Capstone | The Minor | Sport, Media, and Culture Minor | University of Notre Dame
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Capstone

Panoramic Photo Inside Notre Dame Stadium Versus Usc

SMAC students are required to complete a 1-credit capstone project during the final year of their coursework. These projects ask students to synthesize and reflect upon their work within the minor in some public-facing way. That is, they ask students to contribute to public discourses on sports, media, and culture.

Each student will plan and develop a project relevant to their intellectual and professional interests with the help of the director and a faculty or staff mentor, who will be the instructor of record and evaluate the final product. Capstone projects may build from a course, senior thesis, internship, research project, or service program, or they may be a separate project. Each one represents 30-40 hours of work throughout a semester (approx. 2 hours/week).

Capstone projects may take a wide variety of forms such as a public poster presentation or talk, online digital project, curated museum or library exhibit, print journalism, podcast, video, or the organization and introduction of public programming such as a panel discussion, film screening, or visiting speaker.

SMAC will seek opportunities for public programming that may incorporate capstone projects in forums associated with ND Athletics or the College of Arts & Letters. Capstone projects will also be recognized at a public event for the minor each spring and on the SMAC website.

Capstone Project Resources:

Capstone Project Guide and Tips

Examples of existing forums:

Research Funding

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP)

Facilitated by the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, the Undergraduate Research and Teaching Opportunity Program (UROP) is an exciting initiative designed to expose undergraduate students to the rigors and rewards of scholarship. Awards include summer fellowship grants up to $4,500 and research and materials grants of $1,750.

Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement Research Grants

The Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement offers a variety of grants for many different kinds of undergraduate research. CUSE can help students develop and find funding for many different kinds of research to help make the most of their Notre Dame experience and expand the intellectual life at the University.

Kellogg/Kroc Undergraduate Research Grants

The Kellogg and Kroc Institutes offer summer research grants for undergraduate students at Notre Dame. The grants are intended for juniors whose interests include a clear international dimension related to the Kellogg Institute's themes or the themes of the Kroc Institute. Grants up to $5,000 each will be awarded for research abroad or, if demonstrably appropriate, in the United States. 

Liu Institute for Asia & Asian Studies

The Liu Institute offers funding to support undergraduate student research, study abroad, and language study. 

Research Support

Hesburgh Library

  • Joyce Sports Research Collection
  • University Archives
    • Patrick Milhoan, Head Archivist
  • Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship

Snite Museum of Art

Center for Social Concerns