PhD - Doctor of Philosophy in Communication, Culture and Media

Research The PhD in Communication, Culture and Media offers expertise in the study of political communication (especially war and conflict), media treatment of immigration and immigrants, consumer culture and culture change under commodification of the self, theoretical and methodological approaches to social media, discourse and political economy, social justice issues, and popular music and fashion. Students regularly present work at the meetings of the National Communication Association, the International Communication Association, the Eastern Communication Association and the Popular Culture Association. Former and current students have published work on political communication, new media, mediated communication and intergenerational perception, consumerism and messages, business communication, diversity, and critical media studies. Students have also excelled in research methods in high demand in communication studies, including quantitative analysis, network analysis, online ethnography, mixed-methods approaches and discourse analysis. Coursework The PhD coursework is structured around a set of required core courses, a set of required seminars with rotating topics, and electives in graduate communication lecture courses, independent study work and dissertation credit. All students in the program take five common core courses. They then take no less than five courses chosen from the Culture and Communications (COM) seminar offerings. Students are encouraged to take additional seminars after meeting this requirement since seminar courses enable collaborative relationships with professors and introduce students to the scholarly community.