It may at first seem like an afterthought, but naming your project is an important part of your project. The title does a few things: 

1. It provides an initial orientation to the project and helps set the stage for your argument. 
2. It is a good exercise for you as an author to try to capture something essential in your project, in that way, it signals the main focus of your project.
3. It sets the tone or level or formality of your project. There is some flexibility on the tone for undergraduate projects. It is fine to take a playful or a more academic tone, but the tone should be consistent. 
4. It distinguishes your project from others–this helps in practical ways in making it easier for faculty to locate your project, and it also makes it easier for faculty to remember so it doesn’t feel interchangeable with others’ projects.
5. It invites the reader in and should spark their interest to keep reading.

 

Think about some titles of books where the title actually does a lot of work: 

Title: Thinking, Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman). 

Summary: This book explores how two mental systems—one fast and intuitive, the other slow and deliberate—shape our judgments, decisions, and cognitive biases in everyday life. 

Notice how the title orients the reader, and signals the main focus, and it’s distinctive, inviting and intriguing. Now consider some possible alternatives Kahneman could have chosen that fall short from that, these can illustrate the strength of Kahneman’s chosen title:

FINE: Two Types of Thinking (this title orients the reader, and signals the main focus, but it’s not as distinctive, or inviting)

OK: Neuroscience Observations (this doesn’t orient the reader or signal any focus, and is not inviting or distinctive) 

BAD: Neuroscience Book (this doesn’t orient the reader, or signal any focus, and is not inviting. This is the corollary of naming your course project ‘Introduction to Psychology Project’).

 

Here’s another example: 

Title: Bowling Alone (Robert Putnam) 

Summary: This book argues that the decline of social connections and civic participation in the United States has weakened communities, trust, and democratic life.

Notice again how this title orients the reader, and signals the main focus, and it’s distinctive, inviting and intriguing. Now consider some possible alternatives Putnam could have chosen that fall short from that, these can illustrate the strength of Putnam’s chosen title:

FINE: Changes in Community Participation in the United States (this title orients the reader, and signals the main focus, but it’s not as distinctive, or inviting)

OK: Community Insights (this doesn’t orient the reader or signal any focus, and is not inviting or distinctive) 

BAD: Social Project (this doesn’t orient the reader, or signal any focus, and is not inviting. This is the corollary of naming your course project ‘Introduction to Psychology Project’).

 

Giving your project a name is not inconsequential. Your selected title should be meaningful, not generic–so not something like “Introduction to Sociology Project” and it should fit the project and provide an initial orientation to the reader on your project. For example, if you are writing a project about stereotyping for an Introduction to Psychology project, and your project focuses on stereotyping in the context of Greek restaurants in your town, consider how these different titles orient, or don’t orient the reader: 

1. Introduction to Psychology Project (Bad)
2. Stereotyping (OK)
3. Everyday Stereotyping (A Bit Better)
4. How Stereotyping Shapes Expectations (Better)
5. Good Tzatziki and Bad Assumptions (Great)
6. Expecting Good Tzatziki: Examples of Stereotyping (Great)
7. Cognitive Heuristics, Cultural Prototypes, and Expectancy Violation in Culinary Contexts: A Phenomenological Examination of Tzatziki-Based Disappointment (Bad–overwrought and overwhelming)

 

To recap: your project title does a few things: 

1. It provides an initial orientation to the project and helps set the stage for your argument. 
2. It is a good exercise for you as an author to try to capture something essential in your project, in that way, it signals the main focus of your project.
3. It sets the tone or level or formality of your project. There is some flexibility on the tone for undergraduate projects. It is fine to take a playful or a more academic tone, but the tone should be consistent. 
4. It distinguishes your project from others–this helps in practical ways in making it easier for faculty to locate your project, and it also makes it easier for faculty to remember so it doesn’t feel interchangeable with others’ projects.
5. It invites the reader in and should spark their interest to keep reading.

 

And don’t worry, you’re not expected to come up with a brilliant title for every project, but if you keep these points in mind, you’ll find it can be helpful and even fun to give your project a good, meaningful title.