Thesis for Master of Arts

THESIS/RESEARCH HOURS 

Thesis (6 hours) or Comparative Research Paper (3 hours). GIST 898 is strongly recommended for students opting to complete a thesis and counts toward the thesis hour requirement. 

Thesis Option 

The MA thesis degree is most appropriate as preparation for a doctoral program and dissertation. Students should declare their intention to write a thesis before the end of their first year in the program and form a committee of three faculty members, each of a different discipline. 

Students electing to write and orally defend a thesis in front of a committee of 3 faculty members must first gain the consent of a faculty member to be their Thesis Advisor/Chair, who will oversee and evaluate their work.  Students choosing the thesis option are strongly recommended to complete GIST 898 Thesis and Research Project Writing, and the Thesis Advisor/Chair should be procured before starting the course. Students may also choose to take 3-6 hours of LAC 899 “Thesis/Non-Thesis” in lieu of GIST 898, the credit hours for which can be applied to the 30 required hours for the MA.  

According to the continuous enrollment policy of the College, once the student’s course work is completed, the student must enroll in at least 1 credit hour of thesis/nonthesis (LAA 899) a semester (excluding summers) until the thesis and its defense or the oral examination is completed. Students must prepare a research paper and successfully pass an oral defense of that paper to the satisfaction of an M.A. examination committee. For more information, please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook. 

KU College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Continuous Enrollment Policy 

Once a student’s course work is completed, the student must enroll in at least 1 credit hour of thesis/nonthesis (LAA 899) per semester (excluding summers) until the thesis and its defense or the oral examination is completed. For more information, please refer to the Graduate Student Handbook.