Thesis Topics

The MAIS program capstone project (also known as the Master's Thesis) provides each student a unique opportunity to do project-based field research. Each student will research, analyze, edit and publish a final Thesis that meets professional standards of validity, reliability and credibility. Students gain research skills, guided practice, and mentorship through the MAIS program’s research strand courses (MAIS 502: Research Methods; MAIS 503: Ethnography; MAIS 504: Data Analysis), culminating in their capstone thesis project under the advisement of a faculty member. Below is a list of topics that MAIS students have researched and published.

Education

• Academic Pressure on Chinese Students
• Foreign Student Acculturation in China
• American and Chinese Classroom Management Methods
• Third Culture Kids in Shanghai
• English as a Global Language in China
• Math Instruction in Urban Primary Schools in China and California
• Medical English Resources for Teachers in China
• Confucian Philosophy and Contemporary Education in China

Economy & Business

• China’s Economic Growth and Elderly Care
• China's Duality: Communism and Capitalism
• Management Inefficiency of Faith-Based Orphanages in China
• Communism and Capitalistic Gains in China
• Environmental Port Policies: Long Beach and Shanghai
• The Future of Wine in China
• US-China Ferrous Scrap Metal Trade
• Utilization of Solar Power Roofs in China

Politics & Laws

• China’s “Peaceful” and “Harmonious Rise?”
• China’s Policy in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
• Public Littering and Environmental Law Enforcement in China
• The Rape of Nanjing
• United States Peace Corps Values and China
• Tibetan-Han and Uyghur-Han Relations & China's Foreign Policy
• The Role of Censorship in China’s Artistic Output
• Views of Formosa: Mainland Perceptions of Taiwan
• Women's Rights in Mainland China
• Xinjiang and Its Effect on Chinese Foreign Policy in Central Asia
• Internet Censorship in China
• China’s One-Child Policy: Population, Sex Ratios and Family Culture

Culture & Society

• Adoption in China
• Littering in Shanghai
• American Sports Leagues and China’s Sports Culture
• Archaeological Perpetuation in Shanghai
• China’s Migrant Workers: Beyond Beijing 2008
• Chinese Christians and Their Cultural Influences
• Changing Norms of Courtship and Marriage in China
• Expatriate Women in Shanghai
• Key Elements in China’s Design Progression
• Korean Wave: Cultural Influence Upon China
• Sustainability of Religious Taoism
• The Current State of Religious Beliefs in Shenzhen
• Migrants in China and Illegal Immigrants in the U.S
• The “One-Child Policy” Generation 30 Years Later
• The New Generation’s Chinese Way of Thinking
• Values and Worldviews of Expatriates Living in China
• The Social Consequences of Migration in Shanghai
• The Synthesis of Chinese and American Folk Music
• Botanical and Culinary Benefits of Chinese Kudzu