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: Heather Petzold
CRN: 81167, 14127
Being an Effective Change Agent in Portland This course is for students interested in being effective change agents for the public good. Each student (individually or with others) will take the initiative before the Capstone begins to arrange a project with a community organization. This project may be an existing relationship or one sought for the purpose of this class. A minimum of three working hours per week with the organization is required. During the course, students will be supported ...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Community Health Education-Youth Research
Instructor Name: Molly Gray
CRN: 81155, 14111
It is estimated that 1 in 10 individuals identify as a sexual minority. Often an already challenging stage in identity development, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & questioning (LGBTQ) youth face a set of issues unique to their daily lives. We examine the paths sexual and gender minority youth navigate in society, exploring such questions as: What challenges do LGBTQ youth encounter? How do they cope, survive, find understanding & celebrate themselves amidst homophobia and...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Research Education-Youth
Instructor Name: Anmarie Trimble
CRN: 81174, 81379, 14114
This class is an opportunity to explore hands-on the complexity surrounding education, equity, and empowerment, with a specific focus on collaborative peer mentoring, which often includes academic tutoring. Our community partner is the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA). At NAYA, students will have the opportunity to interact with bright youth from diverse cultures and work with them on improving their academics and future prospects. Capstones will collaborate with their Capstone...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Education Education-Youth social work tutoring Mentoring social justice native american indigenous family NAYA trauma-informed
Instructor Name: Deborah Arthur
CRN: 81133, 14112
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING FALL 2020 REGISTRATION:
Unfortunately, at the time you are registering, it remains unclear what
teaching and learning will look like for fall term 2020.
IF we are able to enter the Detention Center (Juvenile Justice Complex, 1401 NE 68 th Avenue.) to engage with youth, you will need to submit a background clearance form.
We will send this to you electronically once you register, and you can complete the form, and have it ready to send at the time we...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2018Spring 2019Spring 2020Summer 2018Summer 2019Summer 2020
Education-Youth Criminal & Juvenile Justice Community Health
Instructor Name: Robert Bremmer
CRN: 64032, 64033, 14095, 14096
In this online class students work together communicating with each other and a community partner developing digital content which can be websites, videos, blogs, social media, documentation or other digital assets. Students further develop critical thinking, project management, communication and technical skills while working together creating project output. Students work within small groups achieving parts of the solution, and across groups, to combine their efforts into a complete solution...
Fall 2020Summer 2020
Online or Hybrid Courses Business-Engineering-Technology Sustainability Community Health Hybrid or Fully online
Instructor Name: Gabe Sheoships
CRN: 81166, 14129
Students will participate in interpretive programs facilitated within the Tryon Creek State Natural Area.
It is important to ground ourselves and acknowledge the people whose land we are utilizing; the
Clackamas Chinook, the Wasco-Wishram, the Willamette Tumwater, the Multnomah, and other
Chinookan peoples, as well as the Tualatin Kalapuya, the Cayuse, the Molalla and other tribes and bands
of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. It is important to acknowledge the original inhabitants of the...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020
Education-Youth Sustainability Community Health Science Culture
Instructor Name: Heather Petzold
CRN: 81168, 14126
This course focuses on the importance of service learning in our community. As a class, we will have the opportunity to discover, evaluate, and reflect on the needs of our community by creating and facilitating educational workshops, mentoring, and exploring fundraising opportunities for the Boys and Girls Club. Students will learn respect for themselves and others as part of a community and will promote teamwork, leadership and problem-solving skills. Community issues to be addressed include:...
Fall 2020Summer 2020
Research Education-Youth
Instructor Name: Sally Eck
CRN: 81152, 81157, 14122
Women’s Oral Narratives In this course, we will be working with our community partner, the local non-profit organization; the IPRC, Independent Publishing Resource Center. Our project is to coordinate a series of *rap sessions* with local teen girls about current issues in their lives. We will use these group conversations to encourage the girls to become a part of our ZINE project - where they will write, edit, and publish a grassroots, mini-magazine with our class. In preparation for this...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Education-Youth
Instructor Name: Cindy Koonz
CRN: 81142, 14088
Linking the Generations, Communication, Aging and Society Students will engage with older adults to complete a variety of life history projects. Students will address their assumptions and stereotypes toward the aging population and will reflect upon personal barriers and successes in the intergenerational communication process. Communication issues will be addressed in the areas of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intercultural communication. In addition to the community work, the course...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2018Spring 2019Spring 2020Summer 2018Summer 2019Summer 2020
Research Disabilities Community Health Hybrid or Fully online Online or Hybrid Courses
Instructor Name: Catherine Howells
CRN: 81159, 14131
Portland's Water: History and Challenges. This course is designed to give students an opportunity to learn about tap water and create community outreach products for the Portland Water Bureau. Our community partner for this class is the Portland Water Bureau. This class will focus on the Bull Run watershed (the source of Portland's drinking water) and the work of the Portland Water Bureau -- how they deliver our water to our taps. We will learn about the history of the water system, the...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Sustainability Research Community Health Business-Engineering-Technology
Instructor Name: Kristin Teigen
CRN: 81162, 14130
This Capstone partners with the Urban League and the Community Alliance of Tenants (CAT) to confront housing disparities and strengthen the voice and influence of communities of color in Multnomah County, Oregon. Students will learn the history of communities of color in Portland while engaging in programs with the Urban League and CAT to expand renter’s assistance programs and support those who have been newly housed.
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Anti-Racism Grantwriting Education Activism Leadership
Instructor Name: Andy Reed
CRN: 81145, 14090
The class will work alongside The Water Project, a non-profit that is focused on providing clean water to communities in Africa. Students will address needs affecting the field of water scarcity. Students may participate in the following forms of service-learning, which depends solely on the priorities of the non-profit in any given term:
• Research cultural practices and country dynamics to assist NGOs transition into new markets;
• Provide critical feedback to...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2018Spring 2019Spring 2020Summer 2018Summer 2019Summer 2020
Online or Hybrid Courses Hybrid or Fully online
Instructor Name: Zapoura Newton-Calvert
CRN: 81144, 14642
The “achievement gap” has been at the forefront of discussions about the U.S. education system since the implementation of NCLB in 2001. The public has been tuned into this so-called “achievement gap” alongside high dropout rates, lack of access to equitable early childhood education, public disinvestment in the education system, disparities in access to higher education, and more. According to the Children’s Defense Fund’s State of America’s Children Report, the gaps (more accurately and...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Education social justice Education-Youth
Instructor Name: Lisa Jo Frech
CRN: 81135, 14094
Environmentalism is a philosophy and social movement (come call it a revolution) involving both protection and improvement of the health of our natural environment. Environmentalism is an attempt to achieve sustainability so that both humans and the Earth thrive without compromising future generations. The movement in this country is credited as starting with Rachel Carson and her extremely popular book Silent Spring published in 1962, when it fact it was spawned in 1945 with the return of...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Grantwriting Ecology Online or Hybrid Courses Sustainability Ecology or Sustainability Advocacy Hybrid or Fully online
Instructor Name: David Osborn
CRN: 81156, 14116
Celilo Falls: Decolonization, Dams and Salmon in the Pacific NW
The Columbia river flows through our region in physical and metaphorical ways. Present in the story of the river and the salmon that navigate it are social issues, history and conflict that continue to impact NW communities. Through a place-based, experiential approach we will engage this content. Over the course of the term we will spend the majority of our class time outside of the classroom near the river and at sites of...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2018Spring 2019Spring 2020Summer 2018Summer 2019Summer 2020
social movements environmental justice Northwest history colonization social change Sustainability Ecology Activism
Instructor Name: Joseph Wightman
CRN: 81158, 14117
Leadership Through Mentoring in K-8 Schools - The mentoring of young people takes many forms. Some young people are fortunate to grow up with a caring parent, relative or adult ally who serves as a mentor to them. Other young people do not enjoy the benefits of a strong mentor in their lives. Research shows that mentoring results in a myriad benefits for both the mentor and the mentee. For all involved, these include the development of leadership skills, increased interpersonal communication...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Education-Youth Education Leadership social justice Mentoring
Instructor Name: Laura Mulas
CRN: 81138, 14091
Global citizenship is of utmost importance as our societies are increasingly becoming more connected through media and technology. There is a growing disparity in the American school system that allows only the privileged students to participate in meaningful and engaging cultural learning. Schools that receive funding and support are able to facilitate cultural exchanges in person for students and faculty, while the majority of students in the public system receive little financial support and...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020Winter 2020
Education - Youth Hybrid or Fully online Online or Hybrid Courses
Instructor Name: Megan Kupko
CRN: 81163, 81165, 14123
The time is ripe to be part of the growing sustainable food movement! This class addresses the current food issues that face urban citizens by holistically engaging students in the many layers of Portland's local food and farm culture. Students will critically analyze the state of our current food systems while being engaged in positive solutions to agricultural-related issues. The community partner and classroom is the Learning Gardens Lab, where students will gain hands-on farming...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2019Summer 2020
Education-Youth Sustainability Community Health Science
Instructor Name: Deborah Rutt
CRN: 81154, 14087
Drawing on poetry, political theory, sociological texts, film, and personal narratives, this course offers an introduction to prison and its critiques, as well as the power of education to transform individuals and societies. This hybrid course meets once a week at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility (CCCF); Capstone students will study together with women enrolled in higher education at the women’s prison, about 20 minutes south of PSU in Wilsonville. Successful background clearances are...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Spring 2020Summer 2020Winter 2020
Criminal & Juvenile Justice
Instructor Name: Julie Boyles
CRN: 81140, 14913
Food insecurity is a challenge for students, children, parents, migrants, long-term citizens, old, young, and all other label you might apply to someone. In this online course students have the opportunity to do their "25 hours of service" in a food-scarcity-related organization in their own community. The service component of the course offers an important connection and correlation between the course materials and the validated and verified aspects of food insecurity. Students often reflect...
Fall 2019Fall 2020Summer 2020Winter 2020
food; food insecurity; hunger; sustainability