MA Thesis Proposal Application
To be eligible for the thesis pattern, students must have completed WS500 and four other one-term credits with a B+ average.
To apply for the thesis pattern, students must submit the following documents to the President of the War Studies programme (Application form available in PDF format)
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- And a thesis proposal.
Thesis Proposal
Thesis proposals should provide a brief overview of the topic, the primary focus of the research (e.g., the thesis statement or central research question), the research methodology the student plans to employ, and a preliminary bibliography.
Elements of a Thesis Proposal
The proposal should be approximately 10 pages long and must contain the following elements.
- Outline of research question and approach
- Draft table of contents
- Bibliography of key sources
Outline
The outline of the proposed research should include a clear thesis statement outlining the question to be addressed or the hypothesis to be tested. This should be followed by a discussion of why this is a valid question or hypothesis to pursue, including some demonstration that this has not been done in other ways in the existing literature.
The outline should also include an explanation as to how the question will be addressed or the hypothesis will be tested, and why this is a valid approach.
Table of Contents
The draft table of contents should flow from the outline and at minimum should include descriptive chapter headings.
Bibliography of key sources
The purpose of the bibliography is to demonstrate to reviewers that the applicant knows the key sources that must be consulted as part of the research work.
Students are strongly encouraged to work with their supervisor in putting together their proposal.
Proposal Approval Process
The proposal is submitted to the President of the program who then authorizes that the student has completed the required number of credits with the required average grade.
Either the Associate Chair or the President of the program reads the proposal as part of an internal review. If the proposal is ready it will then be sent out to two reviewers from War Studies faculty. Reviewers may approve the proposal, approve with revisions, or reject it.
Once the proposal has been approved by the two reviewers, the student is then cleared by the President of the program to register for TH500.
Thesis Submission
The following applies to all theses submitted for the degree Master of Arts in War Studies:
- Masters theses will not normally exceed 40,000 words (150 pages), including bibliography, notes and annexes.
- Theses must be completed in accordance with guidance provided at Division of Graduate Studies and Research Thesis Preparation Guidelines
- All theses must be submitted to the President of the program a minimum of eight weeks before the intended date of examination.
- All War Studies theses will be reviewed by an internal examiner prior to being sent for external examination.
Theses must comply with the regulations of the Research Ethics Board .