Columbia University Archives: Master's Essays & Dissertations

University Archives

Butler Library postcardColumbia University Archives
Rare Book & Manuscript Library
Butler Library, 6th Floor
535 West 114th Street
New York, NY 10027

Phone: (212) 854-3786
Fax: (212) 854-1365
E-mail: uarchives@columbia.edu

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Master's Essays & Dissertations

How to find Master's essays and PhD dissertations

How to Find a Master's Essay

To request a thesis from the finding aid: click the check box located on the right for the thesis you would like to see in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room, and then scroll back to the top of the container list document and click “Submit Request” button in the red-rimmed box at top. This should lead you directly to your Special Collections Research Account to complete the request.

  • Another way to search for older Master's Essay titles and authors is to consult a set of publications printed by the University listing authors alphabetically and arranging essays by department for a particular year. You can find links to these volumes in the Online Essays & Theses Lists tab above. The University Archives paper copies of these publications can be requested (depending on what year you need) via three different CLIO records:
    • Master's Essays from 1891 through 1951 (call number COA A)
    • Master's Essays and Doctoral Dissertations from 1951/1952 through 1956/1957 (call number CW4 C724)
    • Master's Essays and Doctoral Dissertations from 1957/58 through 1970/1971 (call number CW4 C724). 

To request access to these publications go to the appropriate CLIO record and click on the link that says “Request from Special Collections”. At this point you may be prompted to log back into your Special Collections Research Account to schedule the retrieval date and the request should be listed in your account.

  • School of Social Work theses are also found by searching CLIO, but these are not serviced by the University Archives. If you wish to obtain access or are seeking a copy you will need to contact the Social Work Library for assistance.
     
  • Some full-text Master's theses are available in Academic Commons, where you can find recent Master's theses from programs including Historic Preservation, Human Rights Studies, Oral History, Sociomedical Sciences, Theatre, and Urban Planning.

How to Request a Copy

  • To request to see a Master's essay in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room, you will first need to create a Special Collections Research Account. Once you have your account, look for the essay in CLIO. From the catalog record, select "Request: Special Collections" on the right side of the page. You will then be able to add the request to your account. Please note that these volumes with the call number starting in COA contain multiple essays from the same year and that these volumes are stored offsite. We prefer 5 business days advanced notice to retrieve materials from offsite storage, but require at least three business days to process such requests.
     
  • There is no charge for a PDF copy of Master's essay serviced by the University Archives up to 650 pages in length. We reserve the right to charge a fee of $30.00 for each additional title requested. To place an order, please complete, sign and return the Photocopy or PDF Form. If payment is required, it can be made by MasterCard or Visa credit card at a secure online link provided by the Libraries' Financial Office.

  • There is no fee for copies of Master's essays that have been already been digitized. Please consult the list of previously scanned and available Master's Essays and Theses. To place an order, please complete, sign and return the Photocopy or PDF Form and indicate you are requesting a previously scanned title.
     
  • If you are the author, or an heir of the author, of the thesis you are requesting, please consider adding the digital version to Academic Commons, Columbia's institutional repository. Email repository staff at  to learn more.

How to Find a Dissertation

  • Ph.D. dissertations can be found in the Columbia University library catalog, CLIO. They usually have a call number that begins with COY, CWO CXO, CZO or LD1237.
  • Another way to search for dissertation titles and authors is to consult a set of publications printed by the University listing authors alphabetically and arranging dissertations by department for a particular year. You can find links to these volumes in the Online Essay and Theses Lists tab above. The University Archives paper copies of these publications can be requested via three different CLIO records: 

After 1987/1988 you can find annual lists of Doctoral Dissertations in Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) Convocation Programs which can be accessed via our Commencement Collection. To request access to the cataloged publications go to the appropriate CLIO record and click on the link that says “Request from Special Collections”. At this point you may be prompted to log back into your Special Collections Research Account to schedule the retrieval date and once you do that you should see the request listed in your account.
 

How to Get a Copy

  • To request to see a dissertation in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room, you will first need to create a Special Collections Research Account. Once you have your account, look for the dissertation in CLIO. From the catalog record, select "Request: Special Collections" on the right side of the page. You will then be able to add the request to your account. Please note that these volumes are stored offsite. We prefer 5 business days advanced notice to retrieve materials from offsite storage, but require at least 3 business days to process such requests.​
     
  • Full text copies of dissertations published since 1997 (and some earlier dates) are available to Columbia UNI holders via ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database. Non-Columbia patrons may order copies via ProQuest Dissertation Express. Various formats & fees apply.
     
  • Academic Commons holds the full text of doctoral theses written since 2011 at Columbia. The repository also holds a comprehensive collection of Teachers College dissertations written since 2018, as well as many Teachers College dissertations written from 2011-18. Some dissertations from Union Theological Seminary, and from Columbia and Teachers College before 2011, are also available. If you are the author, or an heir of the author, of a doctoral dissertation written at Columbia or one of its affiliate institutions, and you would like to make a digital copy available in Academic Commons, please contact repository staff at .
     
  • If a dissertation is not available via Proquest, you may request a copy from the University Archives. There is no charge for a PDF copy of  dissertation serviced by the University Archives up to 650 pages in length. We reserve the right to charge a fee of $30.00 for each additional title requested. To place an order, please complete, sign and return the Photocopy or PDF Form. If payment is required, it can be made by MasterCard or Visa credit card at a secure online link provided by the Libraries' Financial Office.
     
  • There is no fee for theses that have been already been digitized. Please consult the list of previously scanned and available Master's Essays and Theses. To place an order, please complete, sign and return the Photocopy or PDF Form and indicate you are requesting a previously scanned title. 

School of the Arts Writing Division MFA theses can be found in the Columbia University library catalog, CLIO. They usually have a call number that begins with ARTSMA.

  • To request to see an MFA thesis in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library (RBML) reading room, you will first need to create a Special Collections Research Account. Once you have your account, look for the thesis in CLIO. From the catalog record, select "Request: Special Collections" on the right side of the page. You will then be able to add the request to your account. Please note that these volumes are normally stored offsite. We prefer 5 business days advanced notice to retrieve materials from offsite storage, but require at least three business days to process such requests.
     
  • To request a copy of a School of the Arts Writing Division MFA Thesis, written permission of the author (or the deceased author's estate) is required. Researchers should request permission via SOA Writing Division Office (212-854-4391; writing@columbia.edu). Once permission is received, the reproduction order can be processed.
     
  • There is no charge for a PDF copy of a MFA thesis serviced by the University Archives up to 650 pages in length. We reserve the right to charge a fee of $30.00 for each additional title requested. To place an order, please complete, sign and return the Photocopy or PDF Form. If payment is required, it can be made by MasterCard or Visa credit card at a secure online link provided by the Libraries' Financial Office.
     
  • There is no fee for copies of MFA theses that have been already been digitized. Please consult the list of previously scanned and available Master's Essays and Theses. To place an order, please complete, sign and return the Photocopy or PDF Form and indicate you are requesting a previously scanned title.

The MS Projects and MA Theses completed by students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism are housed at Columbia University Libraries. The most recent four years' projects and theses are kept at the Journalism Library, 204 Pulitzer Hall. Earlier years may be found on the lower level of Lehman Library, in the School of International and Public Affairs. MS projects are available at Lehman Library back to 1957; the online listing covers 1927 to the present.

Bound volumes of Master's projects and theses do not circulatethey must be read at the library.

The most recent five years of broadcast Master's projects and theses are available for loan from the Journalism Library Reserves Collection and circulate for 2 days. Projects from earlier years may be requested at the Lehman Library Reserves Desk. To request a radio or television project, you must know the author's name and their year of graduation.

An online index to many of these Journalism master's essays is available via the Journalism Library's website.  If you have further questions please contact the Journalism Librarian by emailing journalism@library.columbia.edu or calling 212-854-0390.

To find Master's Essay and Doctoral Dissertation titles and authors, please consult the set of publications linked to below.  Printed by the Libraries, these volumes list authors alphabetically and arrange essays by department for a particular year.  Please note that some volumes list only Masters' Essays, some only Dissertations and only a few print both.

List of theses submitted by candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Masters’ Essays (List of essays submitted for the Master’s degree)
Masters' Essays and Doctoral Dissertations
Doctoral Dissertations

About the image

Low Library and campus view postcard, 1903. (Scan #0127)  Historical Photograph Collection, University Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.