Capstone Craziness

 

Senior year means it is time for senior capstone projects! Capstone projects, also known as a senior thesis, usually take an entire semester to complete and require students to conduct research on a field relevant to their program of study. It showcases the skills students have learned throughout their time at Ohio Northern and helps them build a portfolio for post-graduation pursuits. 

My capstone project is taking the form as an “unessay,” which is a term coined by my capstone advisor for projects that will not be literature reviews or research papers. You see, I am taking the Communications Studies capstone course, but I am also a student in the Writing and Multimedia Studies program. Since that program is closing, the university decided to merge the two capstone courses into one. While the communications capstone is typically an essay, they changed that requirement this year for the multimedia students. This is great news for me because I am excited to use my media skills for a long-term project!

Okay, let’s back to the main point of the blog: my capstone project. After much time and consideration, I finally chose a topic that I am passionate about. Granted, I have many passions, but picking one topic that was manageable for the time and resources I have was challenging. Okay, are you ready to hear my research topic?

For my capstone project, I am going to conduct research on the political economy of journalism within rural communities. I will explore how various types of publications function within the rural landscape, such as local newspapers and university newspapers. I want to discover how the functionality of journalism is impacted by limited resources and a narrowed audience, which will allow the reader to understand the value journalism has in the community and how it contributes to the information individuals consume. 

My curiosity for this topic originated last fall when the editors of Northern Review presented at MediaFest. Our topic was “Small But Mighty: Northern Review’s Formula for Success at a Small University.” Not only were we able to share our experiences of small school journalism, but we were also able to connect with students and staff members from universities across the country. 

All in all, my project will include a mini-documentary (10-15 minutes) and a supporting newspaper article that adds commentary to the ideas discussed in the film. The plan is for the final project to be published in Northern Review. Since I am in the Honors Program, I must also have a capstone enhancement, which requires an additional 40 hours of work for my project. I plan to organize and execute a screening for the mini-documentary I am creating for my project. The documentary itself is a part of my original Capstone project, but the screening provides me with the opportunity to share my work directly with the Ohio Northern community. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A session that will allow me to dive deeper into the topics discussed in the video. 

Anyways, it was fun sharing the details of my Capstone project with you! I am looking forward to keeping you posted on updates as the semester progresses. 

See you next time, 

Evie Megery