Second-year students must register for the following courses for the spring semester: 08:081:703 Thesis and 08:081:704 Exhibition. To complete work on a degree, each student is required to develop a thesis and to present an exhibition.
The written component of the M.F.A. thesis requirement follows an academic thesis format and may be ten pages or longer.
The student is advised to maintain a written record over the two years of graduate study, producing a document that parallels the artistic evolution and functions as a vehicle for critique and research. The thesis may be project-specific; research-based; analytically, critically, or socially angled, or functioning as an extension of the thesis exhibition. The thesis is thus closely aligned with the individual process and the responsibility to define and meet the writing criteria is placed on each student and his/her advisory committee.
The thesis committee is formed at the beginning of the second year. It consists of three members of the graduate faculty, chosen by the student with the faculty member's signed approval. The student asks one member to serve as chairperson. The faculty members who sign on as one of the three thesis advisers is committed to read, edit, and offer critical and constructive assistance to both components of the thesis, and will, in cooperation with the student and the two other advisers, determine the relevant length and format. No committee replacements are permitted except for reasons of illness or leave of absence by one of the committee members. The thesis is submitted to all committee members during the three stages of development (abstract, first draft, and final draft) for consultation, approval, and evaluation. The written thesis also includes slides, a CD, and/or photographs of creative work.
The Thesis Writing Preparation Guide, which is distributed by the Mason Gross School of the Arts dean's office at the beginning of the second year, sets the standard for the academic format. Exceptions to this format can only be made with the thesis advisory committee's consent.
The exhibition component is designed to be a presentation of the creative work of two years of study in the program and takes place throughout the final spring semester in the Civic Square Building galleries. These presentations are subject to committee review, consultation, and evaluation by the thesis committee and other members of the graduate faculty. Upon recommendation of the faculty and the graduate director, students who do not complete satisfactorily their thesis or exhibition must register for 08:081:800 Matriculation Continued, resubmit a new thesis and/or new exhibition, and delay graduation.
