LibGuides: Master's Theses Guidelines & Templates: Graduate Thesis and Work Sample Collection

CalArts Graduate Thesis and Work Sample Collection

The CalArts Library considers student work a vital part of our collections, and we take pride in building and preserving the CalArts Master’s Theses Collections. A student’s thesis or work sample is an important culmination of their studies at CalArts and is a unique resource for both current and future students, faculty, staff, and outside researchers.

In partial fulfillment of their degree, graduate students from the following programs are asked to submit their thesis or work sample(s) in electronic format via this form:

MFA Creative Writing (Critical Studies)
MA Aesthetics & Politics (Critical Studies)
MFA Composition (Music)
MFA Performer-Composer (Music)
MFA Experimental Sound Practices (Music)
DMA Performer-Composer (Music)

To maximize the preservation of and future access to their work, students are welcome to submit physical hardcopies of their thesis/work sample(s), as well.

Deadlines

Copies of ALL theses/work samples, in all formats (both electronic and physical), must be submitted or postmarked no later than Friday, May 16, 2025.

Formatting Help and General Questions

For specific formatting and submission instructions relative to your program, please refer to the corresponding tabs for to the left, or click on Music Thesis, Music Scores, Parts, or Recordings, or Critical Studies. Email any additional questions to thesis@calarts.edu.

Master's Theses

MA Aesthetics + Politics Theses Collection
Begun in 2010, this collection includes student theses from Aesthetics & Politics MA program. Immersing students in intensive critique of the relationships of culture, politics, and society in a global context, CalArts’ two-year master’s in Aesthetics and Politics is the only graduate program in the U.S. where you will study critical theory and cultural studies amid the performing and visual arts all under one roof. Our interdisciplinary curriculum and distinguished faculty guide students in the development of individual research as part of a vibrant intellectual community dedicated to the radical critique of art, media, and society.

MFA Writing Program Masters Theses Collection
This collection includes student theses from the two-year Creative Writing MFA at CalArts which was designed to be rigorous and wild, erasing the division between “creative” and “critical.” Here, writing is understood as an art form best practiced alongside the other arts, and students benefit from having access to the CalArts community of artists as their peers and fellow travelers. The collection was begun in 2011

MFA Music Composition, Master's Theses
Long noted for its important contributions to contemporary musical innovation, the institute's Composition Program allows each student to develop his or her own artistic voice through the exploration and study of a broad range of theories, techniques and creative tools. The Program offers a broad array of distinctive courses, exposure to the work of prominent guest composers, and continuous assessment and critique of each student's work as it develops. All students are required to compile a portfolio of professional quality by the end of their residencies.