The Undergraduate Capstone Course in the Social Sciences: Results from a Regional Survey.” Teaching Sociology 38(1

Among the common requirements for receipt of a degree in the social sciences is the completion of a senior seminar in which a senior thesis or capstone project is produced. A number of educational goals have been proposed for this requirement: integrating the knowledge base supplied by the regular curric-ulum, contributing to students ’ future roles as informed citizens, and preparing for study in graduate pro-grams, among others. However, few studies have empirically explored the substance of the senior seminars and capstones offered across a discipline or studied their organization, requirements, and ped-agogy. In the present article, the authors describe the results of a survey of sociology and psychology departments in the western United States regarding their senior seminar and capstone courses