Students Advance Understanding with Senior Capstones
Congratulations to the seniors who completed meaningful, in-depth research for their Capstone projects.
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This year, three seniors participated in Greenhill’s Capstone Project course, where they developed an idea, explored further understanding, and created an innovative product based on their analysis, synthesis, and unique presentation of learning outcomes. These student-driven projects require advanced, independent, and interdisciplinary study that culminates in an exhibition of a final product. By combining their current interests with relevant learning, the students gained valuable experiences throughout their capstone project that will apply to future endeavors. Read about their projects below. |
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The Deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia: Rhetoric, Race, and Removal by Iliyan Ali ’26
Do you think deportation is only about legal status? What if it’s also shaped by perception, emotion, and the stories we’re told? From media coverage that frames immigrants as threats to political narratives that prioritize danger over constitutional rights, public discourse plays a powerful role in shaping who is imagined as the “legal immigrant” versus the “illegal” or “undesirable” migrant. For my Capstone, I have been examining how affective rhetoric influenced the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an incident in 2025 that gained national attention. I explored how media representation and political narratives transform lawfully present individuals into dangerous subjects marked for removal. My Capstone presentation will answer the question: how does emotional, racialized rhetoric function to render immigrants deportable? I hope to encourage you to critically examine how media and emotion intersect with law to shape our understanding of immigration beyond what appears to be objective reality.
The New Era of AI-Powered Military Drones by Hank Utay ’26
How has modern warfare evolved over the past decades? How will emerging AI tools play a role in national defense? You’ve seen the news: “Russia launches 300 drones at Ukraine.” “Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance.” My Capstone Project, The New Era of AI-Powered Military Drones, aims to explore these questions through the lens of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) in the United States. My presentation will dive into current conflicts using automated drones, specifically UAVs, and ultimately conclude with an outlook on where war is headed, how it will reshape state sovereignty, and, if the technology fails, who ultimately claims responsibility.
The Certainty Trap in Action by Goni Wong ’26
What lies at the heart of the extreme polarization shaping modern societies? Misinformation? Social media algorithms? I argue that these are all downstream consequences of an innate aspect of the human condition: certainty. Coined by sociologist Ilana Redstone, the “Certainty Trap” creates an inclination to construct binary, closed systems of explanation when facing complex issues. In my Capstone, I applied the “Certainty Trap” as a conceptual model to better understand two critical arenas of academic research: democracy and diplomacy. Working with a mentor, I analyzed the evolution of Western political thought regarding the “Certainty Trap,” arguing that the degradation of democratic norms and the rise of antisemitism are jointly determined outcomes of the return of certainty to the political mainstream. I dedicated the second semester to developing a diplomatic theory of “historical subjectivity,” which uses the “Certainty Trap” framework to reconcile divergent historical narratives in conflict settings.
