Additional Senior Capstone Information

The Senior Capstone in the History Department builds from your experience as a history major. Each student will conceive and conduct original historical research, producing in the end a substantial paper. We fully expect your final research paper and oral exam to follow from the courses you have taken, research you have done, skills you developed in "Practice and Theory" (HIST 387), off-campus study, and work completed in the Senior Seminar (HIST 490). Your project should reflect a topic of interest to you, in which you have acquired sufficient background, demonstrated academic expertise and completed necessary coursework. The topic cannot be something completely new to you.

We have established the following steps to assure the integration and success of your project:

Before Senior Year

All history majors will have completed HIST 387, "The Practice and Theory of History" and so they have written at least one extended research paper. You are welcome to refer to that paper and material you learned in the course as you begin your senior exercise.

You should also now own a copy of Kate Turabian’s "A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations" (published by the University of Chicago Press) any edition, seventh or later, will do. Be sure you are currently taking or have already taken sufficient courses in the area of study necessary for the project you are considering.

Senior Seminar

The Senior Seminar is the capstone experience of the history major. In it, you begin writing the research paper that will form the basis for your Senior Capstone. Your senior seminar instructor will guide you through the process of narrowing your topic, finding appropriate sources and producing several drafts. Revision is integral to the process of writing. The research proposal (proposed topic, argument and sources) that you submit for your senior seminar will be vetted by the department.

Early in the Fall

You will have the opportunity to talk about your proposed topic with members of the department. During this interview, you will be asked to state the argument you believe you are going to pursue and answer questions like the following: In your research project, what questions will you ask? What sources will you consult? What background do you have that will enable you to carry out this project? This interview will also give you the opportunity to get advice from the department and find out who you will need to consult in the course of writing your project. Experience tells us consultation is critical to the successful completion of the Senior Capstone.

In December

You complete the senior seminar and will have a final paper of about 20-25 pages in length (5,000 - 6,250 words) from which you will substantially revise the project for the senior exercise due typically the last Friday in February.

In January

The Annual Senior Research Conferences take place in January. All seniors will present their research to one another and to members of the Kenyon community who attend. You will be assigned to one of the panels, which are organized according to commonalities among paper topics. Each panel is chaired by a faculty member and will contain three or four papers. Presenters have about ten minutes to speak. Your presentation should state the argument of your senior paper and provide some key highlights.

The more specific your presentation the better it is. After the presentations are complete, there will be some time for questions.

You may invite friends to attend and you will surely want to hear some of the other papers from members of your seminar or those that are on topics of interest to you. This is always an intellectually enjoyable time. In addition, the experience you gain from presenting your work and the questions from the audience are valuable in helping you to revise your paper and prepare for the oral exams typically after spring break in March.

The History Department Senior Capstone Portfolio is usually due the last Friday in February. The portfolio contains the following four elements:

Your original senior seminar research essay with the “marked-up” notes/comments from the seminar instructor;
a revised senior research project of 25-30 pages, preceded by
a self-assessing narrative that addresses revisions to the paper based on the seminar instructor’s comments, conference feedback, and meetings with relevant faculty. The narrative should explain how and why students have expanded or deepened their exploration of the topic of study, and the chief ways that the revision differs from the original senior seminar essay.
History Majors Degree Evaluation or History Majors Checklist Form: history seniors are required to have a completed final version of your history majors degree evaluation (please black out course grades for privacy) generated by the Registrar’s Office (Degree Evaluation Instructions are on the registrar’s website); or a PDF of the final version of your History Majors Checklist Form; one of these must be submitted with your Senior Capstone portfolio on the due date.

Preparing the Portfolio

A. At any stage of your work, feel free to consult with members of the history faculty about your Senior Capstone. Indeed consultation is the best way to ensure that you pass and produce your best work. You will be advised about which faculty are most appropriate to consult. They expect to hear from you but it is your responsibility to make that contact.

B. Submit a project that meets high analytical, stylistic and technical standards. To be acceptable, a Senior Capstone must be not only well researched and thoughtfully designed, but also well written, proofread and accompanied by proper notes and bibliography. For proper form, please consult Kate Turabian’s "A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations."

C. Submit your entire portfolio (original essay, revised essay and History Majors Degree Evaluation) electronically by the deadline. You should be sure to keep a safe electronic copy of the work for yourself and are advised to bring a copy of your portfolio with you to the oral interviews.

D. Don’t forget to submit your Degree Evaluation or History Majors Checklist. Be sure it is accurate and think about how it reflects your field and experience within the major. This will be part of the discussion at the oral interview.

Oral interview

A. After you submit your senior capstone portfolio, you will sign up for an oral interview with the team of two faculty members who have been assigned to read your Portfolio.

B. The Oral Interview takes about forty-five minutes and will focus first on the research project and secondly on its relationship to prominent themes in your field of concentration. The oral interview counts in the evaluation of the senior exercise.

Evaluation

A. Two members of the history department faculty will read and evaluate each portfolio and conduct an oral interview.

B. Readers will look for demonstrable competence: intelligent formulation of subject, thorough research, original and thoughtful development of interpretation, well supported arguments, fair consideration of alternative views, coherence and imagination. See attached sheet for criteria.

C. Satisfactory Senior Capstones will be graded "Pass," "High Pass" or "Distinction." Those which are judged by the two readers either to be candidates for Distinction or to be unsatisfactory will be reviewed by the department before a grade is assigned. Unsatisfactory Senior Capstones will be graded "No Pass." These must be rewritten. Students will be notified by the team who evaluated the exercise if they have received a "No Pass" and given directions and a date for revision.

Composition of Senior Capstone for Honors Students

Senior Honors students may rework the “preliminary draft” chapter that they submitted to the Honors seminar in the fall (and then its revised form) for the "revised senior research project" as described in item "2" under "The portfolio contains the following four elements" section above. They should also explain how it fits into their thesis as a whole and draw on the suggestions and criticism offered in the seminar. Otherwise, senior Honors candidates should follow the instructions contained in this handout.

Dates to Remember

The Senior Research Conference, a required presentation that is typically scheduled for the 4th Sunday in January.

You must submit an electronic copy (MS word or PDF) of your Senior Capstone portfolio to the History Department by the February due date without exception. Please name your portfolio files with your LAST NAME and then what it is (SMITH Original Essay, SMITH Revised Essay, SMITH Self-Assessment, SMITH Checklist). Oral interviews are scheduled in March after Spring Break.