The program offers two options for the master's degree:

M.A. Pattern I

Four full-term courses, CUST 802 Cultural Studies Colloquium, plus a 20,000-25,000 word thesis or a major project (CUST 899 Master's Thesis or Project).

M.A. Pattern II

Four full-term courses, CUST 802 Cultural Studies Colloquium (6.0 units) plus completion of the Professional Development Certificate and CUST 850 Capstone Project (6.0 units).  

Cultural Studies offers a range of theory, methodology and topics courses (see Courses of Instruction section for descriptions). Students are required to complete CUST 803 Cultural Studies Past& Present plus one additional Cultural Studies course.  Students choose the remaining two courses from available courses in CUST and other units.    

M.A. Project Option

This option allows students to create a cultural product (exhibition, performance, film, play, text) or to become involved in community-based work as a means of partially fulfilling the requirements for an M.A. Students taking the project option are required to provide an analytic-theoretical commentary based on the work, its conditions of production, and its implications for academic scholarship.

M.A. Proposal

The thesis or major project topic is developed in consultation with the student's supervisor. After preliminary research, the student submits a proposal to the supervisor and a second reader. Before research proceeds, the proposal is discussed and approved by the supervisor and the second reader in a meeting. Students are expected to complete and defend their M.A. thesis or major project within two years of starting the program.