a final communication plan that will document camp activities to...
Education-Youth Arts Youth LGBTQ
Instructor Name: Suzanne Savaria
One of the most powerful learning opportunities for a student is studying abroad. The impactful, sensory experience of being far away ultimately brings us closer to ourselves, naturally offering a platform to examine how we identify and relate to the world around us.
In this course, we’ll delve into the idea of identity of people and place, both abroad and at home. Using musical and cultural experiences as a lens, we’ll explore the powerful concept of identity. In a rapidly shrinking world...
Summer 2021Summer 2022Summer 2023
International Capstones Education - Youth Arts Identity Music
Instructor Name: Suzanne Savaria
CRN: 43660
Students will support in sharing stories of local, socially engaged artists by creating podcasts in collaboration with McDaniel Highschool students. Art Talk Bus Stop is a public art education program and monthly podcast interview series about how artists do their work and make a living. Students learn about arts and cultural work and careers, and get hands-on experience producing alive interview, learning the technology, research and storytelling skills.
Spring 2022Winter 2023Winter 2024
Arts Education
Instructor Name: Kimberly Mukobi
CRN: 43673, 63536
The Animal Empathy Project: Creating Compassion Through Art
Digital art can help us reach wider, more inclusive audiences to tell stories, capture emotions, and grapple with the issues of our time. This fully online Capstone examines the ways humans live with, utilize, and treat nonhuman animals in their everyday lives. Students will reflect on their identities and skills in a collaborative setting to research and create digital art that our community partner can use to advance its wildlife...
Spring 2024Winter 2024
Animals Arts Empathy Education - Youth Education Online Course Online or Hybrid Courses Online or Hybri Courses Global Perspectives Activism