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Senior Projects

General Description of the Program

Senior Projects give seniors the opportunity to design and participate in projects outside of the classroom that have a number of possible defining characteristics. The criteria for projects is as follows. Senior projects should:

  • reside outside the regular curriculum
  • use an interdisciplinary approach
  • include a serious commitment of time, energy and effort
  • involve significant off-campus activity, e.g. research, service, journalism, observations, etc. This could include a more traditional internship if time allows for it
  • be creative, experience-based and service-oriented, if possible
  • enable students to take risks and stretch themselves
  • culminate in an exhibition and a panel presentation

Categories of Projects

There are two categories of senior projects: student-initiated and faculty-sponsored.

Student-initiated projects are proposed by individual or small groups of students and can consist of anything from theater projects to assistant teaching or coaching. Students can also pursue extended service-learning projects. Remember that a project should encompass a different type of experience than an independent study. Since students are released from a class (more on that later), they might choose to spend some time away from school. This could include activities such as library work, museum visits, interviews or site-visits.

Students can apply to do a project by themselves, with a partner or in a group of three. We will not accept applications from groups larger than three students. Each student must fill out a separate application even if they are planning to work in a pair or group of three.

Each project must also have an advisor who collaborates with the student(s) in creating the project through regular meetings and consultation. The advisor can be chosen by the student or students working on the project, or the Senior Projects Committee can suggest an appropriate advisor for a project. In some cases, the Senior Projects Committee will serve as the advisor to a project. There is a statement explaining the role of the Senior Projects advisor included in this packet.

Faculty-sponsored projects are designed by faculty members with the criteria that they be interdisciplinary and involve a combination of academic study with other endeavors, such as community service, research, building, or other exploration. There are usually one or two of these per year.