Graduate Program and Curriculum

Programs

On the graduate level, the Institute of Communications Research offers only a doctoral degree in communications; students wishing to study for a master's degree do so in related fields outside the Institute. Please note, the ICR no longer has information regarding our programs of study available in hard copy format. All information can be found via the web.

For students desiring professional degrees, the College of Communications offers master's degrees in Advertising and Journalism (news-editorial and broadcast). Allied departments, such as Economics, Linguistics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Speech Communication offer master's degrees usually acceptable toward advanced work in communications. Inquiries should be addressed to the department concerned, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801.

A graduate minor in Gender and Women's Studies (GWS) is available in cooperation with the Gender and Women's Studies Program, and certification in criticism and interpretive theory is available through the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory, an interdisciplinary clearinghouse for faculty and graduate students interested in cultural criticism and critical theory.

The Institute cooperates with the University of Illinois College of Medicine in offering the combined M.D. and Ph.D. degrees. The Medical Scholars Program is the largest and broadest program of its kind in the world, with more than 150 students enrolled in fifty graduate programs. Equipped with an excellent medical education and Ph.D. training, graduates of the Medical Scholars Program have the credentials to assume leadership roles in academic medicine, medical research, and health policy. The Institute's advisor is Professor Paula Treichler, 228 Greg Hall, 810 S. Wright Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801; (217)333-1549.

Core Traditions of the ICR

The doctoral program in communications is administered and staffed by the Institute. However, it also draws upon faculty members from the College of Communications and other departments throughout the University of Illinois. At the core of the program are those traditions of research that have taken hold at Illinois over the years:

1) inquiry into social and cultural aspects of communication with emphasis on critical-historical analysis, 2) studies of economic and political aspects of communication institutions, 3) studies in language, meaning, and psycholinguistics, and 4) studies in the processes and effects of communication including public opinion and attitude change.

With the assistance of cooperating departments, significant studies also have been developed in advertising, agricultural communications, journalism, film, and interpersonal and organizational communication. The doctoral program is deliberately designed to be broad and flexible, and students are encouraged to draw upon the full range and interests of the faculty. Although students normally develop an area of specialization within communication, the program emphasizes a breadth of perspectives on human and mass communications as befits its interdisciplinary nature. Each student's program is individually designed (with the aid of an advisor) to reflect a particular interest in communication; some of the most successful graduate work has resulted from breaking traditional definitions of specialization and creating original programs reflecting novel perspectives.

Degree Requirements - Doctor of Philosophy

Proseminar (Communications 571 and 572). Because students are admitted from diverse backgrounds, the Proseminar first introduces them to the history of communication research. The second semester revolves around the current debates, typically divided into the four major lines of inquiry that characterize the Institute's research tradition. While gaining an overview of the central issues and learning a common language, students in the Proseminar are also able to locate their own interests more precisely within the field of communications in its historical and contemporary forms.

Overview Courses

Students are expected to take 12 hours of credit each semester. The credit hour requirement modulates when students begin to register for thesis units. While flexibility is the hallmark of ICR's program, students are strongly urged to take two or more overview courses that augment their area of specialization. Such courses, systematically extending proseminar material, give a broad overview of a significant body of scholarship in established areas of communication study, enable students to locate their own interests within the field as a whole, and provide solid preparation for courses that many students are likely to teach. Overview courses ensure breadth of knowledge within an interdisciplinary program such as the Institute's, where students have great latitude in designing their programs and are encouraged to take courses outside the field of communications.

A number of currently available courses accomplish these goals. Specific examples are listed below, and the list is periodically updated to reflect developments in the field and available faculty resources. Though these courses are not formal requirements for obtaining the Ph.D., students are expected to include at least two of them in their proposed program of study for the Program Evaluation Committee. Under exceptional circumstances, substitute courses that are equally broad might be proposed, or a proposal justified that forgoes these designated courses. In preparing proposals, students should consult with their faculty advisors; they are welcome to seek additional help from other experienced faculty, including members of the Program Evaluation Committee.


560 Feminist Media Studies

568 Political Economy of Communications

570 Popular Culture

573 History and Theory of Freedom of the Press

575 Cultural Studies and Critical Interpretation

590 Media and Politics

590 Philosophy of Technology

590 Communication Ethics

590 Race and the U.S. Empire

Research Methods

Within the 64 hours of course work, students must complete at least 8 hours in research methods. In order to provide a competent background for constructively understanding the field's wide-ranging literature, students are required to take one quantitative and one qualitative course.

In addition to methodology courses taught by the College of Communications faculty, students are encouraged to consider relevant courses in quantitative or non-quantitative methods elsewhere on campus.

Major

Students are expected to organize programs that are consistent with their designated interests. The program is designed in consultation with a faculty advisor, and uses courses from both inside and outside the Institute. Students must identify both a major and a minor area of study.

A major consists of a minimum of 48 hours of course work plus a minimum of 32 thesis research hours. In the past students have had majors such as these approved: Advertising, Advertising and Marketing, Advertising Research, Broadcasting and Mass Media Images, Communication and Social Change, Communication History Communication Ethics, Communication Systems, Communications and Interpretive Sociology, Communications Technology, Communications Technology and Culture, Cultural Studies, Feminist Theory and Women's Studies, Film and Radio-Television, Gay, Lesbian and Queer Studies, Gender and Race, Global Communication and Economies, History and Social Theory, Information Science, Institutional Approaches to the Mass Media, Intercultural Communications, International Communication, Sociology of News, Latin American Studies, Legal/Ethical Issues in Advertising, Mass Communication Effects, Mass Media and Politics, Media-Audience Relationship, Multiculturalism, Philosophy of Communications, Psycholinguistics, Public Opinion, Technology in Developing Countries, Sociology of Broadcasting, Popular Culture, Philosophy of Technology, Research Methods in Communications, Social-Economic-Legal Factors in Telecommunications Industries, Theories of Popular Literature and Culture

Advancement to Candidacy

By the end of the second year (but accepted earlier), the student submits to the Student Evaluation Committee a preliminary Petition for Advancement to Candidacy that outlines the student's tentative program leading to the dissertation. The committee reviews the program and may make recommendations about the selection of proposed courses. Normally during the last year of course work a second petition is submitted that must be approved before the student can take the preliminary examination.

Dissertation

Because the Doctor of Philosophy degree is primarily a research degree, candidates are required to demonstrate a capacity for independent research by producing an original dissertation on a topic connected with the special area of study.

Final Examination

After students distribute polished drafts of their dissertations, they take final oral examinations administered by the appointed committees. The student is required to support and interpret the dissertation to the committee's satisfaction, as well as to show an adequate grasp of the selected area of concentration that it represents.

Program policies, practices and expectations

Until students have had their petitions for admission to candidacy approved and have formally chosen an advisor, they are expected to consult with the Director of the ICR and/or the Director of Graduate Studies about course and program questions and requirements. For further, detailed information on program requirements and expectations, please see the ICR Abbreviated Graduate Handbook.

Graduate Teaching Experience

The ICR feels strongly about the teaching component and tries very hard to afford students the opportunities to teach courses relevant to communication studies.