Fall Capstone Presentations

by Birdie Keller ’25

With the end of the semester approaching comes a flurry of homework and final deadlines. Amidst chaos and stress is (what I consider) the best night of these final few weeks—capstone presentations! It is always so inspiring to see what these amazing senior English majors have been working on all semester. Majors on the Literature track present on a literary project they’ve dedicated their semester to, and Creative Writing majors present on a large piece of creative work, be it poetry, screenplays, essays, novels, or more. On December 5th and 6th, capstone students presented their work publicly for the first time! Beforehand, I got a chance to speak with Professors Amy Elkins and Peter Bognanni, who taught the literature and creative writing capstones respectively this semester.

The Literature capstone class focused on three objectives: reading deeply into texts that combine literature and photography, strengthening critical analysis and academic writing skills, and experimenting with photographs and the creation of a visual essay as a form of “research-creation.” Students developed topics unique to them alongside one another and with guidance from Professor Elkins. According to Professor Elkins, “A highlight of the semester was being able to do research as a class in the photography archives of the Minneapolis Institute of Art and a curator-led tour of ‘Another Look’[…] Students have been working on photo-essays alongside long academic essays that use a comparative lens to study literature and photography.”

Below are the four literature capstone students and the names of their pieces:

Julia Bintz: Being Seen in London: Black Britishness, Art, and Intertextuality in Caleb Azumah Nelson’s Open Water

Charley Eatchel: Inked: Photopoetic Inscription in Julia Margaret Cameron, Man Ray, and Shirin Neshat

Paige Schuller: “The clothes that wear us”: Queer Embodiment and Camp as Resistance in Virginia Woolf and Alice Austen

Grace LeCrone: “Why Have there Been No Great Women Artists?”: The Politics of Recognition in Siri Hustvedt, Shola Von Reinhold, and Francesca Woodman 

The creative writing capstone class features a broad variety of different creative projects—they even workshopped a Choose Your Own Adventure story! Professor Bognanni has incorporated “Accountability Crews,” something he’s never done before. Students meet up in little groups with only one task— to write! Speaking about the Accountability Crews, Professor Bognanni said, “The obstacle to finishing a capstone is not often talent; it’s more about maintaining confidence and endurance. So, any way we can bolster community is a good thing. My feeling after a great capstone is that I wish we could just keep going for another semester. I definitely have the feeling this fall, and I hope the Accountability Crews keep meeting even after the class is over.” It sounds like the creative writing capstone has been a blast!

Below are the creative writing capstone students and their projects.

Joe Jessop: Drifting City

Jamie Lansky: Empress

Abigail Stupar: Roadkill

Cat Terres: Cycle

Will Tandy: Around the Lagerfeuer

Tyler Sanchez: Pauly’s 

Asa Benjamin: Fledglings

Gabriel Preciado: So The Soul Sinks

Izzie Behl: Echoes of Distress

Mac Mullen: On Tilt

Oliver Mackenzie: The Story of Awesome John Doe

Miriam Ruiz: At the Edge of Magnolia Grove

Capstone presentations are truly one of my favorite events of the semester; seeing the passion that my peers hold for their projects and how hard they’ve worked to create a finished work is inspirational. Great job everyone, and thank you Professors Bognanni and Elkins for your comments!