"The first graduate program at RISD was established in 1957 with the MS in Art Education with the first MFA programs starting in 1961. We now have 16 graduate programs with 2 more being added in 2018.The core of any graduate program is concentrated and advanced study in an academic or professional field. Compared with undergraduate studies, graduate education is focused on producing original contributions to a field, based on research and advance practice. Graduate programs also provide the opportunity for more applied experience via internships, teaching or research. This is essential for RISD’s commitment to furthering the importance of art and design in the world and in producing distinguished professional and academic leaders." -Pradeep Sharma, RISD Provost 2014-2017
This collection presents student Masters Theses submitted and approved as graduation requirements from each of the 16 departments offering a graduate degree: Architecture, Ceramics, Digital + Media, Furniture Design, Glass, Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Interior Architecture, Jewelry + Metalsmithing, Landscape Architecture, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Teaching + Learning in Art and Design, and Textiles. Postgraduate writing and research is also included.
These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Theses/Dissertations from 2022
Ports of entry, Forough Abadian
Revisionist Zinealog : a coacted countercultural device, Madaleine Ackerman
Reengineer value, Maxwell Altman
Space in sound, Gidiony Rocha Alves
Anybody home? Figural studies in architectural representation, David Auerbach
An atlas of speculating flooded futures ; water keeps rising, Victoria Barlay
That mirror again, Kyros Barton
Notes on institutional architecture ; towards and understanding of erasure and coversation, Liam Burke
For a moment, I was lost ; a visual reflection on the process of grief and mortality within the home, Adam Chiang-Harris
Remnants, Sarah Chriss
Creative changemaking : designing is teaching, Kaitlyn Cirielli
A thesis on the entanglement of art and design, Racquel Clarke
What the water says as it runs, Jeanette Cosentini
Community conservation & engagement through the architecture of public transportation, Liam Costello
Practice makes perfect : finding inspiration in art education, Mercedes Rose Crespo
Embedded are the embers of echoes, Sarah Jane Cribbs
Sacred pleasures : a patronage festival of the erotic and play, David Dávila
Notes to myself, Anna Dawson
Caregivers as worldbuilders, Caitlin Dippo
Youkoso Tokyo : Guidebook to a new cybercity, Evelyn Ehgotz
Home: a landscape of narratives ; spaces through story telling, Tania S. Estrada
Capture, control, circulate : can we queer regulatory power in Graphic Design?, Adie Fein
A digital surreal, Michael Garel-Martorana
Moving through time, Anca Gherghiceanu
A wavering line, Ginger Gordon
Rising to the occasion : a resiliency strategy for Brickell, Miami, Stephanie Gottlieb
Just enough, Amelia Greteman
Food for an island : on the relationships between agriculture, architecture and land, Melinda Groenewegen
Alien Encyclopedia, Zengqi Guo
Wall, Jazzmynn Chang Hong
Re-order the order of thing, Yingxi Sabrina Ji
Miles and miles and miles, Shannon Rose Jones
Openness, Qiwen Ju
Disinheritance as critique: the paintings of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Sabo Kpade
!, Nick Larson
Retelling a landscape through the alchemy of recasting, Amanda Lee
I don't quite remember it that way, Margaret Lindon
Treeing: what remains of a pilgrim, Sichen Liu
Abyss without vertigo, Jack Madden
Wanderer, Yuhan Ma
Contemporary Eco Theory in Art Education: field notes and desire paths, Margaret K. McCullough
Connect: translating complexity through visual simplification, Ilhee Park
The color of stress, Jiemin Park
Care, inclusivity, and accessibility in Glass Art Education, Bridget Provan
Other realms, Louis Rakovich
A collision of technology and art learning, Feifei Shen
In this form, together, Elana Shvalbe
Generative image systems and emergent play, Travess Smalley
Making Space : creative learners, digital spaces, and the relationships between them, Natalia Spritzer
Artful healing: exploring creative expression and play in Children's Hospitals, Phoebe Strobino
Slow ruptures; slow formations, Astra Thrastardottir
The sky is falling, Alexis Tingey
Mood follows matter, Maxwell Tyalor-Milner
Deconstruct the center: making space for the voices in the margins, Taylor Varnado
Un-done: The historiographical dialogue between past and present, Rachel Cobler Wollert
Toona Sinensis 桃花心木, Li Yang
Everything comes full circle, Lilan Yang
Zoomorphic amalgamation: speculative devices for alternative communication, Yuta Yang
Slow puzzle, Tzyy Yi Young
The subconscious as politics: an inquiry of collaborative design education through radical speculation, Nina Jun Yuchi
The importance of interdisciplinary art teaching: reflections on Chinese K-12 Art Education, Shixin Zhou
Theses/Dissertations from 2021
Insecurities: tracing displacement and migration, Hammad Abid
Building narratives: instilling old stories in new spaces, Sharanya Aggarwal
Responsive markets: structures supporting economic activity in postcolonial Mumbai, Bilal Ismail Ahmed
Designing for space; exploring ways of simulating nature and everyday activities in zero-g environment, Sayit Alisan
Is it real?, Hana Al-Saadi
Solastalgic ecotone: the critical zone in suspension, Bareeq Bahman
Fableware from the garden of the grotesque, Matt Becker
Open articulations, Matthew Bejtlich
Sapping, smudging, staining: a feminized body, Breslin Shea Bell
Whores, sluts, and bitches; the perceived limits of sexualisation and the affects on space, Chloe Jenny Bennie
Paperwork, Romik Bose Mitra
Psychological well-being through music listening, Majed BouGhanem
Black exposure: a new typology, Teisha Bradley
Cloak Wood, Thomas Brett
Bootstrapped: the Cowboy Nomad from Silicon Valley, Emily Bright
Shoes for advanced urban surfaces, Karan Buasakdi
Imprints of home, Sara Burashed
Posthuman ecologies, Christine Chang
After plastic waste : plastic bottle knitting machine - design for value of recycling plastic, Du Cheng
Loneliness / Togetherness : Interiority and connection under isolation, Huaqin Chen
The sixth migration - rural/urban "heterotopia", Pan Chen
Inclusive multi-sensory landscape: directing visually impaired people in a perception world, Tianqi Chen
Urban tree community: living with tree spirits, Xueying Chen
The story of water, Zhanyi Chen
Space between memories: pause, Young Jae Cho
Imaging "Interracial": performing racialized desire in "interracial" heterosexual hardcore pornography, Megan Christiansen
When art education meets environmental issues: the interconnectedness of art and science, Eunhyung Julie Chung
Polyrhythms, Kevin Costante
Records of (un)learning, Gregory Deddo
Loose threads / Hilos sueltos, Estefanía de Ros
Becoming a precipice: the liminality of queer cruising, Chance DeVille
Community, harana & karaoke: towards a theatrical design, Ryan Diaz
Personal positioning system, Laura Diez de Baldeon
In and of the body, Nicola DiFusco
The Broken Thought Machine [broh-kuhn thawt muh-sheen], Michael Dispensa
Dal and rice, Anushka Divecha
Taking care, John Dixon