The Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara offers advanced study leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. The department prides itself on a faculty of leading scholars all actively involved in communication research, teaching, and service. The graduate program at UCSB is designed to provide students with a theoretical understanding of the process of human communication. The department embraces a social science orientation to the field of communication. Faculty members use empirical methods to study important societal issues concerning human communication. The graduate curriculum provides students with essential preparation in theory construction, analysis, and research methodologies for conducting original scholarship in communication.
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Our graduate program is relatively small by design - we maintain approximately 30 graduate students at a given time. Thus, we are able to offer our students the luxury of small seminars, individualized programs, and extensive student-faculty contact. At the same time, the scope of the program is broad, encompassing an array of subspecialties in interpersonal communication, media communication, and organizational communication. Students in our graduate program are drawn from various parts of the U.S. as well as from other countries. Most have backgrounds in communication although we also admit students with degrees in other disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and linguistics.
The Ph.D. program is structured to be completed in approximately five years by students entering with no previous graduate work. The Master of Arts (M.A.) degree is earned in the process, typically after two years in the program. Students with an M.A. from another university should be able to complete the Ph.D. degree in approximately three years, although an extra quarter or two may be necessary. Those completing the Ph.D. at UCSB typically pursue teaching and research careers in academic settings, though some find employment in private or public research environments. Recent graduates of the doctoral program have obtained faculty positions at such distinguished institutions as the University of Cardiff in Wales, University of Arizona, Indiana University, University of Texas, Austin, University of Southern California, and Michigan State University.
Areas of Study in Communication
Graduate training in Communication at UCSB
is broadly based in the social sciences, with
emphases in three primary research areas: interpersonal
communication, media communication, and organizational
communication. One of the strengths of our graduate
program is that faculty routinely work in more
than one of these three primary areas, and students
are encouraged to explore overlaps between these
traditional contexts.
Interpersonal communication Our approach to interpersonal
communication focuses on the dynamic ways in which messages are
constructed, exchanged, and interpreted in relational contexts
– ranging from causal acquaintances to family members.
Our approach to intergroup communication examines the impact of
social context on the generation and interpretation of messages,
symbols, and identity where frames of reference may (e.g.,
intragroup communication) or may not (e.g., intergroup communication)
be shared. Each of these two areas operates with unique assumptions.
Yet, our melding of these approaches recognized that interpersonal
encounters can take place within underlying intergroup frames
while between-group interactions can have interpersonal contingencies.
Media communication Students and faculty in media communication examine issues involving the creation, distribution, use, context, reception, and effects of media and their messages. We in this area have a very diverse set of interests, with emphases that span the psychological, social, group, organizations, and global issues associated with the modern day media landscape. We conceive of media broadly, in both traditional (e.g., TV, film) and newer forms (e.g., the Internet, social computing, video games). Our ongoing research programs examine a wide range of media contexts, including entertainment, advertising, communication campaigns, health, news, politics, policy and law, media literacy, and digital media.
Organizational communication Students and faculty in organizational communication seek to understand the complex communication issues in contemporary organizing. We study the messages, patterns of interaction, new media, information flow, and interpretations of messages as they enact, emanate from, and shape forms of organizing in corporate, community, governmental, and nongovernmental settings. We explore topics such as collective action and collaborative relationships, new technologies in organizations, international and global organizing, organizational entry and exit, planning and decision making processes, gender issues, workplace participation, groups and teams, negotiation and conflict, and discourse and organizations.
Interdisciplinary Focus
Graduate students may choose to add an interdisciplinary focus to their doctoral work in communication. Four programs currently exist on campus and can be added as a formal emphasis to the Ph.D. in Communication. These programs offer students the opportunity to obtain crosstraining in the theories and methods of other disciplines that approach the same area of study, but from different perspectives.
Interdisciplinary Programs
Graduate students may choose to add an interdisciplinary focus to their work in Communication. Several programs currently exist on campus: the Interdisciplinary Cognitive Science Program, Program in Human Development (IHD), the Language, Interaction, and Social Organization Program (LISO), and Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences (QMSS). All are formally recognized by UCSB as interdisciplinary emphases that can be added to the Ph.D. in Communication. The programs offer students the opportunity to obtain cross-training in the theories and methods of other disciplines that approach the same area of study, but from different perspectives. Doctoral students in Communication can use these programs to fulfill the department’s cognate requirement. M.A. students are welcome to join these programs in preparation for doctoral work, though no cognate is required at the M.A. level.
Cognitive Science Program The interdisciplinary program in Cognitive Science involves faculty from the Ph.D. programs in Anthropology, Communication, Computer Science, Education, Electrical and Computer Engineering, English, Geography, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology. Its goal is to give students an appreciation of the interdisciplinary study of thinking, perception, and intelligent behavior, as determined jointly by the nature of the environment and by the internal architecture of the intelligent agent, whether human, animal, or machine. The program features a structured set of courses that are taught individually and collaboratively by faculty from a variety of disciplines.
The Interdisciplinary Program in Human Development (IHD) focuses on the scientific study of human development, and may be of interest to those pursuing work in family communication, children and the media, or any other aspect of communication that deals with lifespan development. The program includes faculty and graduate students from Communication, Education, Linguistics, Psychology, and Sociology who are concerned with biological, sociocultural, and ethnic influences on human development. Interdisciplinary coursework in the program is concentrated in three areas: social-emotional development; language acquisition and interpersonal communication; and cognitive development and the acquisition of knowledge.
The Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences (QMSS) emphasis helps students to attain the competencies needed to conduct quantitative social science research through core design and analysis classes, courses in advanced and specialized methodologies, and participation in interdisciplinary colloquia and research projects. Conducting quantitative social science research requires competence in certain core design and analysis methods that are common across social science disciplines. In addition, some specialized methodologies have emerged from research applications that are unique to social science fields. At most universities, social science instruction and research takes place in many separate units spread throughout the campus, which discourages the sharing of resources and ideas. The overarching purpose of the QMSS emphasis is to overcome these barriers by creating a unifying administrative structure that capitalizes on UCSB's strengths to create a unique interdisciplinary program.
The Technology and Society emphasis in the Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS) is closely affiliated with the new Optional PhD Emphasis in Technology and Society at UC Santa Barbara. This degree certification program functions similarly to a doctoral minor, and is currently open to students in seven disciplines. It provides doctoral students with a short curriculum of courses outside their home departments, and a colloquium series in which they can meet other students and faculty with similar interests.
For further information please contact:
Nancy Siris-Rawls, Graduate Program Assistant(805) 893-3046
nsiris@comm.ucsb.edu