Inspired by reading an informational piece about glossophobia (fear of public speaking). Students would each choose a different phobia, conduct research, make a project, and present it to the class.
The two years I've done it, I did two variations. To shorten the time it took, I only gave students an option to do a poster. Then when it was due, they did a gallery walk of all the posters instead of individual presentations that took 2-3 days. Also, the longer project included an interview port