IST 793 Capstone

IST 793 Capstone in Integrative Studies is the culminating course for the graduate program in Integrative Studies. It includes reviewing the disciplinary work you have completed throughout your graduate program, analyzing that work, and updating and organizing it into a portfolio that represents a thoughtful reflection of your educational experience. Students are also required to submit a final interdisciplinary research project in which they bring together at least two of the disciplines you studied to address a contemporary or enduring, but relevant, issue, problem or question.

The MAIS graduates are capable of transdisciplinary thinking and working with experts on a professional level both in and outside of the academy. They are familiar with the state of the art in a selected field or problem space and can contribute new ideas or propose novel solutions. Graduates are ready to engage with experts in a chosen field.

Integrative Thinking

• • Students in IST 793 plan and produce an informed scholarly work that has clear application to a specific problem and is a unique contribution to the scholarly or applied field.

Critical Thinking

• • Students in IST 793 defend a thesis or proposed solution with new ideas and informed arguments that add to current debates and address conflicting conclusions from other experts.

Communication

• • Students in IST 793 produce writing that is sensitive to the expert audiences both inside and outside the academy, recognizes the state of the art in specific relevant fields, and address audiences and issues that are transdisciplinary in nature.

Information Literacy

• Students in IST 793 generate relevant and reliable information from scholarly sources and use that information properly in an interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary project.

MAIS students produce a portfolio of their work in the graduate program. This portfolio was begun in IST 585 Introduction to Graduate Integrative Studies and continues in the capstone course. The portfolio requirements created in IST 793 include

• Capstone Prospectus (IST 793)

A proposal for your final project that outlines the thesis or problem and your proposed research.

• Literature Review (IST 793)

A review of some the important literature related to your final project.

• Final Project (IST 793)

A substantial research project is your culminating work in the program.

• Two Artifacts and Reflection (IST 793)

Select two of artifacts from different disciplines for this portfolio as evidence of your accomplishments in the MAIS program. Artifacts are essays, papers, or creative works you turned in for other classes in your areas. Choose your best work; you are encouraged to revise an artifact before submitting it. Include a short narrative in which you explain the assignment and the course in which it was assigned; its contribution to your driving interdisciplinary interests in the program; your revisions, if appropriate; and why it represents your best work.