Master of Design

Finding Graduate Theses

Theses (plural version of thesis) is the generic term, however if you need to distinguish between the two different types: they are referred to as master’s theses and doctoral dissertations.

Emily Carr University Masters Theses, 2008 - to date

Theses written in support of all Emily Carr University Master degrees are available in electronic format and can be located by in the Graduate Theses Collection in the ECU institutional repository, eCollections. Theses can also be found in the Library catalogue. In the eCollections theses collection you can limit by year of graduation, topic of theses, or the area (i.e. Art, Design, Low-Residency). Theses written between 2008-2010 are also available in print in the Library.

There may be a time lag between the completion of a thesis and the publication and uploading in the library system. Also, some graduate students choose not to publish their thesis support document. If you cannot find a recent thesis, please ask at the Research Help Desk or contact the library.

Theses Canada

Theses Canada Portal to search for theses in the Library and Archives Canada collection. Approximately 50,000 theses available electronically. 

OCAD University Open Research Repository A collection that includes theses and major research projects (MRPs) produced by graduate students at OCAD University.

International Theses

American Doctoral Dissertations 1933-1955 is a digitized index of nearly 100,000 dissertations by title, author and school, from an important twenty-two-year time period in American history.

Feminist Art Hosted by N.Paradoxa and KT Press Theses and dissertations written about feminist art and contemporary women artists. KT Press encourages adding your own or that of a colleague to the list. Over 1100 theses listed here.

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination, and preservation of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs).

Locating theses other ways

If you are looking for a thesis that’s not available through the Emily Carr Library or through the above sources, we provide interlibrary loan services for theses from other institutions. Borrowing a thesis will depend on the policy of the lending library and not all institutions lend their theses.

You can search for other theses through WorldCat, Google Scholar, or search other university library catalogues.

UBC Library has created a more in depth guide to Finding Theses and Dissertations.