"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 2018
Decoding the digital border, Gian Villarruel
Monument for feeling : Notes from the Archivist, Melissa Weiss
Home · land : Olmsted's legacy and gentrification in Boston, MA, Jessica Wilson
Shadow theater, Yaodan Wu
Memory.zip, Yu-Hsing Wu
Water voyage from Quabbin to Boston, Ling Xia
Open community : break up the "superblock", Ke Xie
Future street, Wushuang Xing
Living with mega-cavity, Ankang Xu
Nostalgia for the future : home 2028, Junqing Yang
Understanding dwelling beyond the terrestrial, Sungkyu Yang
City in / above water, Jin Yan
The Arctic Commons, A. Gavin Zeitz
Ambiguous surfaces : dressing the wall, dressing the room, dressing the building, Danni Zhang
Guide the flood : Miami vulnerable neighborhoods flood adaptation design, Zhe Zhao
The future of agriculture in Miami, Siyu Zheng
Architecture as an adapter : a revolution in high-rise corporate architecture, Nan Zou
Theses/Dissertations from 2017
Tendrescopic endeavors and other dynamics, Jared Akerstrom
The past is today, Afra Al Dhaheri
Otra vez : hierarchy as designer, Jordyn Alvidrez
Creating access and equity in arts education : strategic partnerships for systemic change, Colleen C. Andrews
Thesis, Robert Joseph Anspach
The creative process : gathering for meaning, Charity Appell McNabb
Communicatronics, Adi Azulay
Proximity, interaction, and evolution : taking a deeper look at the systems around us, Rachel Back
Let's get hairy : women, body hair and stigma in arts education, Chaitra Bangalore
Fluid solid : can we converse with granite?, Patrick T. Beals
I was there : irreversible view, Asma Belhamar
Anchored in place : locational identity + new genre public art, Stephanie Benenson
Na'aseh : ritual in practice, Anna Henrick Karpatkin Benjamin
Dermis, Julia Betts
Unfolding : architecture as dwelling in a folded space-time continuum, Feiyi Bie
Double takes : secular magic & empathic vision, Lake Buckley
Balance speaker : efficient work and break, Jin Cao
openness, Yu Cao
Talistones : a handful of help for homecoming soldiers, Atulya Changanty
My fish hat kingdom, Mei Fung Elizabeth Chan
Multiple and moving, Maia Chao
Magkasama, Christina Chen
Water for the future, Ziqing Chen
Breathe, Iggy Choi
Writing a city : a self-reflexive exploration between the lines, Po-Ming Chou
Narratives of public space : a manifesto for future urban landscape in Manhattan, Jaehong Chung
RISD Club, Madeleine Devall
Play is everything : materials + play = learning, Adeline Diamond
Surface, object, space, Susan Doe
Surveillance city in a post 9/11 era, Wanting Dong
The art of the wilderness : a field guide to integrating art + outdoor education, Rachel Dranoff
Re-structure : an exploration of relational engagement through objects & object making, Mark Epler
Playgrounds, Cem Eskinazi
The flood : another note of humanity, Muyi Fan
What makes a good teacher? : the artist's engagement in public art education, Wenjing Fan
The void between us, Xiaofan Fan
Every change, Ruhan Feng
Retooling : experiments in digital apprenticeship, Ryan Ferguson
Super natural : hybrid strategies for urban flood protection in Coney Island NY, Georges Fischer
Sculpting time in spatial narrative, Hua Gao
Resilience on Wall Street, Rahul Ghera
Transformation through drawing and gesture, McKenzie Gibson
Body (less) fitness, Dan Gioia
Humor and allegory, Christopher Goodale
Wielding daggers : the female uncanny, Stephanie E. Hanes
Content-aware : investigating tools, character & user behavior, Llewellyn Hensley
Healing landscapes, Siyi He
Imagine of space : rest(ing) rooms for high-stressed RISD students, Fang Ho
Love view, Wudi Hong
Connections : a new model to customizing everything, Shao-Hsuan Hou
The body carrying its otherness, Rae Yuping Hsu
Inhabit the storm : emergency evacuation route, Anastasiia Isakova
Art loser, Laura Jasek
We are what we dispose : continuation of culture through recycling at Rhode Island School of Design, Xinzhou Jiang
Light installations for LE, Yiqi Jiang
Motivated motivation : a consulting tool to find new platforms for business, Xiaoxio Jin
Developing the cartooning mind : the history, theory, benefits + practice of comic books in visual arts education, Cathy G. Johnson
Habitually, Sunha Joo
Living rooms we don't live in anymore, Caroline Kable
Wellness within reach : life / work balance within the RISD campus, Kyunghwa Kang
Lamination of reality : ever-thickening and thinning space, Leekyung Kang
When it won't fit : a book about containers, procedures, and transformations, Bo-Won Keum
The little girl (kinda), Hanna Kim
From Florine to flocking : observations of a painter - printmaker - embellisher, Elizabeth King
Remediating the garment industry, Kellie Knight
Landscape as an interactive layer, Yifan Kong
Naturally occurring form, Margaret Kristensen
Art-integrated pedagogy for English and Chinese language learners, Regina J. Kuo
Alleyways as avenues, Rebecca E. Ladd
A theatrical life : negotiating biracial identity, Timothy Lai
I / you / they, Yolanda Lam
In between forces, Jungyun Lee
Space as a practiced place, Elizabeth Leeper
Lighting : an atrium core to reconnect with the sun, Quan Lei
How long can you hold your breath?, Felicia LeRoy
Imagery and photography : enhancers in the learning cycle, Dandi Li
Embracing traditional Chinese culture through design, Jiaxuan Li
Creative collisions : a RISD case study, Hannah Liongoren
Familiar strangers, Rebecca Li
Motion and architecture : transition between spatial fluidity and body language, Tong Li