Doctoral Program

The combination of outstanding professors, excellent students, and a newly revised, leading-edge interdisciplinary curriculum sets the College of Communication and Information doctoral program apart from the rest.

Our program, the oldest in the Southeastern United States, is well-positioned to provide doctoral students with a world-class PhD experience. It provides students with an integrated, interdisciplinary curriculum that allows them to learn about our discipline in a holistic fashion. However, it is also flexible enough so students can choose an area from within our field on which to focus.

Students take a common core that cuts across boundaries in the fields of communication and information. Core courses are centered on knowledge creation. Students learn how paradigmatic assumptions influence theory building and the formation of questions in both positivistic and humanistic traditions. And, they become skilled at identifying and using appropriate research tools to answer those questions.

Under the guidance of exceptional faculty members, students also identify a primary area and a cognate area to further enhance their understanding of both the traditions in our fields and the revolutionary changes that are occurring in communication and information.