Capstone Academic Research Project

One important and distinctive component of the Alliance programs in China is the Capstone Academic Research Project, in which students delve into a particular area of interest over the course of the semester as part of their academic work. These projects challenge students to engage with Chinese people from various walks of life and deepen their understanding of an aspect of Chinese society, culture, business practices, or current policy.

The Capstone Project is intended as a research project that makes use of more than academic readings and secondary source materials (such as published research data and other findings). While these are potentially very important components of any research project and should be part of the project, the Capstone is more importantly intended to be a one in which students take advantage of being in China. The work will not only be more interesting but students will learn a great deal by using the resources that they would not have access to at their home universities. Students incorporate interviews, participant observation, and other methods to develop a final paper and presentation. Many students develop this project as part of a senior thesis or broader research project in the future.

The Capstone Project is a graded component of the required course taught in English (Issues in Contemporary Society and Culture at the Fudan and Beijing programs, China: Economic Giant at the SUFE program, and The Silk Road Yesterday and Today at the Xi'an program). The Capstone Research Project comprises 40% of the grade for this course. Graded project work includes a project abstract with a problem statement and research methodology outline, powerpoint presentation during the last two weeks of class, and a final paper of 3,000 words.

Examples of Alliance Students' Capstone Projects

SUFE International Business Program Projects

• What Role Will Central Planning Play in China's Future Economic Development?
• Currency Revaluation and China's Influence in the Global Economy
• China's Illegitimate Market for Fake Designer Clothing and Accessories
• The Environmental Impacts of Development
• Educating IT Employees for a Competitive Global Market
• The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Economy and Society
• China's Brain Drain - Will It Continue?
• Advertising in China - Health and Beauty Marketing in a Gendered Business Culture
• Investing in Asia's Emerging Markets
• Market Outlook for Luxury Goods in China: Ferrari/Maserati Case Study
• Starbucks: Transforming China One Cup of Coffee at a Time
• To Incorporate or Not to Incorporate (int'l banks in China)
• Analysis of the Medium- and Long-term Impact of China's Economic Stimulus Package
• The East is Not So Far from the West
• The Pre-Mature Aging of China (Implications of the one-child policy on China's pension system)
• An Emerging Global Leader's Inequality Struggle: How and Where Do Lower Income Residents of Shanghai Live
• Building Turst as a Competitive Strategy
• China's Health Reform vs US Health Reform
• Chinese Consumer Frugality: Cultural Practie or Necessity?
• Expatriats in the Chinese Job Market
• Green FDI in China: The Market, The Future
• How Culture Affects Business: A Study of China and the US
• Human Trafficking Behind the Scenes
• Inhaling China: China's Smoking Culture and Cigarette Industry
• NBA and Basketball: The Impact on China
• Security Analysis of Chinese Companies
• Sex Toy Consumption
• Stimulation for Education (ADHD and Adderall)
• The Hong Kong Economy: Inquiry, Investigation and Comparison
• Thinking Forward: The Economic Implications of China's Hukou System

Fudan Program Projects

• A History of Contemporary Propaganda as Art
• Global Marketing Practices among US Firms: A Best Buy Case Study
• Concept of Self and Its Relation to the Other in the Wake of Chinese State Socialism
• What is the Significance of the Mandate of Heaven Today?
• The Rights and Status of Female Rural Migrants
• One Child Policy and the Social Implications Arising from It
• Chinese Relationships
• Global Climate Change in China
• Cultural Relations between China and Taiwan
• Why I Won't Ever Really Fit in in China: No Place for a Female Jock in China
• In & Out of Shanghai's Foreign Restaurants
• The Place of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Modern China
• Obesity in China: As China's Wallets Grow…So Does Its People
• C-Pop, Chinese Popular Music
• Mass Media Censorship
• The Modernization of Homosexuality in China: Bringing Shanghai Out of the Closet
• Video Game Culture in China: The Past, Present, Future and Everything
• My Boyfriend Sports a Big Pink Purse: Women's Empowerment in China?
• China's Internet: Prancing Along at the Speed of Light
• Architecture as a National Identity
• Resurrection of Christianity in China: Finding God in the Whore of the East
• The Role of Charisma in PRC Leadership
• China - Japan Relations (and the Nanjing Massacre)

BLCU Beijing Program Projects

• The Increase of Cosmetic Surgery in China
• Attitudes Toward Gay and Lesbian Life in China
• Martial Arts in China
• Marginalized Workers in Beijing
• Religions in China
• China's Olympic-Related Environmental Issues
• Birth Control Policy and Women's Social Status in China
• Chinese Contemporary Arts - 798 Art District
• Heath Care in Contemporary China
• The Education of Migrant Workers' Children in Urban Areas
• Chinese Perceptions of North Korea
• Chinese Perceptions of Stem Cell Research
• Recycling in China
• Intellectual Property Rights and Entrepreneurs in China
• Chinese Dialects
• A Crisis of Ethnic Confusion: Identity and Self-worth of China’s Modern Minorities
• Street Vendors: Another Side of Chinese Culture
• Chinese Stereotypes of Americans
• China's Coal Power Industry: The Advent of Carbon Emission Reduction Technologies
• Rising Nation, Falling Hearts: Heart Disease in China
• Sex Education in China
• The Comparative Standing of the Fourth Generation Films, the Fifth Generation Films, the Sixth Generation Films and Western Films in Contemporary Chinese Film Market
• The Popularity of Wuxia films among Chinese Youth
• This Film Will Never Be Rated
• How American Media Affect Intercultural Communication in China
• DVD Piracy in China

XISU Xian Program Projects:

• Daoism: Buddhism’s Gateway to the East
• Genetic Diversity in China and the Impact of the Silk Road
• The Evolution of Death Practices in China
• Nestorian Christianity in the Tang Dynasty
• Globalization and Family Systems along the Silk Road

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