DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
The Committee of Faculty offers an interdisciplinary graduate program leading to the Ph.D. degree in Communication. Concentrations are available in communicative development, intercultural communication, and organizational communication.
The program is designed to prepare scholars for research-oriented careers in universities and in the public or private sectors. Students are provided training in communication theory, research methodology, and a specialization in one or more areas of concentration. The goal of the program is to meet the needs of students whose interests transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries.
See “Doctor of Philosophy” for general requirements.
Admission Requirements. Admission to the program is competitive. Applications are considered once a year for fall admission. Applicants must have earned either a bachelor’s or master’s degree and must present evidence of scholarly writing (e.g., an undergraduate honors thesis, a master’s thesis, or their equivalent). All applicants should be knowledgeable in the basic principles of both qualitative and quantitative methods of research, social statistics, and communication theory. If course work in these areas has not been completed, admitted students are required to successfully complete COM 501 Research Methods in Communication, COM 504 Theories and Models in Communication, and a relevant graduate-level statistics course (plus any other courses stipulated by the admissions committee) before enrolling in the required theory and methodology sequence. In addition to meeting the minimum Graduate College admission requirements, the applicant’s scholastic and professional record must indicate special interest in and aptitude for systematic research in communication. All applicants must submit the following:
All application materials must be in the program office by January 1 to be considered. Late applications are not processed.
Supervisory/Dissertation Committee. This committee consists of a chair and at least two other members appointed by the dean of the Graduate College based upon the director’s recommendation. The chair of the committee, who serves as the student’s advisor, must be knowledgeable in the student’s area of concentration, have an active research agenda, publish regularly in appropriate refereed academic journals, and be experienced in graduate education. Members of the committee must represent more than one academic discipline. The purpose of the committee is to guide the student through the completion of the program of study, the comprehensive examinations, and the dissertation research.
Areas of Concentration. Students admitted to the program select a formal area of concentration in any of the three broad areas of communicative development, intercultural communication, and organizational communication. However, the interdisciplinary nature of the program and breadth of its faculty allow students to design individual programs of study geared toward more specialized topics in human communication. As a rule, these cut across the formal areas of concentration and closely follow the areas of expertise of program faculty. Program graduates study areas such as: interpersonal communication, organizational communication, performance studies, rhetoric, critical/cultural studies, relational communication, and information technology. Contact the director for an up-to-date list of program faculty and their areas of interest.
Communicative Development. This area of concentration includes the study of communicative behaviors and functions as they evolve and change over time. Students in this area study the role of communication in interpersonal processes such as interpersonal relational and family development, aging, persuasion, and issues of identity.
Intercultural Communication. The theoretical relationship between culture and communication is the focus of this area of concentration. Students in this area study the effects of cultural/ethnic differences and similarities on a wide range of communication processes. Students may also explore the communication of culture and ethnicity.
Organizational Communication. This area of concentration examines the role of communicative processes and systems in public and private organizations with an emphasis on the interaction between organizational participants and organizational structures, practices, informational channels, networks, and message forms.
Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the Ph.D. program, students may explore relevant course work in disciplines such as communication, social and development psychology, family studies, educational psychology, cultural anthropology, comparative sociology, linguistics, justice studies, industrial psychology, management, and public administration, among others.
Program of Study. If the student has completed an appropriate master’s degree, the Ph.D. requires a minimum of 60 hours beyond the master’s degree. Course work for a typical program of study is distributed as follows: required core courses (12 semester hours), area of concentration (24 semester hours), dissertation (COM 799) and research (COM 792) (24 semester hours) for a total of 60 hours (minimum). A sequence of four interdisciplinary theory and methodology courses are required of all students entering the program. The required theory courses are COM 601 Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Research in Communication, and COM 604 Theory Construction in Communication. In addition, students must take two of the three methods courses, which consist of COM 607 Contemporary Rhetorical Methods, COM 608 Multivariate Statistical Analysis of Data in Communication, and COM 609 Advanced Qualitative Research Methods in Communication.
In addition to successfully completing the required courses, each student is required to participate in a research colloquium during each semester of residence.
The student is also required to demonstrate proficiency in research methods (statistics, computer languages, content analysis methods, foreign language, participant observation, etc.) which, in the judgment of the supervisory committee, is needed for the student’s dissertation research. Evidence of required proficiency may be demonstrated by established university examination procedures or by successful completion of a sequence of courses designated by the student’s program committee.
For students who have completed only the bachelor’s degree before admission to the Ph.D. program, a minimum of 84 hours of interdisciplinary graduate work is required for the program, with the same 60-hour requirement for students with the master’s degree. The initial course work for students admitted with only a bachelor’s degree is similar to the M.A. degree requirements in Communication, except that no thesis is required. These requirements include a general overview of research in communication (COM 501), an overview of theories and models of communication (COM 504), a statistics course (COM 508), and electives from communication or other disciplines to total 24 hours of course work. The methods, theory, and statistics courses must be completed before beginning the required theory and methodology sequence for the Ph.D. (i.e., they are prerequisites for the required courses).
Foreign Language Requirements. None.
Comprehensive Examinations. Upon completion of course work and before the formal approval of the dissertation proposal, the student is examined in the relevant area of concentration and research methods. The examination consists of both written and oral components designed to test the student’s interdisciplinary knowledge in the field and chosen area of concentration and the student’s readiness to undertake interdisciplinary dissertation research. The examination is conducted by the student’s supervisory committee.
Admission to Candidacy. After the student has passed both the written and oral portions of the comprehensive examination and the student’s dissertation topic has been approved, the student may apply to the Graduate College for admission to candidacy. No dissertation hours (COM 799) may be taken before admission to candidacy, but six hours of research (COM 792) may be taken before admission to candidacy. Students must enroll for 12 hours of research (COM 792)/dissertation (COM 799) credit following the semester in which they are advanced to candidacy.
Dissertation Proposal. Before conducting the research for the dissertation, each student must submit a dissertation proposal that is defended orally and approved by the student’s dissertation committee.
Research and Dissertation. The dissertation consists of a fully documented written analysis of a problem that extends the knowledge and/or theoretical framework of the field and reflects the student’s creativity and competence in independent, interdisciplinary research using an appropriate research methodology.
Final Examinations. An oral examination in defense of the dissertation, conducted by the dissertation committee, is required.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Members of the Committee of Faculty are engaged in a variety of research activities. Among others, the following represent research interests of the faculty approved to direct dissertations: the role of communication in creating organizational cultures, the process of social influence, explaining communication in interpersonal and intergroup encounters, the development of interpersonal relationships, the role of subjective culture in the attribution of meaning, the development of communication competencies, privacy regulation, cross-cultural variations in interpersonal communication, identity-validation in intergroup encounters, communication networks, the impact of newer information technologies in organizations, the role of communication in response to disasters, and communication in multinational corporations.
Omnibus Graduate Courses: See omnibus graduate courses that may be offered.
Page last updated:
Visits to this page: