A core part of the Honors Program here at Whitworth is our final capstone project. Now, you may ask what all that entails, and that is what this article is about.

The Honors Project is your oyster, as it were. You can do an Academic or Applied project in any area you choose, in any discipline, for any reason. To see what past students have created, visit the “Capstone Projects” page.

Rising Juniors should consider signing up for HN 300 in the Fall, which is the first in the capstone series. In HN 300, you learn how to write a grant proposal where you outline your project and how you plan to achieve it. Rising Seniors in the Honors program who have not yet taken the series are required to begin in the Fall to graduate with the Honors minor.

Once you have written your project/grant proposal and everything is in order, you can begin researching. Ideally, this will start before the end of HN 300. For Seniors, you would immediately sign up for HN 400 in the Spring to complete the series.

For Juniors in the class, you have the choice to take HN 400 in the Spring of that year or wait until the Spring of your Senior year. There are pros and cons to both. To wait a year means more time to research and really build out your project, but it is tempting to get it out of the way. There are also time constraints that make it better to take it all in one year, such as Student Teaching or Study Abroad.

Once in HN 400, you begin to really get into the nitty-gritty of the project. You are building your argument, collecting data, or creating something fantastic. At the conclusion of that Spring, there is the Honors Exhibition, where you get to present your hard work of 1-2 years of research, development, and effort.

All projects are posted to this website as well as on Instagram and Facebook. This helps future employers or grad schools find your work.

Take the leap with the Honors Project and do something extraordinary!