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Ada V. stands outside the Schaumburg Trickster Cultural Center, where she completed the service learning component of her capstone project.
The Social Justice Studies (SJS) Capstone Project is your opportunity to reflect on, apply, and demonstrate what you have learned in SJS coursework. Your project should be aligned with your personal, professional, and academic interests and should utilize specific ideas, theories, methods, and narratives that you have learned towards addressing a specific social justice issue. Capstone projects are a unique opportunity to enhance your transfer and/or job applications and for focusing your future academic and professional goals. Completing a capstone project is required to earn the Social Justice Studies Distinction.
All students who are planning to complete an SJS Capstone Project must complete the following required steps:
The Social Transformation Capstone Award provides students financial support to complete their graduation distinction in Social Justice Studies, Sustainability Studies, and Global Studies. This award can be used toward tuition, school materials, study away and study aboard opportunities, field research, service learning costs, or any costs associated with completion of the Capstone distinction. To be eligible, students should be enrolled or plan to be enrolled in the CAP 201 course (more details on eligibility below).
Eligibility:
Students: click here to apply for a chance to earn the award.
Donors: contribute to the endowed award fund by scanning the QR code (left) or by clicking
here.
Student: Ada V.
Mentors: Ranjani Murali, Michael Bentley
Service Learning: Schaumburg Trickster Cultural Center
Description: research project exploring the history of the forced assimilation and cultural alienation
of North American indigenous communities, and the contemporary strategies that aim
to counter cultural injustice through culture-specific rituals, education, and community
support.
Student: Jessica U.
Mentor: Judi Nitsch
Description: civic engagement project constructing a user-friendly, informative, and inspirational
“Activist Toolkit” that beginners can use in their early efforts to increase voter turnout in their
communities.
Student: Bianca D.S.
Mentor: Ranajani Murali
Service Learning: JOURNEYS | The Road Home
Description: research project analyzing the role that popular media and culture have played in
stigmatizing and ostracizing people affected by poverty and how this ideology plays
a crucial role in continuing the cycle of poverty.
Student: Tori M.
Mentor: Natasha Pilipuf-Ruiz
Service Learning: Poplar Creek Prairie Center
Description: research project exploring the role that ecofeminism plays in addressing structures
of injustice that further division, hierarchy, and domination, particularly towards
woman and nature, and highligting ecofeminist strategies for shifting perspectives
and redefining what it means to connect to nature.
Student: Ellen TR.
Mentor: Virginia Mchugh-Kurtz
Service Learning: Harper College Craig Stettner Prairie
Description: community education project raising awareness of the historical, cultural, and ecological significance of native
plants and their connections to indigenous communities through interactive educational
signage and interviews.
Student: Corvin KW
Mentor: LaVonya Williams
Service Learning: The Prideful Path Project
Description: community engagement project providing essential resources and advocating for equitable access, to demonstrate how community-based resource distribution is a direct and effective form
of social justice work, rooted in the longstanding traditions of mutual aid, health
equity, and bodily autonomy
movements.
Student: Jax G.
Mentor: Kelly Pinter
Service Learning: March For Our Lives
Description: online one stop shop for all things grassroots activism, allowing United States based activists of all
experience levels to find and interact with causes and organizations they wish to
enact change in.
Student: Hajera Q.
Mentor: Rebecca Scott
Description: research and interview project exploring the historical contexts, structural developments,
comparative analyses, and persisting challenges of women in South Asian politics,
as well as intersectional solutions which aim to elevate South Asian women into leadership.
Student: Caitlyn E.
Mentor: Natalie Pilipuf
Description: website aiming to put a stop to r*pe culture by spreading awareness about valid
consent, resources and critiques of the impacts of current reporting and policing
on victims, the complexities of hook-up culture, and resources for survivors.
Student: Yosephine L.
Mentor: Michael Bentley
Description: research and health sciences course proposal (Inclusive Healthcare Service Learning)
addressing the limited opportunities for community college nursing students to develop
cultural competence through real-world experiences.
Student: Leslie M.
Mentor: Brian Cremins
Service Learning: National Lawyers Guild
Description: a zine documenting 4 weeks and over 100 hours of service as a legal observer during
protests at the Broadview ICE Detention Center.
Student: Nikolette M.
Mentor: Maham Khan
Service-Learning: WINGS Program, Inc.
Description: a editorial series explore how digital media and media conglomerates infringe on
women's rights.
Student: Elena C.M.
Mentor: Virginia Turner
Description: a website providing tools for understanding and navigating how systemic sexism combines
with the medical community's poor understanding of autoimmune disorders to create
the unique experiences of women
attempting to find diagnosis for autoimmune conditions.
Student: Kira O.
Mentor: LaVonya Williams
Service-Learning: WINGS Program, Inc.
Description: an editorial series exploring the effectiveness of the U-Visa program in combatting
gender-based violence against immigrant women.
Student: Lizbeth G.N.
Mentor: Virginia Mchugh-Kurtz
Service-Learning: R3 (Restore, Reinvest, and Renew) Program / Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA)
Description: a visual presentation exploring inequities in the impact of cannabis criminalization
and the successes and failures of attempts to redress harms.
Student: Mehak R.
Mentor: Andre Berchiolly
Description: an analysis of current research on the impact of domestic violence on children,
specifically in the socio-cultural context of Pakistan.
Student: Puja K.
Mentor: Ali Kaveh Aenehzodaee
Service Learning: Congressional Office of Raja Krishnamoorthi
Description: a critical analysis combining elements of rhetorical criticism, political communication
analysis, and social justice theory, drawing from transcripts of political addresses,
press briefings, and campaign rhetoric alongside academic sources in linguistics,
sociology, and media studies to explore how political narratives shape collective
consciousness and public response.