Keystone Project
Students design and create an individual Keystone Project as the capstone of their Honors Humanities experience. With this project, students actively engage the Arts & Humanities to explore their personal interests and/or to engage with pressing social issues. Students work with mentors and peers to articulate their own goals for the project and to bring those goals to fruition. This project is an opportunity to:
- explore a passion
- develop advanced skills in creative expression, research, collaboration, and communication
- collaborate with faculty across the university
- connect with the rich resources of the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore Metro Area
Keystone Project Timeline
| Fall | |
|---|---|
| Year 1: Spring | In HHUM106: Arts & Humanities in Practice, students begin to conceptualize their keystone projects. |
| Year 1: Summer | If students so choose, they can work on their project during these months, particularly if the project requires more time than a semester can afford. |
| Year 2: Fall | If students so choose, they can work on their project during this semester, particularly if the project requires more time than a semester can afford. |
Year 2: Spring |
In HHUM206: Keystone Project Seminar, students learn processes required to design and complete a successful project from planning and prototyping, to creating, critiquing, and revising. Students create and revise their projects and offer feedback on their peers’ projects in a workshop setting. Students also present their projects at the Keystone Symposium in April. |
Students can complete their Keystone Project at any time during their time at the University, but we encourage students to finish their projects at the end of year 2 with their cohort.
Featured Keystone Project
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The African Languages Association Founded in 2017, their mission is to provide students at the University of Maryland, College Park, with free African language classes. Because UMD does not offer an official African language courses taught on campus, Rahila's organization organizes classes each semester taught by native or near-fluent speaking UMD students and alumni. |
Symposium
Symposium is an annual event hosted by the Honors Humanities program, during which students present their work to colleagues, family, and friends. The format is similar to an academic conference, giving students the experience of presenting their work in a formal but friendly setting.
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Keystone Awards
Awards are given to exemplary keystone projects. Each award honors a student at both the first and honorable mention levels. Each awardee receives a plaque in their honor, as well as a monetary prize.
The Seidel Keystone Prize for Achievement in the Humanities honors a student majoring in the humanities who has demonstrated a consistent commitment to their keystone project and who has exceeded expectations, showing passion for their work and taking initiative in gaining new knowledge and experience.
The Lowell Ensel Keystone Prize honors a member of Honors Humanities whose project takes the form of a creative work of art, music, literature or film. The prize is presented in memory of Lowell Ensel, a former Honors Humanities student who demonstrated an incredible talent for filmmaking in his Keystone Project, entitled In the Midterm. Watch In the Midterm here.
The Honors Humanities Keystone Prize is given to a worthy project by any student in any form. This prize awards excellence in project design, creation, revision, and completion.
Below are the 2018 Keystone Prize awardees along with samples of each of their outstanding projects.
| 2018 Winner | 2018 Honorable Mention | |
|---|---|---|
| The Seidel Keystone Prize for Achievement in the Humanities | Lilliana Righter: Mama Who Bore Me | Dash Yeatts-Lonske: UMD Model Congress |
The Lowell Ensel Keystone Prize |
Nina Holtz: The Beekeepers Group | Gabriela Grant: Dance Into Social Justice |
| The Honors Humanities Keystone Prize | Lauren Moyer: The Emergence and Evolution of the Lutheran Church in Germany | Logan Dechter: Camp Counseling Isn't for Dummies |