At the University of Wyoming Honors College, the Honors Capstones may take different forms depending on a student's professional goals, disciplinary background, and personal interests. Four primary options are a research, creative, community-engaged, or innovative/entrepreneurial project.
A research-based project should present a hypothesis or assertion that is then tested, analyzed and evaluated according to the methods of an academic discipline or multiple disciplines. These research-based capstones investigate the previous research on a topic, and, importantly, also include your original research, insights, and contributions to the topic.
Other capstones are based in various creative and expressive modes of representation and are less dependent upon original academic research. Students with expertise in art, music, new media, theatre, dance, and creative writing often find this approach more in line with their own interests, aptitudes, and expectations within their majors.
Honors students have created paintings, composed music, written novels, made clothing, directed plays, and engaged in many other creative endeavors to fulfill the capstone requirement. Capstone projects may also involve entrepreneurship or invention or something we might not have imagined!
Students interested in pursuing an innovative/entrepreneurial project should meet with the Honors Capstone Co-Coordinators or contact the Wyoming Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
In STEM and looking for an Honors Capstone project? You may use your completed research projects in the following programs as your Honors Capstone!
Former Honors students have submitted their final Honors Capstone projects to the Honors Repository. You may read their work by searching the archives of the Honors Repository. Once on the repository page in the left-hand navigation filter for "Honors Capstone Projects" under the "Group" heading to discover what past Honors students have created.
Watch the videos below to hear past students reflect about the value of their Honors Capstone experience.
Here are four student's presentations of their Honors Capstones, including the work of Karolina Klatka (Majors in Dance and Environmental Systems Science), Jaynie Welsh (Majors in Microbiology and Physiology), James Fantin (majors in Computer science and Mathematics) and Tessa Wittman (Majors in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and Management and ENR). Click on the video presentations below and/or find their projects in the Honors Repository.