Writing the MA Thesis
Planning the M.A.
For the M.A. degree, our department requires a substantial essay on a subject of genuine scholarly interest. The essay should be at least 50 pages in length. (They habitually fall in the 60-80 page range.) These essays may grow out of a course paper and are sometimes later incorporated into doctoral dissertations.
Students should normally work out their essay topics with the teacher of the Proseminar during their first semester as graduate students. At the same time, they should submit a two-page statement of the topic and bibliography to the Proseminar teacher, who will put it in their departmental files.
Before the beginning of the second semester, the Proseminar teacher will appoint an adviser for each student whose field is close to the selected topic, who works well with that student, and whose list of advisees is not overcrowded. When the subject matter of the essay requires it, the teacher may appoint the second reader of the essay in time to advise on early stages, but in most cases the second reader will be chosen by the First Reader in consultation with his or her advisee only in time to see a complete draft. Students should feel free to consult other professors during office hours when questions arise in a given professor's field.
Students are required to meet with their advisers every two weeks, usually submitting early portions of the essay for comments that may facilitate the writing of the whole. Students are to set a timetable with their advisers for the submission of their essays.
Registration, Fees, and Deadlines
In the semester the essay is submitted, the student must be registered for extended residence or a residence unit. In addition, all M.A. candidates must register for the following specific courses, each of which carries 3 credits:
- G9000, Master's Research
Instruction. This class is taken in the spring semester of the first year. It is taught by
the Director of Graduate Studies and meets for two hours a week.
- One semester of Directed Research at the graduate level (G8---). This course may be taken at any time in the first three semesters of study. The course number will vary according to the student's major field and the semester in which it is taken.
Students must complete their essays in the third semester (usually, the fall semester of the second year of study). A complete draft is submitted to the adviser no later than September 1 of the second year of study; the revised text is submitted to the adviser and second reader no later than November 1; the final version must be submitted for the adviser’s approval by December 10. The bound final deposit copy should be submitted to the Department no later than December 20.
Format
The essay should be printed in one copy on 20 lb. white paper with a 1 1/2-inch left margin and 1-inch margins on the other three sides.
The title page should include, centered on the page, the title of the essay, the name of the author, and the following words: "Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University."
The final deposit copy should be bound in a black hard buckram cover, with the title, year, and author's name in gold letters on the spine. The department recommends Brewer-Cantelmo Co./Inc.,
55 West 39th St. Suite 205, New York, NY (212) 244-4600.
Style, Footnotes, and Bibliography
The body of the essay should be double-spaced. All quotations of verse and all quotations of prose five lines or more in length should be indented. Quotation marks should not be used to enclose indented quotations.
All quotations should correspond exactly with the original in wording, spelling, and punctuation. Words or phrases in quotations must not be underlined or italicized unless they are so in the original or unless it is indicated that the italics have been added.
The entire text of the essay, including quotations, must be in English. The originals of translated passages must be included for the adviser to check, and may be kept in the final copy where appropriate.
Pages numbers should appear at the top right corner of each page. Each chapter should begin on a new page, and the chapter title should appear at the top of this page in boldface, centered, and clearly set off (by spacing) from the body of the text. Table of contents should be included after the title page. It is advisable, when planning the structure of the essay, to give some thought to the thematic division of the topic into chapters, and to their eventual number and order.
For style, footnotes, and bibliography, follow the MLA or Chicago Manual of Style. Be sure to use two initials or a first name in footnotes, bibliography, and the first mention of a name in your text (except for Tolstoy, Shakespeare, etc.). Remember that periods and commas are placed within quotation marks; colons and semicolons are placed outside the quotation marks. Question marks and exclamation points fall within quotation marks if they are part of the quotation, outside if they indicate a question or exclamation beyond the quoted passage.
Transliteration
The Library of Congress system of transliteration, with the commonly accepted exceptions, should be used.
