The final class must be taken during the final semester. All MLS students finish with an applied project, MLS 593, supervised by the program director and/or assistant program director. The applied project is different than a thesis. Students must earn a grade of B or better to graduate. (a B-minus grade is not acceptable.) There are a great variety of opportunities to develop a sophisticated Capstone Project. You will work with a mentor to devise the best project for your individual interest and skill set to showcase your best work.
The project can take many forms:
- a traditional scholarly paper
- a collection of edited personal writings
- a book proposal
- a website, blog or series of podcasts
- a community project
- an applied project that addresses a critical social issue through a humanities lens.
- We can discuss other ideas
Only a few students know what their applied project will be when they enter the program, but later in their studies ideas for the Applied Project begin to germinate. Oftentimes students have ideas on projects at the beginning but frequently change their minds as they discover exciting new areas for study and research from their studies. Ultimately, some students choose to extend research begun in classes, while others may choose to pursue newly developed scholarly and artistic interests.