Undergraduate Program - Writing a Thesis

Pursuing a Thesis

Senior Concentrators wishing to graduate with honors in the Department must produce a senior thesis and carry academic standing of Group II or better, with a minimum GPA of 3.00 in concentration grades. In deciding whether one wishes to fulfill the honors requirements, students should consider their academic interests, commitment to independent research, and other deadlines and obligations during the thesis year. Many students find the task of producing a substantial piece of critical scholarship interesting and rewarding, but others find the senior thesis can become a frustrating and unwieldy burden. Some students prefer the freedom to take elective courses or savor extra-curricular pursuits during their last year at the College unhampered by the encroaching demands of thesis preparation. In general, it may be remarked that students are unlikely to do well in the honors program who are not already proven practiced writers committed to the process of scholarship; the senior thesis is not the place to acquire basic skills in writing, design, and/or research. In considering the Department's honors requirements, it should be remembered that students with honors grades overall may graduate with University Honors (Cum Laude) even if they do not receive Honors in History of Art and Architecture. The Undergraduate Program Coordinator (Marcus Mayo), Director of Senior Theses (Carrie Lambert-Beatty,) Director of Undergraduate Study (Jennifer L. Roberts), and Director of the Architecture Studies Track (Megan Panzano), are each available for consultation when determining if pursuing honors is the right decision for any individual student.

Department Timeline of Thesis Preparation 

A schedule of departmental dates and deadlines relative to the thesis will be available on the respective thesis-course Canvas site by the beginning of each fall Term. The thesis writer and faculty thesis adviser should agree on a working schedule which will adequately conform to these deadlines.

Concentrators undertaking a thesis are required to enroll in HAA 99A (fall) and B (spring) for course credit. Students in the architecture track pursuing a design thesis should enroll in HAA 92r (fall) and 99B (spring). Joint concentrators will enroll in the 99 course of their primary concentration.

Overseen by the Director of Senior Theses, HAA 99A –“The Senior Thesis Seminar” – will meet several times during the fall semester for two-hour sessions devoted to facilitating the preparation and writing of a thesis. These sessions will cover such topics as compiling a bibliography, using archives, the use of key technology and software, and constructing and presenting an effective argument. All concentrators pursuing a written thesis project are required to enroll in this seminar. Joint concentrators enrolled in another department’s thesis seminar, and HAA design thesis students enrolled in HAA 92r, are welcome and encouraged to attend some or all sessions of 99A in addition to their primary thesis preparation course.

Late in the fall semester, each concentrator pursuing a thesis will deliver a twenty-minute presentation on their thesis topic, illustrated with digitally projected images, at the Senior Thesis Presentations. All departmental faculty and students will be invited to these presentations. By the end of winter break, each student will submit a complete first draft of the thesis, complete with illustrations.

Overview of Key Dates for Thesis Preparation

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 February: Preliminary Summer Research Funding Proposals Due. 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 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.

Fall Semester, Senior Year

• During the semester, students enroll in HAA 99A or 92r and follow course deadlines (Please consult the HAA 99A and 92r Canvas sites for additional details).
• Students meet regularly with their faculty advisers.
• Early December: Senior Thesis Presentations. All students pursuing a thesis will give a twenty-minute presentation to department students and faculty followed by discussion.

Spring Semester, Senior Year

• 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 

The process of taking honors and producing the thesis in the Department is overseen for all concentrators by the Director of Senior Theses, Professor Carrie Lambert-Beatty. The Director of Senior Theses leads the Fall Term thesis-writing seminar (HAA 99A) and directs the faculty meetings at which rising senior advisor assignments and senior honors grades are determined.

Faculty Thesis Adviser 

When submitting their initial proposal in the spring of the junior year, students should include a list of three possible faculty advisers, each of which they have previously met or corresponded with to discuss their plans. The Department will then match students with advisers according to student preference and faculty availability. Faculty thesis advisers should generally be full faculty members of the History of Art and Architecture Department, although Harvard museum curators with relevant expertise may also serve as advisers at the discretion of the Director of Senior Theses.  Design thesis students will be provided with a separate network of advisors to consult with at the GSD via the Director of the Architecture Studies Track, Megan Panzano. Joint concentrators with HAA as their primary field will be expected to secure an additional advisor from their allied concentration. Allied joint concentrators are expected to follow the recommendations of their primary concentration when determining advisors.

The adviser ought to serve as a critic of synthesized ideas and writings/designs, rather than as a director of the project. The adviser should be chosen with consideration more to compatibility in overseeing the process of the work than to being an expert in the field. If you have trouble identifying an appropriate adviser, please consult with the Director of Senior Theses or Undergraduate Program Coordinator before the spring deadline for the Thesis Proposal.

Graduate students in the Department of History of Art and Architecture do not advise Senior Theses.

Program Director, Harvard Undergraduate Architecture Studies Track

Megan Panzano, Program Director of the Harvard Undergraduate Architecture Studies Track, oversees the execution of the two studio courses “HAA 96A – Architecture Studio I: Transformations” and “HAA 96B – Architecture Studio II: Connections”, as well as the senior design-thesis seminar “HAA 92R – Design Speculations.” She is available to consult for general advice on the design-thesis process. She coordinates the assignment of readers to senior design-thesis projects in consultation with the Director of Senior Theses and Undergraduate Program Coordinator.

Undergraduate Program Coordinator

The Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Marcus Mayo, is available to consult at any point regarding general questions about the senior thesis writing process. In conjunction with the Director of Senior Theses, they will coordinate the initial meeting of concentrators interested in writing a thesis in the fall term of their junior year. The Undergraduate Program Coordinator collects and distributes thesis proposals, summer funding proposals, advisor assignments, as well as completed theses, grades and reader comments. They hold examples of the written requirements (thesis proposal and prospectus) and of the Pulitzer and Abramson Grant applications which students are encouraged to consult as paradigms.

Academic Requirements – Written Thesis

The writing and evaluation of the thesis is a year-long process, during which the writer enrolls in a senior thesis preparation seminar (HAA 99A) and meets at scheduled intervals with their faculty adviser to formulate, develop, and ultimately refine their thesis work.

The Department encourages seniors to think broadly and explore a problem of interest. The thesis topic does not necessarily have to be within the writer's declared major field, except when required for a joint concentration, in which case, the topic must address an issue shared by both concentrations. The thesis should demonstrate an ability to pose a meaningful question, present a well-reasoned and structured argument, and marshal appropriate evidence. The student should apply a clear methodology and be aware of the assumptions behind the argument, the possible deficiencies of the sources and data used, and the implications of the conclusions. The various parts of the thesis should cohere in an integrated argument; the thesis should not be a series of loosely connected short essays. A primary expectation of the thesis is that it is a work of independent scholarship, directed and crafted by the student, with the thesis adviser serving in a capacity of "indirect overseeing of the project."

There is no set pattern for an acceptable thesis. The writer should demonstrate familiarity with scholarly methods in the use of sources, but this should not be the sole criterion for evaluation. Of equal if not greater importance is the development of the central argument and the significance of the interpretation. A thesis may be research on a little-studied problem or a perceptive reassessment of a familiar question. A well-pondered and well-presented interpretive essay may be as good a thesis as a miniature doctoral dissertation.

Skill in exposition is a primary objective, and pristine editing is expected. The Department encourages writers to keep to a short page count, so as to craft a clear, concise paper, and further edit it to an exemplary presentation. In general, a History of Art and Architecture thesis will have a text ranging from 20,000 to 25,000 words. Students are encouraged to explore the resources available to thesis writers at the Harvard College Writing Center.

The writer must indicate the source of material drawn from others' work, whether quoted, paraphrased, or summarized. Students who, for whatever reason, submit work either not their own or without clear attribution to its sources will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including requirement to withdraw from the College. The use of ChatGPT or any other generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools is forbidden at all stages of the writing process, including preliminary drafts, unless otherwise specifically stated by the instructor in writing.

Academic Requirements: Design Thesis in the Architecture Track

Students in the Architecture Studies Track who wish to pursue a thesis project may choose either a traditional thesis or a design thesis project. Design theses are creative thesis projects featuring a combination of written analysis and visual and physical design materials, as described below.

Course Requirements for Honors Consideration with a Design Thesis

Senior Year – Fall Term

1. HAA 92r Design Speculations Seminar – required
   1. Course prerequisite: Completion of either HAA 96A (“Transformations”) or HAA 96B (“Connections”) studios.
   2. 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).  
2. HAA 99A Senior Thesis Tutorial – attendance in this seminar is encouraged but not required in parallel with HAA 92r - optional
3. Presentation of design work to HAA and select GSD Faculty as part of HAA Thesis Colloquium in December) – required

Senior Year – Spring Term

1. Throughout the semester: Advising meetings with individual faculty advisers to guide production and iterative refinement of design work (architectural analytical drawings and/or physical models), and edits to digital presentation made in fall term HAA Thesis Thesis Presentations.
2. March 14, 2025, 12:00 pm EST: Submission of final senior thesis design project including digital images and written text as a single PDF file (see “Submission Requirements for Honors Consideration”).
3. March 28, 2025 (date subject to change and TBC): Participation in a gallery-style final presentation with faculty and peers after submission of thesis. The design presentations for the gallery-style event should include an updated digital presentation comprised of the project title, author’s name, the most current versions of all elements listed below in the Final Project Requirements (with the exception of the Written Manifesto which should be consolidated to a single slide containing 3-4 sentences of a thesis statement capturing the topic of study, a position on this topic, your claim about design agency to address this topic, and specifically, what design elements you’ve explored in your thesis in this address).  Students may elect to also print or plot selected original design drawings they produced (analytical or projective) from their digital presentation to pin up in the space.  Likewise, students are encouraged to bring any sketch and/or final models they have created to display as well.
4. April 14, 2025: Preparation of a digital file for a 24 x 36” poster summarizing the thesis to be exhibited in the HAA department for the academic year to follow. A suggested template will be provided and a workshop will be held on March 25 (2025, date subject to change and TBC) for assistance with poster preparation. Examples of previous posters can be found here (AY21-22), here (AY22-23), and here (AY23-24).

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 of the academic year

1. Thesis Text (text describing specific research question(s), author arguments that synthesize research, and the role of design in its address)
   1. 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, 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:
      1. 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
      2. 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.
      3. 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.
2. Design Appendix (an assembly of all of the relevant images, drawings and photographs of the author’s design work)
   1. 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. 
   2. 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.  
3. Visual Bibliography Appendix (all of the relevant references cited for both the design and written submission components)
   1. Each reference should be appropriately cited in written text using the Chicago Manual of Style, and each reference should also include an affiliated image.
   2. 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

Theses are read and critiqued by faculty members applying a higher standard than expected for work written in courses or tutorials. Faculty do make use of the full range of grades, and students should consider that any honors grade is a distinction of merit. If you have any questions, please contact the Director of Senior Theses, the Director of Undergraduate Studies, or the Undergraduate Program Coordinator.

SUMMA CUM LAUDE: A summa thesis is a work of "highest honor." It is a contribution to knowledge, though it need not be an important contribution. It reveals a promise of high intellectual attainments both in selection of problems and facts for consideration and in the manner in which conclusions are drawn from these facts. A summa thesis includes, potentially at least, the makings of a publishable article. The writer's use of sources and data is judicious. The thesis is well written and proofread. The arguments are concise and logically organized, and the allocation of space appropriate. A summa is not equivalent to just any A, but the sort given by instructors who reserve them for exceptional merit. A summa minus is a near miss at a summa and is also equivalent to an A of unusual quality.

MAGNA CUM LAUDE: A magna level thesis is a work worthy of "great honor." It clearly demonstrates the capacity for a high level of achievement, is carried through carefully, and represents substantial industry. A magna plus thesis achieves a similar level of quality to a summa in some respects, though it falls short in others; it is equivalent to the usual type of A. A magna thesis is equivalent to an A-. For a magna minus, the results achieved may not be quite a successful due to an unhappy choice of topic or approach; it is also equivalent to an A-.

CUM LAUDE: As is appropriate for a grade "with honors," a cum level thesis shows serious thought and effort in its general approach, if not in every detail. A cum plus is equivalent to a B+, a cum to a B, and a cum minus to a B-. The cum thesis does not merely represent the satisfactory completion of a task. It is, however, to be differentiated from the magna in the difficulty of the subject handled, the substantial nature of the project, and the success with which the subject is digested. Recall that, as students putting extraordinary effort into a thesis most frequently receive a magna, theses of a solid but not exceptional quality deserve a grade in the cum range. When expressed in numerical equivalents, the interval between a magna minus and a cum minus is double that between the other intervals on the grading scale.

NO DISTINCTION: Not all theses automatically deserve honors. Nevertheless, a grade of no distinction (C, D, or E) should be reserved only for those circumstances when the thesis is hastily constructed, a mere summary of existing material, or is poorly thought through. The high standards which are applied in critique of theses must clearly be violated for a thesis to merit a grade of no distinction.

Thesis Readers 

Each thesis will have two readers chosen by the Department. A student’s faculty thesis advisor will not be asked to provide a reading. All readers will be asked to submit written comments and grades which will be factored equally to produce the final grade of the thesis. A third reader may be referred to if an irreconcilable disparity in grades is received from a student’s two readers. In this case, the mean grade from all three readers will be used to produce the final grade. Individual grades are not released. When grades and comments are distributed, the readers no longer remain anonymous. There exists a procedure by which a writer may request, via the Director of Senior Theses, to speak with a reader provided that they are willing to discuss the work in further detail or expound on the written critique.

For joint concentrators, the department will defer the reading process to their primary concentration. Students should reach out to their adviser in their primary concentration for further information.

Grade Report and Honors Recommendation 

At the end of each term, fall and spring, the student's progress in the Senior Tutorial (HAA 99) will be graded SAT or UNSAT. At the end of the Department's Honors Review process, the Director of Senior Theses calculates a recommendation for Honors based on the factored grades of the thesis and the student's grades in courses taken for concentration credit up to this point. With this in mind, students are encouraged to consult with the Undergraduate Program Coordinator early in the spring semester of their senior year to ensure that their academic record is up to date. This recommendation is presented to the Faculty at their meeting in April for review. A faculty vote is taken and this decision is passed as an honors recommendation to the Registrar of the College. For joint concentrators, the faculty will make recommendations to a student’s primary concentration but will defer the final grading process to them. The decision of Final Honors to be granted on the degree is made by the Registrar based on departmental recommendation and the student’s College-GPA. Students should consult with their Allston Burr Senior Tutor to determine what final honors might be anticipated at Commencement.

The needs of the Department for fair deliberation dictate that there may be no report of decisions regarding the thesis until after the Faculty has considered and voted upon each recommendation for honors. After honors recommendations have been voted by the Faculty, students will be notified of the Department's recommendation to the College and will receive an ungraded copy of each evaluation of their thesis. The comments in these evaluations should provide the student with a clear explanation of the strengths and weaknesses of the thesis, bearing in mind the difficulties of the field and the type of thesis submitted, and evaluating what was accomplished in terms of what was undertaken, given the student's limitation of time and experience.

Discontinuance of a Thesis 

The process of writing the thesis is a serious commitment of time and energy for both the writer and the adviser. In some cases, however, it might be agreed that the thesis should be discontinued at mid-year. The Senior Tutorial year may be divided with credit through a procedure in which the student must submit a written paper presenting the project and research to that point.

Examples of Past Theses 

Senior Honors Theses which are written by students who graduate Summa or Magna are deposited in the University Archives in Pusey Library. Copies of theses which are awarded the Hoopes Prize are held in Lamont Library. Many of these are available digitally via HOLLIS. Further examples can be provided by the Undergraduate Program Coordinator on request. Students are urged to consult past theses as much can be gained in exploring precedent or seeking inspiration.