University of Chicago authors are welcome to add their theses to Knowledge@UChicago. They may embargo their work or limit it to the UChicago community.
Researchers can find master's and bachelor's theses in the repository by selecting Thesis. In Spring 2021, some programs in the Social Sciences Division began requiring that students add their MA theses. These appear in the MA Thesis Archive.
Browse collections to find records by division or school.
Researchers can find records for many master's theses in the University of Chicago Library Catalog. The Library's print copies of theses circulate and may be borrowed like a book (usually from Mansueto). Researchers may visit the Library to see a thesis, and they may place an interlibrary loan request through their local library if they do not have borrowing privileges at the University of Chicago Library.
Most master's theses filed before 1990 were deposited in the Library. Requirements were similar to the requirements for doctoral dissertations, but a distinction was made between master's theses and master's papers. Master's papers had different requirements and were not made available through the Library. By 1980 or so, most programs were accepting more master's papers than theses. By 1990 or so, the Library no longer received either master's papers or master's theses. Currently, most master's programs call these works theses, but print copies are not deposited in the Library.
Subject specialists can help with exceptions for their disciplines, and there are always some exceptions. For example, see the database for Masters' Papers in Art History & Visual Arts.
The University of Chicago Library filmed many master's theses filed before 1994. When the University of Chicago Library's Photoduplication Department closed, this microfilm was sent to UMI, now ProQuest.
Researchers my find the record for a thesis in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses. Full text may be available online, or a researcher may need to purchase a copy from ProQuest. The Publication Number for a master's thesis usually begins with TM.
Researchers who do not have access to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses may be able to use this subscription database at a nearby university.
If the University of Chicago Library does not hold a master's thesis, there may be a copy at another library. Check WorldCat or WorldCat.org.
Check University of Chicago Convocation Programs to see when a student received a degree and to confirm the department or academic program. The thesis title may appear, and sometimes a program includes handwritten annotations.
If the Library does not have the thesis, perhaps it is held by the author's department.