This course is the first of a two-course sequence designed to guide students in proposing the Capstone project in either an independent study, group project, or field experience format. The focus is on the early stages of project work, including finding a suitable topic and project advisor, investigating related work, and writing a thorough project proposal. The relevant skills are covered and practiced by studying a collection of classic and topical papers. The papers and topics studied vary by semester, partly based on discussions in the first few class meetings.