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: M. Khalil Zonoozy
CRN: 44137
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 2020Fall 2021Spring 2020Spring 2021Winter 2020Winter 2021Winter 2022
Community Health Criminal & Juvenile Justice
Instructor Name: Sarah A. Bunton, PhD
CRN: 63933
Cultivating Leadership Capacity and Promoting Educational Equity
This interactive course explores the conceptual intersections of educational equity, social responsibility, and the development of leadership capacity. Using a tiered leadership model as a framework, and with a foundation emphasizing education as a key influence on an individual’s social and economic future and opportunities, this class partners with Portland Public Schools (PPS). Throughout the term, PSU students have...
Spring 2020Spring 2021Spring 2022
educational equity Education-Youth Leadership social change
Instructor Name: Marylin (Katie) Kissinger
CRN: 63990
Strengthening Headstart: Health, Growth And Justice Head Start is this nation's largest investment in young children to date. It is also one of the few remaining efforts from the 1960's "War on Poverty".
Students will:
review data and documentation of the historical successes and challenges of Head Start;
analyze and reflect on the impact it has had in communities;
engage in a qualitative/participatory research project;
design a collective action project in conjunction with Head Start...
Spring 2020Spring 2021Winter 2020Winter 2021
Research Education-Youth Hybrid or Fully online Online or Hybrid Courses
Instructor Name: Debra Lindberg
CRN: 63980
Faculty Bio
Spring 2020Spring 2021Spring 2022
Instructor Name: Dr. Rajiv Sharma
CRN: 63932
Students will contribute to an ongoing research project on access to healthcare. Participants will have an opportunity to reflect on their own experience with the healthcare system as well as collect, analyze and disseminate information on access to primary care in the US. No prior research experience required. Results will be presented to Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.
Portland State University has the only group in the US that conducts a national longitudinal audit of primary...
Spring 2020Spring 2021Spring 2022
Instructor Name: Michelle Swinehart
CRN: 63784
This Capstone partners with two schools in Oregon - Walt Morey Middle School in the Reynolds School District and Wilson River School in Tillamook, Oregon. PSU students will provide creative mentoring to students to help them express themselves through storytelling. The course will examine issues of social justice; power and privilege in our society, community and classrooms; holistic learning; the power of empathy and being vulnerable in a leadership role; and what creates self-advocacy. PSU...
Spring 2020Spring 2021Spring 2022Spring 2023
Education - Youth Youth education and social justice
Instructor Name: Neera Malhotra
CRN: 81601
Trauma often leads to contemplative dissociation- a detachment from the body and the mind. Through a social justice framework, together we will explore trauma and healing using Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB). IPNB is relational neuroscience that offers kinder, broader wisdom to understand how we are hurt and how we heal within relationships (including the relationship with the self). In this class, you will learn about trauma, including internalized oppression, grief, and suffering; healing...
Spring 2020Spring 2021Spring 2022Summer 2021Summer 2022
trauma-healing; contemplative practices; interpersonal neurobiology; social justice
Instructor Name: Annie Knepler
CRN: 63807
This Capstone will partner with the Learning Gardens Laboratory (LGL), a 12-acre garden education site on Portland’s southeast side. Students work collaboratively to gather stories of community gardeners, teachers, and community partners who regularly gather at LGL to learn and farm. Capstone students will gain skills in interviewing, storytelling, and using narrative as a means for social change, in addition to learning about sustainable food systems and the impact of learning gardens.
Spring 2020Spring 2021Spring 2022Spring 2023
Community Health Sustainability Education social justice Ecology Garden-based learning food
Instructor Name: Amy Collins
CRN: 63775
Violence Prevention
This course will provide students with the opportunity to explore the primary prevention of interpersonal violence and other forms of systemic harm. Essential to the praxis of the course is a social justice framework that scrutinizes the impact of socialization on the creation of judgments and prejudices that lead to inequities in experiences of violence. Success in this work requires innovative, integrated approaches that leverage partnerships to drive structural, societal...
Spring 2021Spring 2022Spring 2023Spring 2020