Award-Winning Capstone Projects: The South China Sea
Team W’s award-winning Capstone project focused on U.S. foreign policy in the South China Sea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe administration has expanded the role of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, increased Japan’s missile capabilities, and taken a more aggressive stand against China’s expansion into the South Pacific. How should the U.S. respond?
Award-Winning Capstone Projects: Overexposure to Screens
How can we address young people’s overexposure to computers, the Internet, and screens in general? In their award-winning Capstone project, Team S crafted their paper in the form of two sides facing off at a Congressional joint committee hearing about the problem of screentime overexposure.
Award-Winning Capstone Projects: Meltdown In The Middle East
How can we prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons? Focusing on the question of what the United States should do about the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal of 2015, this award-winning Capstone project identified deficiencies in the treaty but opposed withdrawing from the deal.
Award-Winning Capstones: Creating a Sustainable Transit System
Taking on the name TransitMatters, Team R’s award-winning Capstone project offered a clear and thorough plan of action for the MBTA to improve its service and plan for the future. Focused on short-term and long-term solutions, the team examined subway systems around the world—constructing a plan of action that stretches 50 years into the future.
#My100Days: Self-Reflection
Phoebe Bobola (CGS’18, CAS’20) used her gap semester for self-reflection and growth: “The semester that I had off really helped me lay down the foundation of myself and become more comfortable with who I was as an adult before I made the transition into college.”
Fighting Climate Change by Strengthening Global Democracy
In Climate Change and the Future of Democracy, Boston University College of General Studies Senior Lecturer R.S. Deese addresses the relationship between democracy and global climate change. Drawing insights from history and the present day, Deese argues that this global problem requires a democratic, global response.
Palimpsest Recognizes Outstanding Undergraduate Writing
Palimpsest— an online publication that highlights outstanding College of General Studies undergraduate writing– has submissions from across the disciplines, covering everything from family history to philosophical dialogues to film history and the history of nationalism.
A Q&A with June Grasso: Japanese Propaganda Aimed at Americans Before World War II
Associate Professor June Grasso’s new book, Japan’s ‘New Deal’ for China: Propaganda Aimed at Americans Before Pearl Harbor, examines how Japan tried to influence American opinion in the years leading up to World War II.
#My100Days: Mountaineering in Patagonia
During his gap semester, Miles Jones (CGS’19) went on a trip with a program called National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). He spent 32 days mountaineering, 32 days kayaking, and a 10 day student expedition.
Seeing Possibility and Hope in America’s Past
How do postmodern authors like Thomas Pynchon engage with the American past in literature? It’s a question that Christopher K. Coffman contends with in a new book of literary criticism, Rewriting Early America: The Prenational Past in Postmodern Literature.