Capstone Seminar (Shell)

Catalog description

During the capstone experience, students connect the diverse experience and knowledge they have acquired as biology majors, focusing these skills on examining in depth, a specific topic. In a small class setting (10-12 students maximum), students and the professor delve deeply into the chosen topic, assessing the peer-reviewed literature and most current trends around the particular subject. Students bring their breadth of knowledge to the discussion, and apply what they have learned over the course of their academic training to critically analyze the arguments and experiments presented in the literature. In most cases, students will be responsible for presenting a paper to the class, driving the content of discussion and debate with their fellow students and instructor. The capstone is a reading extensive experience, and by definition, shows that the biology major is able to synthesize and apply their knowledge to examine interesting questions. To maximize the value of the capstone experience, students enroll in an upper-level seminar course during their senior year.