The Multimodal Thesis and Dissertation: What You Need to Know

by Augie Morado

Theses and dissertations are traditionally written and published in print. Given that this remains the standard, you will more likely than not write and publish yours the same way.

However, some masters and doctoral students are choosing to publish their theses and dissertations as multimodal projects. These offer novel ways of creating and presenting academic research, and in this month’s blog post, I will further describe the shape some of these projects may take, some recent examples, and options NIU offers for students who are considering completing a multimedia thesis or dissertation.

In her dissertation, Multimodal Dissertations:Options for Multimodality in Higher Education, Annie Tran discusses how the different aspects of her personal and professional identities intersect. In addition to being a scholar and teacher, for instance, she is also a photographer, a blogger, and a visual learner. Tran describes how she created mind maps on paper to better understand course readings; her maps were so extensive that she wondered if she could submit them in lieu of the much more traditional literature review that the instructor had asked for. As Tran puts it,

I felt that this way of composing my ideas was far more indicative of my originality, creativity, and knowledge of the course content than I could portray in an academic paper. But I knew there was no way I could submit a mind-map for an assignment. At this point, though, I was unsure of what other ways I could submit the assignment. After the course, I always wondered if I could have done better if I had been given the opportunity to submit my assignments in an alternative way. I had questions about how I could have been better supported through my graduate education, and how the communication options for academic composition could be expanded. (6)

For Tran, her mind maps weren’t just a way for her to better comprehend the readings; she could use them to demonstrate to her instructors, classmates, and other readers that she was thinking about the readings, synthesizing them, and arriving at novel conclusions – as you would in a literature review.

Figure 1: Tran's visual depiction of how her different identities and roles intersect. Retrieved from https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8441&context=etd

Furthermore, Tran discusses how instructors and administrators design curricula with assessment in mind, resulting in standardized expectations for how students should submit assignments. As Tran points out, this can be limiting for students who may excel at creating knowledge and sharing research in modalities other than the traditional academic paper.

Dr. A.D. Carson, who earned his Ph.D. in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design from Clemson and is currently an Assistant Professor of Hip Hop and the Global South at University of Virginia, is a recent example of a multimodal dissertation author. His terminal project consisted of a 34-track rap album titled i used to love to dream; submitted along with the album were music videos, a blog, and insights into how he writes songs. Furthermore, Carson performed his defense rather than delivering it traditionally; according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, this defense consisted a 4-song performance as well as a screening of one music video. His decision to submit his dissertation as an album came from his experience as an activist – in April 2016, he was arrested during a sit-in at Sikes Hall at Clemson organized by See the Stripes, which Carson describes on his website as “a campaign to help raise awareness within the general student population about commonly overlooked contributions to Clemson University’s history.”

Figure 2: "a.d. carson: just in case" Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbv58fpj5ZE

Regarding his relationship with his advisors, Carson stated in an interview with Chronicle of Higher Ed’s Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz that Clemson’s program “is known for pushing boundaries” and that his program director “was pretty receptive.” Furthermore, he considers his project to be not just an album with some attached artifacts, but rather a “cultural production” in how it engages with issues at Clemson and potentially other universities as well.

For NIU graduate students who may consider composing a multimodal thesis or dissertation, the Thesis and Dissertation Office allows and lists specifications for these kinds of projects under the Production and Artistry Theses section in the Thesis Style Guide and under Multimedia Files in both the Thesis and Dissertation Style Guides. These sections detail submission procedures for these types of projects as well as file formats that ProQuest will accept. Importantly, discuss plans for multimodal projects with advisors and potential committee members to ensure you receive the support and resources you need, and of course, see us in the Thesis and Diss Office with any formatting or style questions.