The Ph.D. program in communication, information, and media (CIM) has three areas of
concentration: communication (COM); library and information science (LIS); and media studies (MS). Students whose interests fall across these three areas are
encouraged to develop an individual plan of study in consultation with the
program director, area coordinators, and their adviser.
Communication (COM)
The communication area of the interdisciplinary doctoral program in the School of
Communication and Information has faculty with research interests in five interconnected areas: communication and technology; health communication; interpersonal communication; language and social interaction; and organizational communication. Doctoral students in communication conduct problem-oriented research at the intersection of these areas that focuses on a variety of prominent contemporary topics, such as social networks, social media, online privacy and anonymity, children's media use, community health programs, health campaigns, medical provider-patient interaction, interaction
on emergency and emotional support telephone lines, family involvement in
palliative care, global teams, organizational change, corporate social
responsibility, and institutional leadership. Multiple centers and labs
provide various opportunities for doctoral students, including: Center for
Communication and Health Issues; Center for Language, Interaction and Health;
Center for Organizational Development and Leadership; Collaboratory for
Organizing and Social Media; Network Science Lab; and the Rutgers University
Conversation Analysis Lab.
Library and Information Science (LIS)
Library and information
science provides a strong academic foundation for students seeking theoretical
and research skills for scholarly and professional leadership in the library
and information fields. The LIS area of concentration (also known as iSchool)
in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. provides an excellent environment for research
in such areas as human information behavior; social computing; health
information; learning and education; information institutions, artifacts, and
documents; human-centered computing/HCI/interaction and design; and data
science. Students take classes and research experiences to develop an
understanding of and research capability in human information-seeking activity;
information retrieval systems; information and knowledge structures; as well as
digital and physical information centers as part of a diverse global
information environment. Ph.D. students in the LIS concentration must have two
areas of study. With the assistance of their advisers, students select a
relevant second area from one of the other areas of the Ph.D. program or from
elsewhere in the university. Research labs and centers provide various
opportunities for doctoral students, including CISSL (Center for International
Scholarship in School Libraries), the Knowledge Institute, the InfoSeeking Lab,
the Behavioral Informatics Lab, and the SALTS Lab (Laboratory for the Study of
Applied Language Technology and Society).
Media Studies (MS)
Media studies is concerned with the political, social,
psychological, and economic impacts of journalism and of the news,
communication, and entertainment media; and with the historical, cultural, and
technological conditions that have shaped them. It studies how media operate at
the local, national, and international levels, and the research methods range
from the humanistic to the social scientific. Specific areas of faculty
expertise include the relationship of journalism and media--including digital,
online, and social media--to national politics, law, regulation, and public
policy; political and social activism and movements; popular culture and
cultural industries; race, gender, religion, ethnicity, and identity;
technology and innovation; the formation of political opinions and attitudes;
history; collective memory; and media theory and cultural studies.
Interdisciplinary
Studies
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.