"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 2022
Food for an island : on the relationships between agriculture, architecture and land, Melinda Groenewegen
Urban vine: reimagine the scaffolding as a repair opportunity to transform the ecosystem, Shuyi Guan
Alien Encyclopedia, Zengqi Guo
Arriving in the city: reimagining the urban footholds for rural workers, Xinlei Gu
Sobremesa, Charlie Herbozo-Vidal
Wall, Jazzmynn Chang Hong
Scalability system: A tool for bioregional navigation, Lulu Hou
Towards a new immersion, Kaijie Huang
We walk, we live: reclaiming the rights of female and other gender minorities to the urban commons, Wenxi (Hillary) Huang
Darkness matters: understanding the ecological effects and human sensory perception of night lighting, Zitong (Shirley) Hui
Rememory, Jonathan Mark Jackson
Holding spaces, Zibby Jahns
Vulva gazing: power and the gendered body, Aaliya Jamal Zaidi
Transnationals; or, the modern Frankenstein, Kai Ji
Re-order the order of thing, Yingxi Sabrina Ji
The great delusion, Beth Johnston
Miles and miles and miles, Shannon Rose Jones
Openness, Qiwen Ju
Astoria houses: a resilient community, James Juscik
Adaptive reduce: forging architectural futures through degrowth, Erika Kane
Unfolding embodied experience: a process-driven immersive exhibition design model, Mooa Seongah Kang
Healing the Black Butterfly: reparation through resources, Danasha Kelly
New revelations, Ineke Lynne Knudsen
Field guide to gendered public life : balancing the preservation of the existing vibrant public life with the improvement of the female experience, Christina Koutsoukou
What do we stand for?, Lauren Koven
Disinheritance as critique: the paintings of Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Sabo Kpade
!, Nick Larson
Retelling a landscape through the alchemy of recasting, Amanda Lee
Block Chain Home, Jonggun Lee
Immortal/ ephemeral/ versatile, Zhenhong (Brad) Lei
Time enough at last, Scott Lerner
Mason & Dixon: History and Identity in the Borderlands, Drew Leventhal
Last sunset : design to alleviate social isolation for Chinese elderly, Linghui Li
I don't quite remember it that way, Margaret Lindon
Objects in transformation, Caroline Coxe Lippincott
Treeing: what remains of a pilgrim, Sichen Liu
Anti-gentrification: reconnect Chinatown through culture practice, Xianzhongge (Allen) Liu
System as a living organism, Xinyi Liu
Aquatic assemblages: improving dragonfly habitat and water quality in an urban park, Yan Liu
Unnoticeable city corners, Yuchen Liu
Trash matters: material strategies for prolonging the life of single-use plastic, Zixin Li
Immaterial realities, Tyler Lovejoy
Infection-free landscape: adaptable urban open space design during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Weirong Luo
Abyss without vertigo, Jack Madden
Rebuilding Collective effervescence : a "Ballroom" for post-pandemic revelry, Di Ma
Houston, TX Walkable Circuit interventions to aid Houston’s safe/accessible walk-ability, Isabel Manahl
All at sea, Yangyang Mao
Reference: a field guide for new practices, Eric Mason
A fleeting landscape: resurrecting the edges of the estuary, Vrinda Mathur
Wanderer, Yuhan Ma
Contemporary Eco Theory in Art Education: field notes and desire paths, Margaret K. McCullough
With water, KT McLeod
World Settings, Elizabeth Meiklejohn
Material Illumination, Lauren Mikaela Glenn
Offshore speculation: generative ethics for submerged lands, Leigh Miller
Baseball camp and other stories, Lucas Mockler
Scaffolding: medium, mediator, mediated, Mono Yingyi Mo
Solar panels, Marco Nuno Mourão
Extended reality interface, Neil Nelson
Bewildering narrative, Ali Newhard
Post-standardization, Hengrong Stanley Ni
Design in support of playfulness, Seung Hwan Oh
Connect: translating complexity through visual simplification, Ilhee Park
The color of stress, Jiemin Park
Domestic disturbance: cleaning, labor and maintenance of architecture, Valeria Portillo
Care, inclusivity, and accessibility in Glass Art Education, Bridget Provan
Cycle of care: a study based on home-care elderly living in Beijing, China, Wenyue Remi Qiu
Soul soiree: how “Sunday best” dressing encourages celebration of self, Olufisayo Quadri
Other realms, Louis Rakovich
TOBETITLED, Dylan Riley
The Aesthetics of the Mexican Public Garden and its Photographic Compositions (1912-1982), Victor Hugo Rivera-Diaz
[daymeh] a postmemory database, Natalie Rizk
Messy resurrections, Mia Rollins
Re:Connection: exercises in unplugging and mindfully reconnecting, E. J. Roseman
Pace/Place/Space/Tempo—The choreography of equity and expressions of Black Living, Vessna Scheff
Shalom, Zoe Schwartz
A collision of technology and art learning, Feifei Shen
In this form, together, Elana Shvalbe
Accidental Commensality Eating, Belonging, and Mazaa on the Streets of Jaipur, Rini Singhi
Generative image systems and emergent play, Travess Smalley
Breaking | Grounding | Growing: Expanding the Rhode Island gardening reentry programs as a pathway towards stability, Juliana Soltys
Making Space : creative learners, digital spaces, and the relationships between them, Natalia Spritzer
Uncaring universe, Jingqi Wang Steinhiser
Military, art & the inbetween, Andrew Storck
Artful healing: exploring creative expression and play in Children's Hospitals, Phoebe Strobino
Mood follows matter, Maxwell Taylor-Milner
Dear City, give me some space; creating space for ephemeral forces in a city, Abinaya Sivaprakasam Thamilarasan
Slow ruptures; slow formations, Asta Thrastardottir
From invisible to visible: the third wave/way of intervention for Dashilar, Jiali Tian
The sky is falling, Alexis Tingey
Dead Letter Room, Allie Tsubota
Shifting landscapes, Zahra Tyebjee
Deconstruct the center: making space for the voices in the margins, Taylor Varnado
Salt infrastructures & geographies, Jordan Voogt
Endless construction : occupant activism and authorship, Jiayi Wang
Living with fire, Mohan Wang
Farming publics: Use farming practices as a tool to de-alienate people with land, Sirui Wang