phd communications california

Doctoral Program

If you are interested in doctoral-level studies, you may apply to the ph.d. program even if your highest educational credential is a bachelor's degree., about the doctoral program.

A master's degree is not required for admission into our doctoral program.

Doctoral Program Preparation

The Ph.D. program is designed for students with backgrounds in communication or a related field, notably, psychology, sociology, political science or the social aspects of computer science.

Requirements

The Ph.D. program is designed for students with backgrounds in communication or a related field such as psychology, sociology, political science or the social aspects of computer science.

Academic Advising

Academic advising is available to doctoral students through several resources: from their major professor and committee, as well as from the program's graduate adviser. Guidance on administrative procedures also can be obtained from the program's graduate coordinator.

Career Placements

All members of our 2015 class of graduating doctoral students have found employment.

How to Apply

Submit your application online to apply to the doctoral program.

Students in the doctoral program learn theories that guide research into communication processes and effects and into institutions and technologies that lend pattern to communication. Applicants for the PhD are expected to acquire and demonstrate humanistic and behavioral knowledge of communication while acquiring skills requisite to scholarly research in the discipline.

Screening Procedures

Student progress is carefully monitored by the School of Communication faculty. Students are normally screened at the end of their first year of graduate study. At that time they must have completed no fewer than 16 and no more than 24 units, including COMM 525 , COMM 526 , COMM 550 and COMM 552 . Students are evaluated on subject matter competence, teaching potential and their ability to conduct independent research. Upon successful passage of the screening procedure, the student has 30 days in which to form a qualifying exam committee.

Course Requirements

The student is required to take a minimum of 72 units and write an approved dissertation.

Four core courses

COMM 525x Humanistic and Social Scientific Approaches to Human Communication I Units: 4
COMM 526x Humanistic and Social Scientific Approaches to Human Communication II Units: 4
COMM 550 Quantitative Research Methods in Communication Units: 4
COMM 552 Qualitative Research Methods in Communication Units: 4

And Doctoral Dissertation

COMM 794a Doctoral Dissertation Units: 2 are required for all students
COMM 794b Doctoral Dissertation Units: 2 are required for all students

Students specialize in one of seven tracks by completing a minimum of three courses (12 units) in one of the following:

(1) rhetoric, politics and publics:.

COMM 509x Classical Rhetorical Theory Units: 4
COMM 511x Contemporary Rhetorical Theory Units: 4
COMM 512x Rhetorical Criticism Units: 4
COMM 513x Neoclassical Rhetorical Theory Units: 4
COMM 514x Social Movements as Rhetorical Form Units: 4
COMM 515x Postmodern Rhetorical Theory Units: 4
COMM 517x Rhetorical Theory and Culture Units: 4
COMM 518x American Public Address Units: 4
COMM 520 The Rhetoric of the Presidential Campaign Trail Units: 4
COMM 521x Argumentation Units: 4
COMM 522x Kenneth Burke’s Dramatistic Theory Units: 4
COMM 573 Networked Publics: Theories and Encounters Units: 4
COMM 576 Civic Media and Participatory Politics Units: 4
COMM 580 Media and Politics Units: 4

(2) Media, Culture and Community:

CMGT 587 Audience Analysis Units: 4
COMM 516x Feminist Theory and Communication Units: 4
COMM 519x Cultural Studies in Communication Units: 4
COMM 564 Communication, Culture and Capitalism Units: 4
COMM 575 Advocacy and Social Change in Entertainment and the Media Units: 4
COMM 605 Advanced Macro Theories of Communication Units: 4
COMM 618 Mass Media Effects Units: 4
COMM 629 Global Culture Units: 4
COMM 653 Research, Practice and Social Change Units: 4
COMM 654 Art, Artists and Society Units: 4
COMM 655 Studies in Sound, Music and Communication Units: 4
COMM 656 Theorizing Race, Culture, Cross-Cultural Exchange Units: 4
COMM 662 Video Games Research Units: 4
COMM 672 Experiments in Critical Writing Units: 4

(3) Health Communication and Social Dynamics:

CMGT 581 Media in Social Services: Design and Evaluation of Campaigns Units: 4
CMGT 583 Social Marketing and Entertainment Education Units: 4
CMGT 588 Global Storytelling: The Power of Narrative Units: 4
COMM 554 Regression and Multivariate Communication Research Units: 4
COMM 602 Seminar in Persuasion Units: 4
COMM 611 Communication Technology and Healthcare Units: 4
COMM 612 Designing Health Communication Interventions Units: 4
COMM 613 Grant Writing in Communication Units: 4
COMM 614 Computational Approaches in Health Communication Units: 4
COMM 615 Health Communication Units: 4
COMM 616 Meta-Analysis in Health Communication Units: 4
COMM 650 Survey Construction and Validation Units: 4
COMM 651 Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs Units: 4

(4) Groups, Organizations and Networks:

COMM 508x Power, Politics and Conflict in Communication Units: 4
COMM 524x Small Group Process Units: 4
COMM 585x Organizational Communication Units: 4
COMM 635 Economics of Information Units: 4
COMM 636 Interpretive and Cultural Approaches in Organizational Communication Units: 4
COMM 637 Current Readings in Organizational Communication Units: 4
COMM 638 Global, International and Intercultural Communication in Organizations Units: 4
COMM 640 Communication and Organizational Change Units: 4
COMM 641 Organizations and Communication Technologies Units: 4
COMM 645 Communication Networks Units: 4
COMM 648 Online Communities and Networks Units: 4
COMM 652 Ethnographic Field Research in Communication Units: 4

(5) Political Economy of Global Communication:

COMM 546 The Political Economy of Innovation Units: 4
COMM 553 Global Internet Governance Units: 4
COMM 559 Globalization, Communication and Society Units: 4
COMM 560 Global Media and Communication in China and Asia Units: 4
COMM 561 Leading and Communicating Change in Global Organizations Units: 4
COMM 567 The Political Economy of Privacy and Cybersecurity Units: 4
COMM 570 Economics of the Communication Industries Units: 4
COMM 582 Information and Communication Technology for Development Units: 4
COMM 630 Communication Technology and Social Change Units: 4
COMM 647x Network Society Units: 4
PUBD 504 Global Issues and Public Diplomacy Units: 4
PUBD 510 Technologies and Public Diplomacy Units: 4
PUBD 515 Transnational Diplomacy and Global Security Units: 4
PUBD 516 International Broadcasting Units: 4
PUBD 522 Hard Power, Soft Power and Smart Power Units: 4

(6) Information, Political Economy and Entertainment:

CMGT 582 International Communication: National Development Units: 4
COMM 563 Black Popular Culture: Theory and Central Debates Units: 4
COMM 566 Using Theory to Craft Policies to Affect Change Units: 4
COMM 660 Entertainment and Games Units: 4
COMM 670 Economic Cultures Units: 4

(7) New Media and Technology:

CMGT 530 Social Dynamics of Communication Technologies Units: 4
CMGT 531 Communication and the International Economy Units: 4
CMGT 537 The Industry, Science and Culture of Video Games Units: 4
COMM 572 Theories of Computer-Mediated Communication Units: 4
COMM 577 Fandom, Participatory Culture and Web 2.0 Units: 4
COMM 578 New Media Literacies Units: 4

Additional Requirements

In addition, students must take at least two courses in one other track outside their specialization (8 units total).

Students also pursue an approved cognate program of study in which at least 8 units (normally two courses) are taken in a related field outside Communication.

Students entering the School of Communication with a master’s degree may, with approval, apply part of their previous graduate course work toward the PhD degree.

Students will develop methodological abilities through coursework, collaboration with faculty advisers and mentors, work with Annenberg research groups and centers, and individual and group research projects.

Qualifying Exam Committee

This committee is composed of five faculty members, at least three of whom have appointments in the School of Communication. Students are expected to work closely with the members of their qualifying exam committee in selecting advanced course work and shaping areas of interest and research. In addition to helping the student plan a program, the committee administers the qualifying examination.

Qualifying Examination

Qualifying examinations for the PhD usually are taken near the end of the third year of study following completion of all required courses. The examination includes both written and oral portions. The student’s qualifying exam committee composes the questions for the written portion of the exam and administers the oral defense. Students must pass both portions to advance to candidacy.

Doctoral Dissertation

The dissertation is an original research project contributing to knowledge about human communication and should demonstrate a high level of competence in methodologies of scholarly inquiry.

Doctoral Dissertation Committee

This committee is composed of at least three and no more than five faculty members. A majority of the committee must have an appointment in the School of Communication.

Defense of Dissertation

Dissertations are defended in a formal meeting with the dissertation committee prior to submission of the final manuscript to the Graduate School.

Theory and Research Ph.D.

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The Ph.D. program prepares students to conduct original research on communication processes, their origins, and their psychological, political and cultural effects. Most of our doctoral graduates enter academic teaching and research careers, or communication-related professions that require research skills.

Students usually enter the program with strong interests in one of our three areas of special strength: Media Psychology , Political Communication , or Journalism, Media and Culture . Within the program, students tend to anchor in one area while exploring key empirical and theoretical concerns in the others. After a core curriculum of courses in quantitative and qualitative methods, statistics, and mass communication theory, each student builds a research specialization through advanced courses and seminars in Communication and related departments, research projects, teaching, and an examination in the area of concentration. These requirements are normally completed within four years, and the dissertation within six.

Ph.D. Requirements and Procedures

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Graduate Studies in Communication

In the Communication Department at UCSD we vigorously engage in the social investigation and transformation of communication practices, weaving together perspectives, theories, and methods from sociology, psychology, education, political science, anthropology, philosophy of science, history, media studies and production, computer science, cultural studies, and critical legal theory. Our department grew out of an inter-disciplinary undergraduate program jointly sponsored by the departments of drama, political science, psychology, and sociology. It became an autonomous department in 1982 and instituted a Ph.D. program in 1986. Our expansion into old and new disciplines reflects our faculty's shared commitment to innovative work, crossing disciplines, media forms and social contexts. The graduate program blends two traditions: critical communication research and empirical interdisciplinary scholarship. Study is organized around the following three analytic perspectives: communication as a social force, communication and culture, and communication and the person. In addition, the Department believes that investigation into communication requires a blending of theory and practice, hence our attention to media practices.

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Our Graduate Program

We prepare world-class scholars who shape the field and society beyond the academy.

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Our MA/PhD program provides students with the theoretical thinking and methodological skills they need to become world-class communication researchers. This entails close collaboration with distinguished faculty and fellow talented graduate students. Through a combination of coursework, teaching, and research, graduates of our program emerge to take faculty positions at leading research institutions and start excellent careers in the public and private sector.