"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
We got this..., Julian Wellisz
Un-done: The historiographical dialogue between past and present, Rachel Cobler Wollert
Can’t stop coyote, Tala Worrell
Sub Sequence : building a participatory infrastructure, Aaron Wright
Zoopolis: repurpose urban infrastructure to welcome invisible neighbors, Yu Xiao
Beyond Spectacle : parametric design to life in space, Ding Xu
Framing: embracing trauma in your "surrounding world", Zheng Xu
Design for designers : An incubator for young designers to grow, Jiajie Yang
Toona Sinensis 桃花心木, Li Yang
Everything comes full circle, Lilan Yang
The Urban fabric: upcycling textile waste into raw material for urban ground surface design, Wenlin Yang
Zoomorphic amalgamation: speculative devices for alternative communication, Yuta Yang
Agricultural Landscape as cultural practice : through the lens of rice farming, Yumeng Yan
Flexing boundaries : tectonic strategies for the multi-generational home, Elise Young
Slow puzzle, Tzyy Yi Young
The subconscious as politics: an inquiry of collaborative design education through radical speculation, Nina Jun Yuchi
Unseen body, unheard voice, Chunxin Yu
One land / one ocean: reactivate coastal commons in urban territory, Chengie Zhang
The Cthulhu Journey : storytelling through an architectural immersive experience, Rui Zhang
Paradigms of horror, Xingge Zhang
Bee stations: refueling bees and creating opportunities for education, Jinghan Zhou
The importance of interdisciplinary art teaching: reflections on Chinese K-12 Art Education, Shixin Zhou
Cross border conservation - China - North Korea border, Ziyu Zhou
Together: a transformational sequence of healing, Deborah Zhuang
Reclaiming memory through soft spaces, Wendy Zhuo
Space of ambience : learning the relationship between environment, emotion, and behavior, Xueyun Zou
The future of the High Plains Aquifer: addressing potential desertification in the Great Plains, Hongfei Zuo
Theses 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
Cultural acupuncture: decentralization and deocratization in Chinese exhibition design, Ruohan Duan
What do I see between 2 to 8 o'clock, Youtian Duan
Katti-Batti : a digital tool for young adolescents to transgress the limitations of gender socialization through empathy & friendship, Chetan Dusane
Beyond conscious: the knowing of self-owned anxiety, WenYu Du
Rebuilt the fading vicinity, Yifan Du
The portal : a tool for uncertain times, Sophie Engel
Parentheses asterisk ellipses, Everett Epstein
Blur the boundaries: an aerial coexisting system for birds and humans on rooftops, Yu Fang
Algal alterity : a study of Florida's algae-crisis-culture, Katelyn Flood
Dress your chair, Yumeng Gai
Adaptive reuse as evidence of scientific progress: recontextualizing a space for growing knowledge, Kayci Gallagher
Art can empower children and lead them to think seriously about significant critical issues, Jialu Gao
Holding: speculative infrastructure for fire mitigation, Ian George
Defining the diva: celebrity, feminism & performance in popular culture, Rachel Glago
This trash is someone else's problem, Lauren Goodman
Mars is for fags, Justin Quaid Grubb
Creative learning: art as a language for students with diverse learning styles, Lana Gunn
Architecture of aging care: a field through architectural innovation, Eve Huining Guo
Rewilding Seattle: a green network for both humans and non-humans, Zhouqian Guo
Preserving modern architecture & new railway infrastructure in New Delhi, Yash Sahai Gupta
Building empathy at the intersection of art, nature, & culture: a field guide for art educators, Jasmine Gutbrod
Reclaiming modern architecture: an urban visual narrative of Kuwait City, Yara Hadi
Unraveling the living: reframing cramped housing as a social living, Dong-zoo Han
An invitation, Ashley Harris
Beyond pasta: understanding Italian American culinary culture in Federal Hill, Chufan He
Going back, Zhiyi Hilary He
Prepositions, Alexis Hill
Manahatta, Nicholas Hinckfuss
Refiguring relations, Daphne Hsu
Inter - : design for fostering action-oriented awareness towards sustainable transition, Elena Danlei Huang
Move in the internet, Jennifer Ziyuan Huang
Living objects, Katie Tzu Hua Huang
Contemporary art warfare, Zongxian Huang
Augmented city, Xing Huan
Things that ignore, Sean Walker Hutton
The art of microbe maintenance: value and applications in design, Yujin Hwang