Degrees Offered

Thank you for your interest in the University of Minnesota Communication Studies Graduate Program. The Department has a long-standing record of excellence and reputation in the discipline, especially in the critical approaches and interpretive traditions. The field of communication as a whole is strong, with the number of Communication positions outpacing the number of doctorates conferred.

The Department of Communication Studies offers a PhD degree in communication studies, in addition to the graduate minor. We invite talented students with a baccalaureate degree, as well as those who have already earned their MA, to apply for admission to our doctoral program. Through formal coursework, independent study, directed research projects, and participation in team research supervised by faculty, you will have many opportunities for training and experience in research. Every student we admit is provided with full, five-year financial support and gains valuable teaching experience with the support of faculty mentors. The main objective of the graduate program is to prepare you to become a researcher and a teacher in universities and colleges. Our graduate students are highly motivated scholars at the cutting edge of communication research with an equally strong commitment to becoming skilled instructors. Our graduate student handbook is publicly available.

The department has an unwavering commitment to pursuing public good by nurturing citizen-teacher-scholars to engage with our communities by critically reflecting and challenging existing structures and infrastructures that silence the Other. Social justice reflects and encapsulates the core themes of our faculty members' work. Faculty research addresses crucial intersectionalities across the three tracks that have historically defined the Department, namely rhetoric, relational/organizational communication, and critical media studies. We aim to build on our collective theme of social justice and broaden our understanding and investigation of disparities and public urgencies in our lived environment—with a focus on communicative practices in contexts.

We lead the communication studies field in feminist communication theory, with Professors Loockwood Harris, Ouellette, Vavrus, and Winderman addressing diverse social issues about inequality and injustice in our communities. 

Specifically, our faculty have investigated social justice on

• on interpersonal, as well as organizational/institutional levels
  • Professor Elaine Hsieh's work on minority patients in healthcare settings 
  • Professor Susanne Jones' NSF-funded work on dyadic supportive communication
  • Professor Kate Lockwood Harris' work on organizational responses to sexual violence
• on the national level
  • Professor Mary Vavrus' work on media, war, and the US military 
  • Professor Atilla Hallsby's work on the national security state
• on sociocultural and sociopolitical levels
  • Dr. Gil Rodman's work on race and racism in media 
  • Dr. Laurie Ouellette's work on reality TV's influences on public policy 
  • Dr. Emily Winderman's work on reproductive justice 

Our faculty have also addressed issues faced by a world in crisis, including

• Professors Ronald Greene and Zornitsa Keremidchieva's work on public discourse and democracy 
• Professor Kate Lockwood Harris' work on ending sexual violence 
• Professors Emily Winderman, Ascan Koerner, Elaine Hsieh, and Deborah Yoon's work on identity, health, and reproductive justice. 

Faculty members and graduate students are committed to building and incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in a predominately White institution through our teaching, research, and service. We are committed to collaboratively and creatively generating resources and opportunities to support an environment that embraces diversity, accountability, community, and excellence.