Capstone Thesis

After completion of twenty-seven credit hours and at least four courses in the concentration, the student who chooses the thesis option to complete the MAPW degree requirements must register for at least six hours of PRWR 7960: The MAPW Thesis. We strongly recommend that students register for three hours of PRWR 7960 in two successive semesters.

There are two forms of thesis: the research thesis and the creative thesis.

The Research Thesis

The research thesis demonstrates a student's ability to carry out independent research in the student's concentration and to contribute to the knowledge in the field. The student should select a research topic as early as possible in consultation with his or her adviser, taking into consideration the following:

• his or her background and interest,
• ability to handle the problem,
• accessibility of research materials, and
• the probable significance of the project to the professional community for which it is intended.

The total length of the research thesis may vary depending on the field and genre in which the writer is working. The final length should result from consultation with the student's thesis committee, as this committee will ultimately approve or reject the project.

Note: Students are required to follow the procedures established by the Institutional Review Board (IRB ) for all research involving human participants.

The Creative Thesis

For creative writers, a thesis would be a book-length manuscript. This option is recommended for students who have already completed a large portion of the proposed work. For example, novelists may already have a rough novel manuscript and will spend their time while enrolled in 7960 revising the manuscript, or a poet may have a large number of poems which will need to be revised and ordered into a book.

The creative thesis must begin with an introductory essay that puts forth a single and unified aesthetic statement that explains how the writer conceives the purpose and effect of the work.

For creative writers, guidelines for lengths of various genres are as follows:

• prose: a novel or book of creative nonfiction should be about 200 pages; a collection of short stories, short-short stories, or creative nonfiction essays about 150 pages; and a novella about 150 pages;
• poetry: a book of poems should include about 30 poems, although writers of very long poems may be allowed to include fewer poems and writers of very short poems may be required to include more, contingent upon consultation with the thesis committee;
• plays or scripts: a minimum of 100 pages (minutes); and
• mixed genres: the manuscript may vary depending on the weight given to any particular genre and should result from consultation with the thesis committee.