Bachelor of arts, third year : capstone project
The undergraduate program culminates in the Capstone Project, which is the opportunity for students to formally demonstrate the knowledge and skills gained from the multidisciplinary education received over the course of three years at the College.
The Capstone Project requires a strong university writing capacity. Students receive advising from an academic mentor, who also evaluates the project upon completion.
- The authenticity of the student’s civic engagement choices and the identification of the strong points and difficulties encountered;
The quality of the personal and critical analysis offered by the student; - The ability for the student to self-evaluate a project undertaken over the course of three
years; - The ability to expound upon, and analyze, a subject in a manner comprehensible to non-experts;
- Mastery of theoretical, scientific, and methodological tools in a multidisciplinary context as well as the ability to utilize relevant bibliographic references
Components of the capstone project
Civic Learning Final Report (15,000 characters)
- Recall the meaning of the engagements chosen and discuss the most notable elements of each of the experiences within the Civic Learning Program;
- Draw links between courses taken, the choice of major, and each Civic Learning field experience;
- Provide critical analysis of the three years and, when possible, discuss future perspectives.
Position paper (30,000 characters)
This is a personal exercise that aims to answer a research question based on a specific situation or precise context encountered by the student during the Civic Learning Programme.
With the help of the academic mentor, students craft their research question and work to draft a detailed response that calls for some form of action. This text may be policy-oriented or academic-oriented in format. The more operational of the two, the policy-oriented position paper asks students to write to the attention of a decision-maker; whereas the academic-oriented position paper, which leads to writing a veritable research project, is advised for students seriously envisioning graduate or doctoral studies focused on academic research.