Program Options

Students in the Ph.D. program in communication, information, and library studies may elect to focus their study in any of the following areas:

• Communication (COM)
• Library and Information Science (LIS)
• Media Studies (MS)

Communication (COM) reflects faculty research and scholarship focusing on three interrelated core areas: social interaction; organizational communication; and mediated communication. Problem-oriented research at the intersection of these areas includes such prominent contemporary concerns as health communication, gender, language and social interaction, persuasion, identity, leadership, change, policy, culture, collaboration, and interpersonal communication. The department houses three centers that provide various opportunities for doctoral students: Center for Communication and Health Issues, Center for Mobile Communication Studies, and the Center for Organizational Development and Leadership.

Library and Information Science (LIS) provides a strong academic foundation for students seeking theoretical and research skills for scholarly and professional leadership in the library and information fields. LIS offers concentrations in information science and library science. Information science focuses on information behavior and systematic responses to it. Students in this area develop an understanding of and research capability in human information-seeking activity, information retrieval systems, and information and knowledge structures. Library science concentrates on electronic as well as physical libraries and information centers as part of a diverse global information environment. The concentration considers the design, management, and evaluation of information systems and services responsive to users' information and cultural needs.

Media Studies (MS) is concerned with the political, social, psychological, and economic impact of the media, as well as with the cultural and historical conditions that give rise to contemporary media. The area includes the study of both the "traditional" mass media and newer electronic technologies and telecommunications. Research and coursework cover media content and effects; audience reception and interpretive processes; the emergence of audiences understood in terms of race, age, gender, class, and politics; the sociology and production of culture; communication law, regulation, and policy; and the media's roles in political and international communication and in educational systems.

The program encourages students whose interests fall across these three areas to develop an individual plan of study in consultation with the program director, area coordinators, and their adviser.