Senior Thesis
We hope your senior thesis project will be the most curious, inspired and stimulating undertaking you have done to date. Therefore, concentrators should craft and manage a workflow, set aside time, and focus their energy to garner the utmost learning, experience and growth. All concentrators, whether pursuing a thesis project or not, are required to enroll in TDM’s Junior Tutorial (TDM 98) during the Fall semester of their junior year.
TDM’s Junior Tutorial (TDM 98) is primarily designed to help concentrators hone their individual artistic and scholarly practices. In this course, concentrators ideate and develop their potential thesis projects and begin navigating their eventual proposal submission and eligibility process.
Following the successful completion of the Fall semester’s Junior tutorial, students who wish to submit a thesis proposal must attend two proposal workshop sessions in the spring conducted by TDM’s Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies and Academic Program Manager. Students may then formally submit their proposals by 5:00 pm on the Thursday prior to Spring break. IMPORTANT: all proposals must be submitted before the deadline. No late proposals are accepted.
Once submitted, proposals are reviewed by TDM’s Thesis Review Committee, which includes several TDM faculty and staff members. If the committee approves your proposal, you are then assigned an advisor (or co-advisors), issued research funds in the form of a grant, and required to enroll in a year-long Senior Thesis Tutorial (TDM 99A and 99B). Proposals that are not approved are returned with notes for resubmission. After a second committee review, revised proposals are either approved or denied. Each formally submitted thesis proposal receives written remarks and recommendations from the committee.
Senior Thesis Handbook
Consult the TDM Senior Thesis Handbook, which includes detailed information about planning, guidelines, and advice on the thesis process.
Additional Documents
On Creativity and Critique
All TDM thesis projects involve a variety of creative and critical analyses. For instance, concentrators whose thesis projects culminate in a research paper need to think creatively about their approach to their research and how they apply historical and critical analysis to their thesis subjects. Concentrators whose projects culminate in the presentation of an artistic production (i.e. a dramatic script, a design portfolio, a performance, etc.) should think historically about the forms, methods and traditions they are drawing on, and critically about the theories informing their process and the stakes of their project as a whole.
Choosing a Direction
To generalize, TDM theses tend to fall into two broad categories: 1) the writing of research papers, and 2) artistic productions.
Research Papers are research and writing projects supervised by a faculty member wherein concentrators apply historical research and/or critical analysis to the exploration of an original research question. These projects are similar to those in English, Comparative Literature and other humanities departments, and culminate in the submission of an academic paper.
Production Theses are research and art-making projects supervised by a faculty member wherein concentrators engage in critical and creative processes responding to an original research question. Though informed by historical and theoretical research in their disciplines of choice, these projects are generally more focused on artistic practices and culminate in the public presentation of their work in TDM’s annual Senior Thesis Festival.
Concentrators completing a Production Thesis for whom TDM is their Sole, Joint-primary, or part of a Double concentration, must also submit a critical paper (2500-3750 words, 10-15 pages) which provides a reflective and analytical discussion of their creative journey and research, thus merging the two-part process and presentation into one, singular documentation.
Production Theses include a wide variety of artistic activities ranging from the writing of TV pilots, to acting and directing projects, to media production and design, to the creation of original choreographic works, and more. As such, Production Theses fall into three categories: Dramatic Writing, Design, and Performance. While not all thesis projects fall neatly into these categories (indeed, we encourage the blurred lines of hybrid/transdisciplinary processes) these categories help us to determine the guidelines, benchmarks, deadlines and deliverables that ensure the successful completion of any given project within the strictures of Harvard’s academic calendar.
TDM students may write a substantial analytical essay that offers an interpretive, historical, or theoretical perspective on any topic in theater, dance, media or performance, broadly construed. Work on the thesis includes reading widely in relevant primary and secondary sources in order to develop an argument in close dialogue with other scholarship. Students may also engage in interviews, participant observation or other investigative practices to support their work.
Research Paper theses are normally in the range of 12,000-15,000 words (40-60 pages), not including appendices, footnotes, bibliography, etc. Most theses consist of two or three chapters, with a significant introduction, a brief conclusion, and a bibliography.
Prerequisites
In order to pursue a Research Paper thesis, students must have taken at least one academic seminar which requires the student to write an extended final research paper. For instance, a research project exploring the role of Social Media Performance in Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 might demonstrate foundational knowledge by having taken classes in Artivism, Black Protest Movements, and Social Media, etc.
If completing a joint thesis, students need to ensure their proposed project engages with ideas, methods, research and/or themes from both concentrations. If the other concentration has more rigid requirements, TDM will defer to the other concentration, and TDM must be the allied concentration.
Concentrators interested in pursuing a Dramatic Writing thesis are welcome to propose original projects with a primary focus towards the craft, practice, composition and invention of contemporary dramatic texts. Proposals must be for new, original projects. Projects may have been ideated as part of the Junior Tutorial (TDM 98), but otherwise should not have originated as coursework in another class or as part of extracurricular activities. In the past, concentrators have successfully proposed the writing of original plays (including short musicals), screenplays, television pilots, text-based new media projects, as well as hybrid and experimental forms of dramatic writing.
Prerequisites
In order to pursue a Dramatic Writing thesis, students must have taken at least one semester-long undergraduate class in playwriting, screenwriting, musical theater writing or other dramatic writing course indexed to their project.
If completing a joint thesis, students need to ensure their proposed project engages with ideas, methods, research and/or themes from both concentrations.
Students pursuing a Design Thesis may design lighting, sets, costumes, projections, AR, VR or other media applicable to live performance. These designs may manifest as a contribution to an actual performance (i.e. a Design Thesis student working in collaboration with a Performance Thesis student), or they may be designs for a theoretical/unrealized production. Students completing a Design Thesis project participate in TDM’s annual Thesis Festival to show and/or demonstrate various aspects of their designs.
Prerequisites
In order to pursue a Design Thesis, students must have taken at least one undergraduate course in their chosen field of design.
If completing a joint thesis, students need to ensure their proposed project engages with ideas, methods, research and/or themes from both concentrations.
Concentrators pursuing a performance thesis have directed a play or devised an original performance, choreographed an original work of dance, performed in a short play or dance work, created performance-based new media (such as a dance film or live/interactive installation) or otherwise produced work that demonstrates their accumulated knowledge in Theater, Dance & Media. Performance theses have also included elements of digital media, installation, durational and performance art.
Because Performance covers such a wide range of activities, students and their advisors should work together to carefully define the goals of such projects and should propose parameters that can help you to follow your artistic intentions while also working within the constraints of TDM’s schedule and resources.
Prerequisites
In order to pursue a Performance Thesis, students must have taken at least one undergraduate course in their chosen field. For instance, students pursuing a directing thesis must have taken at least one directing course; students pursuing a choreography thesis must have taken at least one class in dance; etc.
If completing a joint thesis, students need to ensure their proposed project engages with ideas, methods, research and/or themes from both concentrations.
General Timeline
- Fall semester
- Enroll and successfully complete Junior Tutorial (TDM 98).
- Early Spring semester
- Mandatory information session on writing a successful thesis proposal.
- Working session for thesis proposal application.
- Week before Spring Break
- All Thesis Proposals must be submitted electronically by 5pm on Thursday.
- Spring Break through end of spring Term
- Proposals and resubmissions, if needed, are reviewed. Advisors are assigned to approved projects. Students and Advisors hold preliminary meetings to discuss projects.
- Friday of the Second Week of September
- All students submit a Thesis Update Form.
- Production Thesis Students and their Advisors meet with the Production Team.
- Second Fridays of October & November
- Students completing Production Theses hold production meetings with the Production Team.
- Mid-semester assignment
- All thesis students complete a mid-semester assignment in consultation with their advisors. This assignment is submitted to the student’s advisor and to TDM by October 31st of the fall term
- End of Fall term
- Research Paper Theses: Draft Chapter due (at least 20 pages) to students’ Advisors and ADUS.
- Dramatic Writing Theses: Work-in-progress Readings are held during Reading Week.
- Design and Performance Theses: Students complete benchmark assignments as determined by their advisors.
- Second Friday of December
- All Production Theses Students and their Advisors attend mandatory production meetings with the Production Team.
- First Friday of the First Week that Classes are held
- All Production Thesis students (Dramatic Writing, Design and Performance), their Advisors, and their creative teams attend production meetings with TDM’s Production Team.
- Every other Friday
- Individual Performance Thesis teams attend production meetings with the Production Team.
- Week before Spring Break
- Dramatic Writing Thesis students hold final Staged Readings as part of TDM’s annual Senior Thesis Festival
- Thursday before Spring Break
- Research Paper Thesis students (for whom TDM is their Sole or Primary concentration) submit all final materials electronically by 5pm.
- Spring Break
- Performance Thesis teams may be required to return to campus early to tech their shows, scheduled as determined by the Production Team.
- Wednesday after Spring Break
- Dramatic Writing Thesis students (for whom TDM is their Sole or Primary concentration) submit all final materials electronically by 5pm.
- Performance Thesis teams begin loading into their spaces.
- Week after Spring Break
- Design and Performance Thesis students mount final presentations and productions in TDM’s annual Senior Thesis Festival.
- First Week of April
- Design and Performance Thesis Students submit all final materials electronically by 5pm.
- Last Week of April
- All Thesis Students receive written evaluations and honors designations for their work.
Research Assistance
Schedule an appointment with Theater, Dance & Media’s subject librarian Steve Kuehler for research assistance.
Senior Tutorial and Thesis Grading
TDM 99A and TDM 99B (Senior Tutorial) are graded SAT/UNSAT. For TDM 99A, you will need to submit your mid-semester and final benchmark assignments by the deadline in order to receive a SAT. For TDM 99B, you will need to submit or present your completed thesis on time in order to receive a SAT.
The thesis itself is graded separately, on a Latin honors scale. Grades range from summa (highest honors), magna (high honors), cum (honors), to no honors. All Latin grades are honors grades. Thesis grades are much more finely parsed than letter grades, but like letter grades there are “plus” or “minus” options that allow graders to indicate whether the work falls on the high or low end of the grade range.
Your thesis will not be graded by your advisor. Rather, the department will carefully match theses with evaluators so that each project receives a valuable balance of thematic and scholarly feedback alongside feedback from a theater professional. All TDM theses receive 2 evaluations — only Joint Concentration theses receive 3 evaluations (as is standard across Arts & Humanities departments at Harvard). Evaluators are typically, but not exclusively, Harvard faculty. They attend students’ live presentations in person and are provided with an archival video of the presentation for reference. They receive electronic copies of any supplementary materials as well as the student’s reflective analysis paper. All evaluators submit 2-3 pages of substantial commentary on and critique of the thesis.
Note that, as a department, TDM does not designate an “average” or “overall” grade for theses. Instead, at the end of the academic year, TDM’s Standing Committee reviews each evaluator’s specific comments and grades and takes them taking them into account (along with a student’s GPA and work throughout their time in TDM) in order to determine each student’s overall concentration honors designation upon graduation.