The Wagner Plan culminates in the final year with The Senior Program and the third Learning Community. As the ultimate goal of the Senior Program, all students bring together the breadth of a liberal education and the depth of specialized knowledge into a real-world applied practice.

Within the major, the Senior Learning Community consists of two classes. The first is a substantive course which explores issues within the field of study. This capstone course is crucial to a final understanding of the major. Added to this in-depth study is a field-based practicum or applied learning component such as a significant original research project. In this way, students put into practice advanced principles of their major.

Wagner goes even further, however, to combine this fieldwork with a course in which students within the major come together to discuss and reflect upon their experiences. We think this added component, the Reflective Tutorial, is the key. Through discussion of a wide variety of experiences or the sharing of findings and research techniques, students gain a deeper understanding of their experiences. And they develop a more sophisticated understanding of the complexity and depth of their major through this intensive fieldwork, problem solving and critique. For all students, this is the capstone experience, the culmination of their learning and both the continuation of their first three years at Wagner and the beginning of their experiences beyond the college.

The Senior Program brings together the fundamental tenets of The Wagner Plan. Challenging course work in a broad curriculum infuses the study of the major field with more significance. "Learning by Doing" allows students to not only learn, but put this knowledge into practice in important field experiences. The Wagner Plan is designed to be transformative, to lead students not only to a greater understanding of what they are learning, but to an understanding of how they will take this knowledge and affect the world around them.

Click here to view the Senior Thesis Abstracts for 2006-2007

Click here to view the Senior Thesis Abstracts for 2005-2006

Click here to view the Senior Thesis Abstracts for 2004-2005