Capstone Project
The Capstone Project consists of the submission of three research papers (at least one graduate-level seminar and two upper division papers) and evaluation of them by the ad hoc committee. One paper can come from outside of the area of concentration, but it requires an approval of the program chair. The original evaluators of each paper will constitute each student’s three-person ad hoc committee.
Note: It is the student’s responsibility to contact each member of the committee as early as possible, so that faculty can indicate if they want revisions in the papers before they are formally submitted to program's office. Please make sure that you give the committee members plenty of time to review your papers, recommend corrections, and make comments.
The average acceptable capstone paper is between 15 and 20 pages in length. Each paper submitted should include the professor’s comments and their evaluation (this may take many forms, edits on the paper, notes written in the margin, typed comments, etc.).
Additional requirements:
- Papers must be written under the supervision of three different professors;
- At least two out of three committee members must be from the Active Participant list approved by the DGE. A prior approval by the program chair is required if the third member is not from the list and approval is not guaranteed;
- The papers are required to be a minimum of 15-20 pages in length each;
- Each paper submitted should include the professor’s comments and their evaluation (this may take many forms, edits on the paper, notes written in the margin, typed comments, etc.);
- The papers are to reference at least 10 sources, listed in a bibliography
- The papers have to be submitted via email to idpgrads@international.ucla.edu during the last term, by the last day of the quarter in which the student is graduating. The papers should be submitted as three separate PDF files in one email;
- The Capstone Approval Form has to be submitted to the East Asian Studies office along with the papers. It is preferred that the professors sign the same approval form, but if that's not possible, the professors can put their signatures on separate forms;
- The departmental chair will review the comments from the grading professors to determine satisfactory/unsatisfactory.
- Following the submission deadline, the program, the Registrar’s Office, and the DGE will verify capstone completion. Please allow up to three weeks for processing.
- For information about diploma availability and your final transcript, please refer to the Registrar’s Office webpage.
Students are advised to monitor the progress of these procedures by remaining in touch with their committee members and the staff graduate advisor. Failure to submit completed forms by deadlines may result in the postponement of the graduation to the following academic quarter.
Faculty Committees
It is the student's choice and responsibility to decide whether they wish to satisfy their final degree requirement by writing a Master's Thesis or by submitting the Capstone Project. It is likewise up to the student to select and nominate which faculty will serve on their committee, but:
- Capstone Project committee must be formally appointed by submitting a formal petition signed by all committee members and the EAS MA program chair. Use the Capstone Project Committee Nomination Form to nominate your committee members;
- At least two of the three faculty members must be chosen from the EAS MA program's Active Participant Faculty list. A third committee member can be a UCLA ladder faculty member who is not on the Active Participant Faculty list; however, this requires program chair review and pre-approval.
