Degree Requirements

The Program is offered on a full-time and part-time basis with two options with respect to degree requirements:

1. Thesis option;
2. Major Research Paper (MRP).

Recommended time for completion of the program: 2 years (5 terms of enrolment).

Courses - Two and one-half full course equivalents are required. In addition students must register in a non-credit seminar, Critical Reflections on Fieldwork and Writing. Students pursuing this option will be required to maintain a grade of A- or above in their first term courses and present to their potential supervisor a detailed, well-grounded research proposal within the first three months of term one.

Thesis - Candidates must conduct a research study and report the results in appropriate thesis form.  The research and results should demonstrate the Candidate's independence, originality, and understanding of the area of investigation at an advanced level.  There are no precise requirements for length, but a reasonable guideline would be 100 double-spaced typewritten pages.  The thesis is written under the supervision of a Thesis Supervisory committee consisting of three faculty members, including one from outside the program. Upon completion, the thesis must be defended in an oral examination before a Thesis Examining committee, made up of two faculty members from the program, one from another program and the Dean's Representative.  Aside from requirements established by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, theses should follow normal scholarly standards in form.

Courses - Three full course equivalents are required. In addition students must register in a non-credit seminar (Critical Reflections on Fieldwork and Writing).

MRP - The MRP should constitute the sustained exploration of a theoretical or empirical question.  The MRP should normally be related to the student's fieldwork(*).  As a research project, the MRP is generally narrower in scope, less complex in methodology and/or less ambitious in data gathering and analysis than a thesis. Major Research Papers should be between 40 and 50 double-spaced pages in length.  The paper will be supervised by a core faculty member from the program.  Upon completion, the paper will be read by an additional faculty member from the program, and the student will be required to defend it orally before both readers.

(*) Where students have been granted advanced credit for field work (on the basis of previous work experience) then the MRP need not be based upon fieldwork.  It is also the case that unlike a master's thesis, an MRP need not contain original research. Instead, a Major Research Paper may take the form of a review of literature in a field, the exploration or synthesis of various points of view in a subject area, or a pilot study for a larger project.