The Ph.D. Program in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media prepares doctoral students to analyze the social, cultural, rhetorical, philosophical, and political dimensions of information technologies, new communication media, and digital texts, and to actively engage digital media through research, criticism, production, and practice.

Students work with program faculty from the departments of Communication and English and with affiliated faculty from departments across the university and the broader UNC system to study oral, written, visual, computational, and multimodal forms of communication and rhetoric; to examine the transformation of communication in the context of converging digital media and communication networks; and to address the theoretical and practical challenges of innovative, interdisciplinary research.

Students can create programs of study in areas such as Social Media, Interpersonal Communication, Environmental Communication, Critical Making, Emerging Digital Genres, Multimedia Research in Digital Media, Composition Studies, Digital Humanities, Rhetoric Theory, Digital Rhetoric, Visual Rhetoric, Digital Media Production, Science and Technology Studies, Risk Communication, Organizational Communication, Mobile Communication, Technology and Pedagogy, Game Studies, Online Information Design, Public Relations, Technical and Professional Communication, Digital Literacies, Transcultural Communication, Visual Communication, and Cultural Studies.

Faculty guide students in their work by using a broad range of social scientific and humanistic methods in which they specialize. The program offers comprehensive mentoring for professional development, diverse opportunities for teaching experience, and research assistantships associated with grant-funded faculty projects. CRDM faculty and students collaborate with colleagues in science and technology fields across the university and the Research Triangle.

Our graduates have been very successful finding employment in a variety of positions in academia (both at research-intensive universities and at teaching-oriented liberal arts colleges), government and corporate organizations, where there is a growing demand for the interdisciplinary skill sets developed in CRDM.

Admission Requirements

Master’s degree in Communication, English, Rhetoric, or other relevant field with GPA of 3.0 or better. Master’s level work should include one quantitative or qualitative methods course, as well as three courses in an approved disciplinary area. These hours do not count toward the doctoral degree. Disciplinary areas include: composition studies, including writing across the curriculum, interpersonal/group communication, media studies, organizational communication or public relations, rhetorical studies, and technical communication.

Applicants who are otherwise well qualified may make up these courses after admission. Three reference letters, a statement of goals and interests, a resume of work experience, and a writing sample are also required for application to the program. GRE is not required. The application deadline is January 15th.

Ph.D. Degree Requirements

A minimum of 56 hours beyond the Master's degree are required to complete the Ph.D. program: 15 credit hours of core courses, 3 hours of research methods, 6 hours of professional preparation, 12 hours in an elective focus area, and 20 hours of research and dissertation.

Student Financial Support

The CRDM program offers a limited number of Teaching Assistantships, with a stipend, health insurance, and tuition (excluding fees). Teaching Assistants will be assigned according to their interests and qualifications, as well as departmental needs, to either the Communication or the English Department with the possibility of teaching in both departments during their course of study. Those who do not have sufficient qualifications to teach in the first semester will participate in a training program. Some Research Assistantships may also be available.

Degrees

Faculty

Courses