GEOGRAPHY @ CLARK
CAPSTONE OVERVIEW
(Required for Major, Not Required for Minor)
One Capstone credit is required for the Geography major. At the university level, a capstone is defined
as an experience — a course in the major or an independent project — through which students apply
integrative learning. A capstone requires a complex individual or group project that is substantially
defined and carried forward by the student and demonstrates accomplishment of Clark’s Liberal
Education goals, especially a capacity to practice within an academic or professional field effectively.
To meet the Capstone requirement in the Geography major, the student must earn a 200 or 300 level
credit that relates to the student’s specialization. Consistent with the diversity of topics and methods in
the four areas of specialization, Geography students may choose from multiple paths to earning the
capstone credit, subject to the approval of their capstone advisor. The student’s capstone advisor will
help determine how any particular credit satisfies the capstone criteria. The advisor will make this
determination based on the purpose of the capstone, which is for the student to integrate content and
skills in Geography, as applied to a particular topic.
CAPSTONE TYPES
1. A project completed in a specialization course (200/300 level)
2. Research experience (GEOG 299)
3. Directed Study with a faculty advisor (GEOG 299)
4. Research conducted through the Human Environment Regional Observatory (HERO) program,
Forest Ecology Research Lab (FERL) work, Biogeosciences Research Group, Extractive Industries
Research Group, or the Polar Science Research Laboratory
5. Internship (GEOG 298)
6. Honors thesis (GEOG 297)
Additionally, Geography 141, required of all majors, trains students in the fundamentals of Research
Design and Methods and proposal writing, which broadly prepares students to conceptualize, design
and conduct original research relevant to a capstone experience across all four specialization areas.
1. A specialization course (200/300 level)
A number of specialization courses at the 200/300 level fulfill our capstone requirement across our
specializations in Human-Environmental Geography (e.g., 5 200-level courses); Urban-Economic
Geography (12 200-level courses); Earth System Science (5 200-level courses) and Geographic
Information Science (8 200-level courses). Several of these courses have pre-requisites within the
respective specialization areas, in which students are expected to have developed relevant topical and
methodological knowledge upon which they can build their capstone project.
2020-21 Geography Major & Minor Program Guide | Page 9