Once you are admitted to the program, you can begin topic discussion with your research advisor, Kathy Jones. We encourage you to think about a topic early on in your program because your capstone project could inform your course selection. In addition, we recommend that you choose an area of interest within museum studies to focus your studies. Optional focus areas include: business of museums, collections and care, exhibition design and develop, museum education, or technology.

Topics should be firmly grounded in the scholarly literature of museum studies and pertinent to the issues and trends of the field.  The topic should be one that will support your academic and career goals.  It may be related to your internship, if you choose to do one, but this is not required. See Past Capstone Titles for inspiration as well as Literature reviews.

You are required to register for the Capstone Proposal Tutorial, have your topic approved, and submit the first draft of your capstone proposal at the start of the semester before capstone registration (summer semester for fall capstone and fall semeester for spring capstone).  For specific deadlines, see Timeline. It is important to remember that a well researched and structured capstone proposal--research plan--sets the stage for a strong capstone, worthy of a Harvard degree, and one that you'll be proud to share with your professional network.  Once you are in the capstone course, doing the research and writing the capstone paper will take one semester.  If your work will involve surveys or interviews, prior to the start of the capstone, you may be required to submit your research plan to Harvard’s Committee on the Use of Human Subjects.  If you don't plan well in advance, waiting for approval from the Human Subjects Committee can create a delay in project approval.

You will meet with Kathy Jones, your research advisor, to discuss possible topics and to finally choose a topic.  During the capstone proposal tutoiral, you will submit multiple drafts of the proposal document to Kathy Jones, who will offer mentoring and guidance. During the capstone course you will work closely with the instructor, Kathy Jones, and you will have the option to receive advise from a content expert, either a museum studies instructor or Harvard University museum professional. The selection of the content expert is made in conversation with Kathy Jones, your research advisor. You may offer her suggestions.

The tutorial introduces critical precursors to research project design, and it is where you receive one-on-one advice from Kathy Jones on your individual capstone proposal. It is a structured, semester-long advising session to ensure that your capstone project is well deisgned prior to start of the capstone course. You need to begin the capstone course ready to engage in research, not still planning how you'll go about the research. While the tutorial is noncredit, your due diligence throughout the semester is required. If you do not have an approved proposal or a proposal that is close to being approved by the semester’s withdrawal deadline, you’ll need to withdraw from the course, delay capstone registration, and re-take the capstone proposal tutorial again in a future semester.

You register for Capstone Proposal Tutorial the semester before your capstone registration--during the summer registration period (March), for the fall capstone and during the fall registration period (July) for the spring capstone. But you should have had several meetings and discussions with Kathy about your topic ideas since admission to the program. The first draft of the capstone proposal is due at the beginning of the tutorial. See Timeline for specific dates (ordinarily in May for the summer tutorial and in October for the fall tutorial).

Yes! The Dean’s Prize for Outstanding ALM Capstone in museum studies recognizes work that embodies the highest level of scholarship and is presented at the diploma-awarding ceremony in May.