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These dates apply to all HAA students wishing to pursue an honors thesis. For further criteria specific to students preparing a design thesis in the Architecture Track, see Academic Requirements: Design Thesis in the Architecture Track
Please consult the Senior Thesis Seminar Canvas site, or reach out to the Undergraduate Program Coordinator, for specific dates.
Fall Semester, Junior Year
- Late October: Initial Meeting. Junior concentrators are invited to meet with the Director of Senior Theses and the Undergraduate Program Coordinator for an introduction to the senior thesis writing process.
- Last Day of Fall Classes: Junior concentrators are asked to provide an update on their plans so far (who they have, or plan to, reach out to; initial ideas; avenues for summer research).
Spring Semester, Junior Year
- Mid March: Short February: Preliminary Summer Research Funding Proposals Due. Students submit a basic proposal outlining preliminary ideas, A template is provided. Students should send these to the Undergraduate Program Coordinator, the Director of Senior Theses, and their potential thesis advisors.
- Mid March: Short Proposals Due. Students submit a basic proposal outlining preliminary ideas, along with a list of three potential faculty advisers. Before submitting, students are expected to have corresponded or met with each one of their potential advisors to discuss their proposals. Faculty advisers are assigned to thesis projects in late April or early May.
- Mid March: Applications due for Pulitzer and Abramson Travel Grants. If wishing to request funding for summer thesis research travel, students are expected to submit their applications to the Undergraduate Program Coordinator at the same time as their thesis proposal. See Undergraduate Prizes, Grants and Opportunities for details on grants and applications. Information on how to apply will be provided by the Undergraduate Program Coordinator. Grant recipients will be notified by email.
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- Late January: First Draft. Before the spring semester begins, students submit a full draft of the thesis, with illustrations, to their faculty adviser for comments.
- Late February/Early March: Second Draft. Students are encouraged to submit the near-final draft to their faculty adviser for a final review before formal submission to the Department.
- Week before Spring Break: Final Submission Deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted. On the afternoon of submission, all students are invited to attend the Thesis Reception.
- Late March: Gallery-Style public reception and presentation of Design Thesis projects. All architecture track students that have prepared a design thesis will present their work informally at this event. All HAA thesis writers, as well as faculty and graduate students, are encouraged to attend.
- April: Thesis Review and Honors Recommendation. Senior Honors Theses are read and critiqued by Members of the Faculty in HAA (and the GSD and the Harvard Art Museums, where relevant) at the request of the Director of Senior Theses. Department Faculty meet to vote on final honors recommendations, after which thesis writers will receive an email from the Director of Senior Theses notifying them of their thesis grade and recommendation for honors. Students should speak with their Allston Burr Senior Tutor for the anticipated final honors decision of the College.
- Mid-April: Senior Thesis Poster. All senior thesis writers are expected to prepare a digital file for a 24 x 36” poster summarizing the thesis to be exhibited in the HAA Department for the following academic year. A suggested template will be provided and a workshop will be held in late March for assistance with poster preparation. The printing and associated costs are taken care of by the Department. Examples of previous posters can be found here (AY21-22), here (AY22-23), and here (AY23-24).
Advising
Director of Senior Theses
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- HAA 92r Design Speculations Seminar – required
- Course prerequisite: Completion of either HAA 96A (“Transformations”) or HAA 96B (“Connections”) studios.
- This course requires that students secure a faculty adviser from Harvard History of Art and Architecture (HAA) Faculty using the same process as written thesis students (See “Advising” section above).
- HAA 99A Senior Thesis Tutorial – attendance in this seminar is encouraged but not required in parallel with HAA 92r - optional
- Presentation of design work to HAA and select GSD Faculty as part of HAA Thesis Colloquium in December) – required
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Submission Requirements for the Design Thesis Project (due March 14, 2025, 12:00 pm EST)
A single multi-page PDF Design Thesis Book file labeled with student’s full last name and first initial, “LastName_FirstInitial_DesignThesisBook 2025.pdf,” should be submitted. It should contain the following elements using the department template provided in “HAA 92R – Design Speculations”, and should incorporate thesis research and design work from both fall and spring terms .
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of the academic year
- Thesis Text (text describing specific research question(s), author arguments that synthesize research, and the role of design in its address)
- A written text of a minimum of 7,000 words with citations using the Chicago Manual of Style. The text of the Design Thesis Book introduces the issues or questions you have identified,
and each reference should also include an affiliated image. The bibliography should include a brief (approx. 200-word) annotation, describing the rationale behind the sorted categories. - Written Manifesto (text describing specific research focus and the role of design in its address)
- A written design manifesto of a minimum of 2,000 words that concisely articulates the issues, problems, and questions embedded in and engaged by your research project. The manifesto should address:
- Discourse: the role and significance of architecture relative to the project topic of interest, and;
- Context: the relationship of the project topic to broader surroundings which include but are not limited to the discipline of architecture, cultural contexts, technical developments, and/or typologies.
- The final statement should reflect deeply upon the character of the design process for the project, and discuss how the design process reinforced, inflected, or complicated the initial research questions. For most students, this final statement will be an elaboration upon the presentation text prepared for the fall senior thesis colloquium. The final text should capture and discuss the design elements that were further explored in the spring term as means to address initial research questions (i.e. include written descriptions of the drawings and/or physical models produced in relation to the thesis topic).
- Visual Method(s) Diagram (description of design methodology for research) A visual drawing or info-graphic that describes the process of design research undertaken for your topic. This should include the initial criteria developed for evaluating the project, the steps taken in examining the topic, the points in the process where it became necessary to stop and assess outputs and findings, and final adjustments to the methodology as the project neared completion.
- explains their significance, and makes the case for the design solution(s) you have developed. In most cases, the presentation text written for the fall senior thesis colloquium will be the base for the book text, however it will be significantly revised and expanded. In particular the book text must draw on and explain the elements of design research you explored in the spring term and should make use of feedback received at the colloquium, the suggestions of your thesis advisor, and any additional research you have done. The text should specifically incorporate:
- Discourse: the scholarship in architectural and design history, criticism, and theory you consulted in your research, as well as discourse on your topic in other relevant fields (for example, environmental studies, materials science, cultural theory) that inform your understanding of the issues and that you used to answer some of your research questions; and
- Context: how knowledge of the discipline of architecture, local or wider social history, relevant cultural issues and debates, technical developments in architecture and design, and/or architectural and design typologies informs your understanding of the topic and your design process and products.
- Images: illustrations integrated into the main text section of the book should be well-chosen to contribute to the reader’s understanding of the issues and arguments. The images should include but expand on those gathered in the Visual Bibliography assignment, and must include your own representations of select aspects of your design work, including but not limited to original sketches, plan, section, elevation and/or perspective drawings of your design proposal, film stills, and/or photographs of any physical models made of the design proposal (final models and study models.
- explains their significance, and makes the case for the design solution(s) you have developed. In most cases, the presentation text written for the fall senior thesis colloquium will be the base for the book text, however it will be significantly revised and expanded. In particular the book text must draw on and explain the elements of design research you explored in the spring term and should make use of feedback received at the colloquium, the suggestions of your thesis advisor, and any additional research you have done. The text should specifically incorporate:
- Design Appendix (an assembly of all of the relevant images, drawings and photographs of the author’s design work)
- High resolution drawings, animations, and/or diagrams and photographs of physical models (if applicable) that were produced through
- your design research. This could include the Visual Method(s) Diagram (description of design methodology for research) from the fall semester.
- The elements in this section should be assembled in single-page layouts of slides to follow preceding elements listed here. Please note, this section may duplicate some images dispersed throughout the text as illustrative figures for written arguments in the Thesis Book. This section aims to bring together all your own original design work into one series of pages.
- Visual Bibliography Appendix (all of the relevant references cited for both the design and written submission components)
- Each reference should be appropriately cited in written text using the Chicago Manual of Style, and each reference should also include an affiliated image.
- This appendix may include a larger expanded set of references that were considered in relation to the thesis project even if not all references in this section are actually cited in the final Thesis Text of the Thesis Book.
Grading of the Senior Thesis
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