"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 from 2023
Ghost Hotel, George Acosta
Cohabitation x Adaptation, 2100: A Climate Change Epoch, Kyle Andrews
I, others, world - A Glass Circuit, Ariel Aravot
A Part Apart, Spenser Atlas
Norteada- En Busca De un Nuevo Norte. Cocoon Portals and the Negotiation of Space., Kimberly Ayala Najera
Decolonial Perspective on Fashion and Sustainability, Haisum Basharat
Psychochoreography, Nora Bayer
Whale Fall·Building Fall, Jiayi Cai
Step 10, Jinhong Cai
Starting From Ecotone Reconnecting Fragmented Mission Hill, Xinyi Cai
Mistranslated, Hee Young Cha
Green + White = Pink, Dora Chen
Physical Documentation of Censored Incidents Liberates One from the Doubts of Existence., Winnie Cheung
Rotten and Falling, Khwanchira Chindamanee
Means and Methods: Pedagogy and Proto-Architecture, Daniel Choconta
Movement, Mechanization, and Coexistence, Yukyung Chung
The Border Crosser's Pocketbook: A Guide to Engaged Pedagogy in After School Arts, Britney Coppick
Arctic Resilience: Adaptive Networks of Self-Sufficiency, Jingjing Cui
Beyond the Lines, Miranda-Max de Beer
Making Then Meaning, Ben Denzer
Abundance within Scarcity: Food Security in the Favelas of Brazil Menglin, Menglin Ding
The Miacomet Movement, Charles Duce
Form Follows Feeling Follows Form, Harshal Duddalwar
Unpacked: Consumer Culture in Suburban Spaces, Jaime Dunlap
At the Bend in the Bright River, Andrew Eckhardt
Making time: Gentle invitations for radical slowness, Lian Fumerton-Liu
Home. Objects. Transitions., Fei Gao
Cities of Tomorrow Future Urban Planning Strategies, Jingyu Ge
you're making me sentimental, Chris Geng
Soul Furnace / فرن الأرواح, Isa Ghanayem
Landscape De/Re-Construction through Art, Manuel Gonzalez
Superbland, Dougal Henken
Crossover Logics, Serena Ho
The Common Destiny of Living Creatures, Xiaodai Huang
Liquid Border, YINGFAN JIA
Myths, Legends, and Landscapes, Oromia Jula
Distance: A collection of studies of Human-Computer interaction to explore human emotions and relationships, Jinha Kang
Old and New: Intervention in Space and Material, Yoonji Kang
Sanctuary, Harsha Kejriwal
Connective Movements, Ian Keliher
Urban Succession: an ecocentric urbanism, Anthony Kershaw
Invisible Systems, Mina Kim
Curiosity Beyond the Hidden, Yi Young Kim
Hearts and Minds, Steven Knapp
An Architect's Toolkit for Color Theory, ella knight
Press Play, Karan Kumar
Metaphors in Materials and Imagery for Self Reclamation and Empowerment, Janice Lardey
WAST3D POTENTIAL, Andrew Larsen
Searching for New Landscapes, Halim Lee
Moving at the Speed of Trust, Sun Ho Lee
FLOWS OF SOUND “Harnessing Sound As Critical Urban Resources”, Zuan Lin
Temporary urbanism-spatial democracy in the temporary city, Shijie Li
Water Relations, Understanding Our Relationship to Water: Through Research, Diagrams, and Glass, Tian Li
MODERN NOMADISM ——A network of reciprocal moorings, Jinting Liu
Access in Ambiguity, Moritz Lónyay
Objects of Daydreaming, Aaron Lorenz
Bridging Empathy, Qianwen Lu
Exploring Permanent Temporariness: A Look into the Palestinian Experience through Refugee Camps, Tamara Malhas
A Study of Dwelling, Julia McArthur
Appropriate that Bridge: Appropriation as a way of Intervention, Haochen Meng
Cyberflesh: The Me I've Made for You, Jordan Metz
Toronto Rewilded, Forrest Meyer
Enhancing Wellbeing In Public Landscape Through Light, Ruiqing Miao
CRACKS OF THE CITY: Crack as an invitation for informality, Yusha Miao
Confronting and Caring for Spaces of Service, Tia Miller
The Root of Culture: Human Ritual and the Soils of West Virginia, Aleece Mount
Celebrate Scarcity: Water Harvesting as Cultural Keystone, Jiajun Ni
Vanitas, Sae Jung Oh
The De-centering of Architecture, Uthman Olowa
Infinitely Incredible Configurations, Jenni Oughton
Partial Eclipse, Christopher Pak
Destined Failure, Chengjun Pan
[De]Composition: Grounding Architecture, Skylar Perez
In a Condition of No Light, Alana Perino
Virtual Fantasy, Joey Petrillo
Soft City: Reclaiming Urban Public Spaces for Play, Jennifer Pham
Surfacing: a (loose) manual on unlayering / stuff-making and hypervisibility, Zoë Pulley
We Have a (Home) - Co-operative Homes for Sunset Park, Lisa Qiu
OtherWorldly Gestures, Sadia Quddus
Coast to Coast, Zeyuan Ren
Machine Kinship: The impossible duet, Diana Sanchez
Input / Output, Zach Scheinfeld
Particular Proceedings, Ingrid Schmaedecke
Objects and Apparitions: A Portable Museum, Yesuk Seo
The Incremental Ecosystem: Hybridizing Self-Built + Conventional Processes as a Solution to Urban Expansion, Shayne Serrano
Orchestration of Experience, Jingyi Shen
Liberdade para quem? - Layered Histories, Vanessa Shimada
Instances of the Spirit (Glossary), Kamari A. Smalls
Surface Tear, Alexandra Soiseth
Finding the Balance, Danyang Song
Tracing as Process, Lesley Su
New Commandments, Jacob Sussman
Iteration One, Julian Suver
SENSIBLE NATURE: To “See” As We Once Did, Yuhan Su
The Design of Consequences, Yuqi Tang
Vanishing Ice, Zhehao Tang
On the Edge of the "Er-Ocean" State, Mariesa Travers
Beyond the White Box: Building Alternative Art Spaces for the Black Community, Elijah Trice