columbia mfa thesis

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Columbia university archives: master's essays & dissertations.

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How to find Master's essays and PhD dissertations

• Master's Essays
• Dissertations
• Journalism Masters Projects
• Online Essays & Theses Lists

How to Find a Master's Essay

• Master's essays can be found in the Columbia University library catalog,  CLIO . They usually have a call number that begins with COA. Please keep in mind that paper copies of master’s essays for most academic departments ceased being collected by the Libraries on an annual basis in the late 1970s.
• Harriman Institute Theses and Dissertations, 1947-2018
• Department of History Master's Essays, 1971-1989   
• School of General Studies Literature-Writing Theses, 1984-2007
• Department of English and Comparative Literature records , Master's Essays from 1967-1993

​ To request a thesis from the finding aid: click the check box located on the right for the thesis you would like to see in the  Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room , and then scroll back to the top of the container list document and click “Submit Request” button in the red-rimmed box at top. This should lead you directly to your  Special Collections Research Account  to complete the request.

• Master's Essays from 1891 through 1951 (call number COA A )
• Master's Essays and Doctoral Dissertations from 1951/1952 through 1956/1957 (call number CW4 C724 )
• Master's Essays and Doctoral Dissertations from 1957/58 through 1970/1971 (call number CW4 C724 ). 

To request access to these publications go to the appropriate CLIO record and click on the link that says “Request from Special Collections”. At this point you may be prompted to log back into your Special Collections Research Account to schedule the retrieval date and the request should be listed in your account.

• School of Social Work theses are also found by searching CLIO , but these are not serviced by the University Archives. If you wish to obtain access or are seeking a copy you will need to contact the Social Work Library for assistance.  
• Some full-text Master's theses are available in Academic Commons , where you can find recent Master's theses from programs including Historic Preservation , Human Rights Studies, Oral History, Sociomedical Sciences, Theatre, and Urban Planning .

How to Request a Copy

• To request to see a Master's essay in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room, you will first need to create a  Special Collections Research Account . Once you have your account, look for the essay in  CLIO . From the catalog record,  select "Request:  Special Collections" on the right side of the page. You will then be able to add the request to your account. Please note that these volumes with the call number starting in COA contain multiple essays from the same year and that these volumes are stored offsite. We prefer 5 business days advanced notice to retrieve materials from offsite storage, but require  at least   three business days to process such requests .  
• There is no charge for a PDF copy of Master's essay serviced by the University Archives up to 650 pages in length. We reserve the right to charge a fee of $30.00 for each additional title requested. To place an order, please complete, sign and return the Photocopy or PDF Form . If payment is required, it can be made by MasterCard or Visa credit card at a secure online link provided by the Libraries' Financial Office.
• There is no fee for copies of Master's essays that have been already been digitized. Please consult the list of previously scanned and available Master's Essays and Theses . To place an order, please complete, sign and return the  Photocopy or PDF Form and indicate you are requesting a previously scanned title.  
• If you are the author, or an heir of the author, of the thesis you are requesting, please consider adding the digital version to Academic Commons , Columbia's institutional repository. Email repository staff at [email protected]  to learn more.
• Scanned Master's Essays and Theses

How to Find a Dissertation

• Ph.D. dissertations can be found in the Columbia University library catalog,  CLIO . They usually have a call number that begins with COY, CWO CXO, CZO or LD1237.
• List of theses submitted by candidates for the degree of doctor of philosophy in Columbia University, 1872-1910.
• Master's Essays and Doctoral Dissertations from 1951/1952 through 1956/1957 (call number CW4 C724 )
• Master's Essays and Doctoral Dissertations from 1957/58 through 1970/1971 (call number CW4 C724 );
• Doctoral Dissertations from 1971/1972 through 1987/1988 (call number CW4 C725 ). 

After 1987/1988 you can find annual lists of Doctoral Dissertations in Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Convocation Programs which can be accessed via our Commencement Collection . To request access to the cataloged publications go to the appropriate CLIO record and click on the link that says “Request from Special Collections”. At this point you may be prompted to log back into your Special Collections Research Account to schedule the retrieval date and once you do that you should see the request listed in your account.  

How to Get a Copy

• To request to see a dissertation in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room, you will first need to create a  Special Collections Research Account . Once you have your account, look for the dissertation in  CLIO . From the catalog record,  select "Request:  Special Collections" on the right side of the page. You will then be able to add the request to your account. Please note that these volumes are stored offsite. We prefer 5 business days advanced notice to retrieve materials from offsite storage, but require  at least   3 business days to process such requests .​  
• Full text copies of  dissertations published since 1997  (and some earlier dates) are available to Columbia UNI holders via  ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database . Non-Columbia patrons may order copies via  ProQuest Dissertation Express . Various formats & fees apply.  
• Academic Commons   holds the full text of doctoral theses written since 2011 at Columbia. The repository also holds a comprehensive collection of Teachers College dissertations written since 2018, as well as many Teachers College dissertations written from 2011-18. Some dissertations from Union Theological Seminary, and from Columbia and Teachers College before 2011, are also available. If you are the author, or an heir of the author, of a doctoral dissertation written at Columbia or one of its affiliate institutions, and you would like to make a digital copy available in Academic Commons, please contact repository staff at   [email protected] .  
• If a dissertation is not available via Proquest, you may request a copy from the University Archives. There is no charge for a PDF copy of  dissertation serviced by the University Archives up to 650 pages in length. We reserve the right to charge a fee of $30.00 for each additional title requested. To place an order, please complete, sign and return the Photocopy or PDF Form . If payment is required, it can be made by MasterCard or Visa credit card at a secure online link provided by the Libraries' Financial Office.  
• There is no fee for theses that have been already been digitized. Please consult the  list of previously scanned and available Master's Essays and Theses . To place an order, please complete, sign and return the  Photocopy or PDF Form   and indicate you are requesting a previously scanned title.  

School of the Arts Writing Division MFA theses can be found in the Columbia University library catalog, CLIO . They usually have a call number that begins with ARTSMA.

• To request to see an MFA thesis in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room, you will first need to create a Special Collections Research Account . Once you have your account, look for the thesis in CLIO . From the catalog record, select "Request: Special Collections" on the right side of the page. You will then be able to add the request to your account. Please note that these volumes are normally stored offsite. We prefer 5 business days advanced notice to retrieve materials from offsite storage, but require at least   three business days to process such requests .  
• To request a copy of a School of the Arts Writing Division MFA Thesis, written permission of the author (or the deceased author's estate) is required . Researchers should request permission via SOA Writing Division Office (212-854-4391; [email protected] ). Once permission is received, the reproduction order can be processed.  
• There is no charge for a PDF copy of a MFA thesis serviced by the University Archives up to 650 pages in length. We reserve the right to charge a fee of $30.00 for each additional title requested. To place an order, please complete, sign and return the Photocopy or PDF Form . If payment is required, it can be made by MasterCard or Visa credit card at a secure online link provided by the Libraries' Financial Office.  
• There is no fee for copies of MFA theses that have been already been digitized. Please consult the list of previously scanned and available Master's Essays and Theses . To place an order, please complete, sign and return the  Photocopy or PDF Form and indicate you are requesting a previously scanned title.

The MS Projects and MA Theses completed by students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism are housed at Columbia University Libraries. The most recent four years' projects and theses are kept at the Journalism Library, 204 Pulitzer Hall. Earlier years may be found on the lower level of Lehman Library , in the School of International and Public Affairs. MS projects are available at Lehman Library back to 1957; the online listing covers 1927 to the present.

Bound volumes of Master's projects and theses do not circulate — they must be read at the library.

The most recent five years of broadcast Master's projects and theses are available for loan from the Journalism Library Reserves Collection and circulate for 2 days. Projects from earlier years may be requested at the Lehman Library Reserves Desk. To request a radio or television project, you must know the author's name and their year of graduation.

An online index to many of these Journalism master's essays is available via the Journalism Library's website .  If you have further questions please contact the Journalism Librarian by emailing [email protected] or calling 212-854-0390.

To find Master's Essay and Doctoral Dissertation titles and authors, please consult the set of publications linked to below.  Printed by the Libraries, these volumes list authors alphabetically and arrange essays by department for a particular year.  Please note that some volumes list only Masters' Essays, some only Dissertations and only a few print both.

List of theses submitted by candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Masters’ essays (list of essays submitted for the master’s degree), masters' essays and doctoral dissertations, doctoral dissertations, about the image.

Low Library and campus view postcard, 1903. (Scan #0127)  Historical Photograph Collection ,  University Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

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Visual Arts MFA

Class of 2022 mfa thesis exhibition.

Curated by Elisabeth Sherman Exhibition: April 23–May 22, 2022

Exhibition Information

The Columbia University School of the Arts Visual Arts Program presents the 2022 MFA Thesis Exhibition in collaboration with the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery at the Lenfest Center for the Arts.

Curator  Elisabeth Sherman  notes, “for these thirty-three individuals, this exhibition marks the beginning of the threshold between their lives as students and the future that lies ahead.”

Participating Artists

Sound Artists

Anthony Sertel Dean Jonathan Harris John Thomas Levee

Visual Artists

Katherine Blackburne Linus Borgo Kaela Mei-Chee Chambers Hyoju Cheon Alejandro Contreras Hilary Devaney Fadl Fakhouri Linnéa Gad Danielle Gottesman Amada Gris

Jacq Groves Erin Elise Holland Julia Jalowiec Sophie Kovel Breeze Li Joseph Liatela Lyn Liu Xinyi Liu Raphaela Melsohn Keika Okamoto

Mimi Park Júlia Pontés Jeremy Z. Qin Abby Robinson Christen Shea Kelsey Shwetz Ryan Muchen Wang Elzie Williams III Yixuan Wu Lizzie Zelter

Venue Wallach Art Gallery Lenfest Center for the Arts 615 West 129th Street New York, NY 10027

Front to back: Joseph Liatela, Breeze Li

Left to Right: Abby Robinson, Linus Borgo, John Thomas Levee

Left to Right: Kaela mei-Chee Chambers, John Thomas Levee, Cristen Shea

Left to Right: Julia Jalowiec, Anthony Sertel Dean

Left to Right: Lyn Liu, Elzie Williams III

Front to Back: Yixuan Wu, Elzie Williams III, Lyn Liu

Front to Back: Sophie Kovel, Raphaela Melsohn, Amada Gris

Left to Right: Kesley Shwetz, Fadl Fakhouri, Keika Okamoto

Left to Right: Mimi Park, Jacq Groves, Xinyi Liu

Left to Right: Alejandro Contreras, Hilary Devaney

Left to Right: Katherine Blackburne, Hilary Devaney, Jacq Groves, Xinyi Liu

Left to Right: Katherine Blackburne, Xinyi Liu

Left to Right: Danielle Gottesman, Linnéa Gad, Hyoju Cheon

Front to Back: Linnéa Gad, Lizzie Zelter

Visit the School of the Arts website for more information on students in the MFA-Visual Arts program. Sign up to hear more about events and public programs at Columbia University School of the Arts and the Lenfest Center for the Arts.

Class of 2023 Visual Arts MFA Thesis Exhibition

• Sunday, April 23, 2023 12:00 PM Sunday, May 21, 2023 6:00 PM
• The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery (map)
• Google Calendar ICS

“The ways in which artists in this exhibition are thinking critically about materials, history(ies), social dynamics, and much more, is truly a map for how our current reality unfolds. This exhibition is a marker of the end of one chapter for this group of thinkers and makers, and the start of a bold and promising movement forward for all of us.” – Jasmine Wahi, Curator

Curated by Jasmine Wahi

The Columbia University School of the Arts Visual Arts Program presents the 2023 MFA Thesis Exhibition in collaboration with the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery at the Lenfest Center for the Arts.

Gallery Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 12–6 pm

Opening Reception : Saturday, April 22, 3–6 pm

Nothing Spirit a play reading performance by Elisheva Garva

Nothing Spirit is a tragedy, unfolding an argument between 2 people, regarding an absent third. Loosely based on real events. The dialogue conjures contemplations about love, godlessness, the question of desire in the age of collapse, intimacy and cannibalism.

The performance accompanies Gavra's installation, currently shown as part of the Columbia MFA thesis show at the Wallach gallery. Tickets

Participating Artists

Sound Artists Gladstone Butler, Char Jeré, Merry Sun

Visual Artists ​​​​​​​ Garrett Ball, Ray Barsante, Cecilia Caldiera, Kevin Cobb, Conor Dowdle, Nick Farhi, Elisheva Gavra, Jeffrey Halstead, Calvin Kim, Sangmin Lee, Kat Lowish, Meaghan Elyse Lueck, Anna Ting Möller, Amadeo Morelos Favela, Levi Nelson, Alison Nguyen, Paul Rho, Robbie Rogers, Albert Samreth, Cal Siegel, Jairo Sosa, Christopher Michel Torres, Vivian Vivas, Li Wang, Ming Wang, Shuai Yang

A Soviet Film on Negro Life in America as Told by Langston Hughes and Others

White bitches in delhi.