Guidelines for CGH senior projects

All CGH concentrators will complete a substantial project focusing on the health of human populations. The goals include deepening your appreciation for the theoretical and applied nuances of public health. The project may reflect a significant civic engagement experience (roughly equivalent to at least a 2 credit internship), a major research project (roughly equivalent to a 2 credit independent study), or a hybrid of the two. Although you may have completed the hands-on part of your project in the context of a non-CGH pursuit (e.g., study abroad; a departmental internship; a capstone project for your major), your final CGH project will build on your experience, clarifying its links to interdisciplinary public health scholarship. You will present your project to the college community during a poster session in the spring semester of your senior year; the CGH senior seminar will prepare you for this presentation.

Below, you will find guidelines to keep in mind as you plan for this project. Because each project is unique, we urge you to consult early and often with a member of the CGH steering committee to ensure that your project optimizes your learning and conforms to the guidelines for this requirement.

I. Community-based work

You may apply your public health learning to community-based work through internships, volunteer or paid work, and field study courses.

Before starting, consider:

  1. With what population(s) (e.g., children; immigrants) and/or topic area(s) (e.g., environmental health; nutrition; infectious disease) would you most like to work?
  2. What skills would you like to develop through your work with a community partner?
  3. What courses would prepare you best for this work?

During your work, consider:

  1. With what organization are you working? Provide a brief history of the organization and its mission.
  2. What are your responsibilities and activities, and how do they fit within the overall organization?
  3. What skills do you need to accomplish your responsibilities? What steps are you taking to acquire these skills?
  4. What types of training and ongoing supervision are you receiving?
  5. How does your work relate to your coursework in community and global health?
  6. What specific focus within your work with this organization would you like to explore for your CGH project?
  7. What disciplinary lens (e.g., biological; anthropological) is most useful for thinking about your project? What other disciplines might offer interesting perspectives on your work?

After your work is completed, consider:

  1. What were your accomplishments (including any programs, curricula, websites, etc. you developed)?
  2. What challenges did you face in carrying out your work effectively?
  3. What aspects of the organization are working most effective? What aspects are working less effectively?
  4. How did/does your coursework in CGH relate to your project, and how did/has your project influenced your intellectual and academic understanding of CGH?
  5. What have you learned from your experience, and what is the path forward for your project, the organization, and your career goals?

I. Research project

You may apply your public health learning to research conducted through internships, independent studies, volunteer or paid positions in labs, or capstone projects.

Before starting, consider:

  1. What questions in public health interest you the most?
  2. What skills do you need to conduct research in the areas that interest you?
  3. What skills would you like to develop through your research?
  4. What courses would prepare you best for this work?
  5. Who will supervise your work?
  6. Will your study involve gathering new data, or will you be using the published literature to address an unanswered question?
  7. What ethical challenges might you face, and how will you ensure your project is conducted ethically? If you plan to work with human or animal subjects, please consult with your faculty mentor well in advance of data-gathering to ensure that you have secured approval through the appropriate review board (i.e., Social Science Institutional Review Board, the Psychology Review Board, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, or the Macalester Institutional Review Board).
  8. What will be your “product”(e.g., article manuscript; thesis; capstone paper)?

During your work, consider:

  1. What is the central focus of your research project? What are your hypotheses? What is your argument?
  2. What is your plan for conducting your research? What is your proposed methodology?
  3. What skills do you need to accomplish your responsibilities? What steps are you taking to acquire these skills?
  4. Who is supervising your work? How much oversight do you need to accomplish your work well?
  5. How does your project relate to your coursework in community and global health?
  6. How will you extend your project to make it more closely related to community and global health?
  7. What disciplinary lens (e.g., biological; anthropological) are you using to conduct this research? What other disciplines might offer interesting perspectives on your work? What resources (faculty; organizations; articles and books; websites) might help you integrate these other disciplines into your project?

After your work is completed, consider:

  1. What did your research reveal?
  2. What challenges did you face in carrying out your work effectively?
  3. What aspects of your project were most effective? What aspects were less effectively?
  4. How did/does your coursework in CGH relate to your project, and how did/has your project influenced your intellectual and academic understanding of population health?
  5. What are the implications of your research for the practice of public health?
  6. What have you learned from your experience, and what is the path forward for your project and your career goals?