By the end of reading period in the spring term of the junior year, students begin to choose their Senior Project topics, advisors, and project methods and formats. Yearlong senior projects are completed in HSHM 4900 and 4910. Successful completion of the Senior Project is both a graduation requirement and a consideration for distinction in the major.
For the yearlong senior project, students must select a project adviser, propose a tentative topic and title, and submit a proposal to the Senior Project Director early in the fall term of their senior year. See the handbook for more details.
The senior project may be a written essay or an alternative project such as a film, exhibition, catalog, atlas, or historical data reconstruction. In the case of an alternative project, the student must identify a second reader in addition to the adviser before the project is approved by the senior project director. Either the adviser or the second reader must be a member of the faculty in History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health, History Department or an affiliated faculty member with HSHMPH. Alternative projects will include a written component that explains the sources used and the intellectual significance of the project.
For more details about requirements and deadlines, please see the HSHM Senior Project Handbook.
>> Click HERE to download the 2025–2026 Senior Project Handbook <<
Click here for Senior Essay Research Funding Application
Please also see recent titles and prize-winning projects.
Questions?
The HSHM Senior Project Director is Megann Licskai. For questions, please contact either Professor Licskai (megann.licskai@yale.edu) or the Undergraduate Registrar, Erica Lee (erica.lee@yale.edu).