The research module of the Master's Degree is delivered through tutorials following a introductory foundation dissertation lecture. Students prepare, over a maximum of twelve months, either a 15,000 word treatise or a design dissertation. The latter involves presenting design solutions for a single site supported by two essays on the major generic underlying design issue.
Students are encouraged, in discussion with tutors, to select subject matter inspired by their own interests and culture subject to the agreement of the Course Committee. Previous successful dissertations include Ecological Design in Spain, Innovation in Garden Design since 1900, and The Aesthetics of Contemporary Naturalistic Herbaceous Vegetation in the UK.
At Master's level students are expected to work independently within a framework of tutorial support provided, at the student's option, via meetings, email or telephone, so that overseas students can be accommodated. Tutors are allocated according to their specialist subjects and interests. Students may use the school research facilities and attend any lectures that may be relevant to their chosen subject.
Students are encouraged and required to develop their own study pattern. Implicit within this are independent research, critical analysis of existing published material and practical time tabling for production of the dissertation. Students are expected to document their methodology and to articulate clear analytical relationships between their own research, design theory, and an extensive body of relevant precedent studies, leading to firm logical conclusions.
An MA in Garden Design is both a valuable professional design qualification and a springboard to related fields such as writing, teaching and further research.
