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: David Osborn
Student Debt: Economics, Policy and Advocacy This course provides an overview of the economic and social context and impacts of student debt in the U.S., examining parallels with developing nation debt, mortgage debt and credit card debt, investigating policy options and studying grass-roots advocacy strategies for policy change in partnership with Jubilee Oregon and the Working Families Organization. Working collaboratively with faculty, community members and each other, students will...
Instructor Name: Nariyo Kono
CRN: 14622, 43872
The goal of this course is to provide students professional skills for grant proposal writing in the field of language diversity and sustainability. Along with the proposal writing skills, the students will learn a solid background in historical and societal issues that influence language diversity through hands-on collaboration with current language sustainability efforts. This capstone partners with one of the endangered language communities in the Northwest, specifically, the Warm Springs...
Spring 2020
Sustainability Grantwriting Education Online or Hybrid Courses
Instructor Name: Annie Knepler
CRN: 64111
This course will partner with Portland’s Community Cycling Center, helping them increase their capacity by developing grants for specific projects. The Community Cycling Center works to broaden access to bicycling and the benefits of cycling. Their vision is to build a vibrant community where people of all backgrounds use bicycles to stay healthy and connected. In order to write a successful grant proposal, one must gather up as much knowledge about the topic and the organization as possible....
Grantwriting Sustainability Transportation Community Health Research Retired-course
Instructor Name: Sarah Liebman
CRN: 65642
Students will collaborate to write grants to support local Jewish education and culture non-profit organizations. Students will develop grant research and grant-writing skills and learn about the challenges facing non-profits and the community. All programs supported by the grants will be open to Jews and non-Jews. No prior knowledge of Judaism or prior grant-writing experience is required. Partner organizations may include Oregon Holocaust Resource Center, Portland Hillel, Morasha Jewish...
Grant Writing Online or Hybrid Courses
Instructor Name: Lydia Fisher (Fall)
CRN: 14168
Currently, approximately 1 in 6 children live in food insecure households (feedingamerica.org.) At the same time, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that "the percentage of children with obesity in the US has more than tripled since the 1970's" - placing youth at risk for a variety of health problems in adulthood. In this course, we will examine the impact of food insecurity and our current food system on youth. We will also consider a variety of solutions to diet-related...
Fall 2019Spring 2020
Instructor Name: Alexander Sager
CRN: 14181
Philosophy for Children (P4C) programs promote the development of critical thinking, metacognition (thinking about thinking), and ethical and social responsibility through philosophical inquiry. In the P4C capstone, students will learn about best practices in P4C and discuss the practical and philosophical issues of teaching philosophy to K-12 students. Course work will include researching and developing P4C activities and materials, collaborating with Portland-area teachers, leading K-12...
Fall 2019
Instructor Name: Lisa Jo Frech
Grant writing skills are critical to the survival of many non-profit environmental organizations. In this course you will learn grant writing skills by developing real grant proposals for Rising Tide. Rising Tide (http://www.portlandrisingtide.org/) is an international, all-volunteer, grassroots network of groups and individuals who organize locally, promote community-based solutions to the climate crisis and take direct action to confront the root causes of climate change. In order to write a...
Retired-course
Instructor Name: Lisa Jo Frech
CRN: 14158, 45130, 44139
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 2019Spring 2020Summer 2019Winter 2020
Grantwriting Ecology Online or Hybrid Courses Sustainability Ecology or Sustainability Advocacy Hybrid or Fully online
Instructor Name: Glorie Gary
CRN: 14163, 44135
This fully online course is for students who are interested in creating and facilitating a community event. This Capstone partners with Multnomah County Developmental Disabilities (and their community partners). Each term, students will plan and facilitate a community event that has already been arranged with the community partner prior to the start of each term. Students will be challenged to develop skills in: event planning, speaking, listening, building community relationships, and...
Fall 2019Spring 2020Winter 2020
Events Planning Event Social Services developmental disabilities multnomah county community community outreach Event Management Hybrid or Fully online Online or Hybrid Courses
Instructor Name: David Osborn
CRN: 81196, 14172
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 2019Summer 2019
social movements environmental justice Northwest history colonization social change Sustainability Ecology Activism
Instructor Name: Julie Boyles
CRN: 14180, 14162, 44159
When you hear the terms "hunger" or "food insecurity," you may not immediately think of college students and a university setting, but a significant percentage of college students are struggling with challenges to meet their nutritional, quality, and quantity food needs. The percentage of university students that are deemed "food insecurity" is approximately three to four times the national average or surrounding population percentage. This capstone delves into the reasons and potential...
Fall 2019Spring 2020Winter 2020
food; food insecurity; hunger; sustainability
Instructor Name: Kimberly Mukobi
CRN: 64559
orangutan small pic.jpg
Description: Known as the "red ape," orangutans are one of the most intelligent, yet critically endangered animals on the planet and now is a crucial time for them. With less than 45,000 orangutans remaining in the world, they could be the first great ape to become extinct within our lifetime. But there is hope - numerous organizations are working vigorously to prevent that from happening.
This Capstone partners with one of those...
Grantwriting Animals Great Apes Grant Writing Online or Hybrid Courses
Instructor Name: Jenna Padbury
In this fully online course we will practice deepening our existing service in the community. Throughout the course students will learn about and practice the Social Change Model of Leadership. Before class begins students will contact the instructor and develop a service plan with an organization with which they are currently affiliated. In addition, students will form small teams with their classmates. Each team will develop, implement, and evaluate a highly focussed community project. If you...
Leadership Online or Hybrid Courses community
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: Laura Mulas
CRN: 65163, 14628
This capstone is designed to provide an opportunity to learn about Spanish culture and society by means of synchronous and asynchronous discussion group forums between American and Spanish middle and high school students. The communities of students will be from: Portland, Oregon, various schools in Washington state and Zamora, Spain. These forums will be between paired classes (one USA and one Spanish) of similar grade and language level and will be facilitated and monitored by both teachers...
Fall 2019Spring 2020Winter 2020
Education - Youth Global Perspectives Online or Hybrid Courses Education International Capstones International Relations social justice
Instructor Name: Joseph Wightman
CRN: 81198, 14173, 44165
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 2019Spring 2020Summer 2019Winter 2020
Education-Youth Education Leadership social justice Mentoring
Instructor Name: Lukas Maurer
This Capstone partners with Centennial Park School (CPS), an alternative school for "at-risk" students in Gresham. PSU students will provide mentoring and support to CPS students to help them express themselves through creative storytelling. The course will examine issues of social justice, holistic learning, and self advocacy, and consider the power of vulnerability in a leadership position. The course will also address privilege and power in society, community and classrooms.
PSU students...
Education Education-Youth Leadership social justice mentor
Instructor Name: Kristin Teigen
Marketing to Fight Women’s Homelessness: Students in this Capstone will learn about homelessness, housing policy and issues of women in poverty while partnering with Rose Haven. Rosehaven is a women’s day shelter which welcomes women off the street and addresses needs by offering life sustaining services and assistance. Students will support the work of Rosehaven by providing marketing support for its annual Reigning Roses Walk, which helps create awareness and raise support to serve 2,400...
Instructor Name: DeEtte Beghtol Waleed
CRN: 14185
In the past few years we have been inundated with information about sexual assault and the efforts of women, girls, and gender nonconforming people to resist it. More people are aware of the size and seriousness of this problem. In addition to violence in our homes we are increasingly aware of transgender violence, Military Sexual Trauma and violence against women in prisons. Intimate partner violence and sexual assault become even more difficult when the victim is in a foreign country or...
Fall 2019
Gender violence International Global Studies Political Science Research Psychology Sociology Conflict Law Criminal Justice Education
Instructor Name: Susanne Steinmann
CRN: 64579
This Capstone partners with a non-profit Portland Meet Portland (www.portlandmeetportland.org) in order to meet, empower and learn from adults and youth in diverse refugee communities in Portland. The Capstone aims to strengthen cross-cultural learning, understand urban development issues and support positive pathways for refugee adjustment. Students are matched with diverse refugees and will document with text or video newcomers’ social and economic livelihoods and community maps. In...
Community Development Sustainable cities Social Sustainability community outreach social justice Leadership poverty Urban Apartheid