The Capstone requirement for majors in English and Creative Writing is an immersive, year-long sequence of coursework in research, craft, and writing methods. Its aim is to prepare majors to produce a significant piece of independent work, critical and/or creative.
The sequence you complete for your capstone requirement depends on your path through the major:
- Students completing a Specialization (in Culture & Social Change; Literature & Literary History; Science, Medicine, & the Environment; or Visual & Comparative Media) will pursue a critical project related to their specialization in ENGL 410[1] (Senior Seminar; fall semester) and ENGL 411 (Research Workshop; spring semester) during their senior year
- Students completing the Concentration in Creative Writing will pursue a creative project in their chosen form/genre in a 400-level Creative Writing course[2] (fall semester) and ENGL 411 (Research Workshop; spring semester) during their senior year
This year-long process engages students in the challenges and rewards of sustained writing and research. The fall seminar courses in the sequence should guide students through the craft, methods, and best practices that invigorate longer forms of creative inquiry, critical analysis, project formation, and research. Instructors will mentor students through the early, formative intellectual stages of their projects. By the end of the fall semester, students should be able to describe their project topic and approach in detail, have completed the bulk of their research, and have completed a substantial draft of at least part of their project. The spring semester course focuses more intensively on completing the drafting, workshopping, and revising.
The culmination of the capstone sequence is an in-depth critical or creative work. While the projects should grow out of previous coursework in the student’s area of Specialization or Concentration, we would hope that students use the project also as a way to articulate creative intersections between their other intellectual pursuits at Rice and/or their professional areas of interest, including, where applicable, their secondary major or minor. All projects are eligible to be considered for Distinction in Research and Creative Work, and may have the potential to be developed into public-facing components (e.g., scholarly articles, performances, websites, e-zines, podcasts, community events).
All students will give a short presentation on their finished project to the department at our annual Senior Symposium at the end of the spring semester.
Note: Students who intend to graduate in December or who plan to study abroad in their senior year may begin the capstone sequence in the junior year and complete it in the senior year. Such students must reach out to the director of undergraduate studies no later than the fall semester of their junior year to plan and prepare for this alternative sequence. Late requests cannot be accommodated.
[1] Students must complete ENGL 200 and ENGL 300 before taking ENGL 410
[2] Students must complete the introductory 300-level creative writing course in their chosen form/genre before taking their 400-level Creative Writing course. All 400-level Creative Writing courses are repeatable for credit, so students who took one earlier in their college career may take it again as part of their capstone