2011-2012 Archived Catalog Information

As part of Candidacy Review, and under the direction of their academic advisors, students must declare their particular area(s) of inquiry. This declaration prepares students for the sequence of courses that comprise the MFA Thesis. This sequence begins at the start of Phase II, with ADIA 938 Research Inquiry (summer semester). Here, students survey a broad selection of current design research methods (i.e., quantitative or qualitative methodologies including data research, statistics, case studies, evidence-based design, historic, etc.) used in the field. In this course, requirements will include the development of a literature review (an annotated bibliography) for their area of inquiry to be applied in ADIA 940 Thesis Research (fall semester) for continued in-depth study and declaration of the thesis project.  In ADIA 940 Thesis Research, students will read current scholarly and professional research as it pertains to the thesis project; they will collect information, conduct studies (i.e., interviews, case studies, site visits, comparative analysis, drawing, three dimensional modeling, etc.) and evaluate their research, asking creative questions from a sound theoretical and practical perspective. They will select their site and building plans, prepare models (when applicable), and gather other pertinent research information required (i.e., zoning, building codes, etc.). 

All information gathered in ADIA 940 will be organized and chronicled in the initial draft of the thesis document (electronic and manual binder) in preparation for further completion in ADIA S942 Thesis Design Studio (spring semester). Here students begin to develop and create their thesis project through both the written word and the visual statement. An important part of this course is achieved through critiques and students’ discussions with their Thesis Committee members, allowing for evaluative discourse and response.  ADIA S942 Thesis Design Studio culminates with a critique of the thesis attended by the Thesis Committee and the other students in the course. The thesis is further advanced, refined, and finalized in ADIA S900 Directed Studio (summer semester). The final thesis defense attended by the Thesis Committee takes place in ADIA S900 Directed Studio.  ADIA S900 is taken concurrently with ADIA S944 Thesis Documentation; here all final documentation of thesis level work, written and graphic is completed. At the successful completion of ADIA S900 and ADIA S944, students are required to exhibit their thesis project at a community-based venue to be determined and organized by the exhibiting MFA candidates.