Less experienced faculty who have a special competence in the field of the student's interest may also act as thesis advisers, but they must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. The Director of Graduate Studies will usually be able to suggest several possible advisers. The thesis is written in two stages. First, you write a prospectus. This should include a brief, cogent statement of the problem the thesis is designed to explore, an outline of the sections or chapters the thesis will contain, and a working bibliography of primary and secondary sources you plan to read and consult.
Most prospectuses run around four to six pages plus the working bibliography.
The chief function of the prospectus is to allow two specialists in the field other than your advisor to understand your plan of study well enough to give you some constructive criticism. Your advisor and the two other specialists constitute your thesis committee. When the committee has approved your prospectus, you can go ahead to write the thesis itself, consulting with your advisor or the other members of the committee as problems come up. There is no set length, but we assume it will run at least sixty pages exclusive of bibliography. At some point, the first draft will be completed and then revised sufficiently that your advisor will approve it as ready to show to the committee as a whole.