Fully Funded PhD in Communication Studies at Northwestern University

About PhD Program,

The Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is replacing the PhD in Communication Studies (Rhetoric and Public Culture). Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is an interschool program between the School of Communication, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. It is housed in the Department of Communication Studies and administrated through the School of Communication.

The PhD program in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is grounded in the humanistic tradition of rhetoric and its focus on the study of politics, philosophy, and the arts. The new program asks the fundamental question of how people influence, reflect, and transform society through mediated practices. Students learn to analyze the production and circulation of meaning in a range of rhetorical and journalistic texts, practices, and institutions through varied modes of qualitative inquiry, and to engage audiences and communities directly in the production of knowledge. The stakes of this inquiry are profoundly social and political as well as formal and aesthetic. The program teaches students to approach public media as sites for political contestation, for the representation and interrogation of ethics and power, and for imagining personhood and collective life.

Program inquiry focuses on the many ways humans constitute individual and group identities, influence others, and generate, maintain, and challenge communities and cultures. The interschool program in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics employs interdisciplinary perspectives to investigate how different media are mobilized within modern historical contexts to constitute distinct publics with specific social relations as well as ethical-political orientations. The program studies a diverse array of media, from oral to print, from the visual to the sonic, and from the performative to the digital. Our aim is to investigate how the formal and aesthetic particularities of different media technologies interact with the diverse aims that producers and their audiences bring to their use. By drawing upon rhetorical analysis, critical/cultural theory, media history, media aesthetics, and political theory, we train students to think rigorously about the relationships among individual experiences in everyday life and large-scale social, technological, and political transformations. We seek to understand how global inequalities are both perpetuated and challenged as audiences, publics, and communities are called into being through communication practices over time. We encourage our students not only to analyze but also to engage different publics in their scholarship, in order to deepen their critique of such inequalities.

 PhD Program Degree Eligibility with GPA,   

1. Students must complete at least 12 courses (and a maximum of 18) in the first 2 years of study. These include 6 required courses: Rhetoric: History and Theory; The Practice of Public Scholarship; Making and Unmaking of Audiences and Publics; Media Theory; History of Media Technologies; and one of either Contemporary Rhetorical Analysis or Critical Media Practice. These also include a set of elective courses relevant to the student’s planned research and teaching expertise, which must be approved by the student’s adviser and the Director of Graduate Studies.
2. The PhD Qualifying Examshould be taken at the end of Year 2. Reading lists will be written in consultation with a faculty adviser. The exam consists of 3 take-home written exams to be assessed by three faculty examiners who will constitute the qualifying exam committee.
3. In the Fall quarter of Year 3 students will submit and defend a PhD Prospectus, a document outlining a planned dissertation project to be approved by a faculty examining committee.
4. Years 3, 4, and 5 should be devoted substantially to the writing of the dissertationfor defense by the end of Year 5. The completed dissertation must be approved by the faculty dissertation committee.
5. Northwestern has many resources for research. It is expected that doctoral students will attend program and other university events as part of their studies. These include visiting lectures, workshops, symposia, conferences, reading groups, arts events, summer institutes, and more.

PhD Funding Coverage,

As a doctoral student in Communication Studies, you’ll receive five years of university funding. Nine months of funding is through a graduate assistantship; during the summer months, it is through a fellowship. Both include a stipend and tuition waiver.

In the first year of doctoral study, your assistantship will engage you in activities aimed at familiarizing you with the department and the profession. In your second and third years, you will have assignments as teaching and research assistants. In the fourth year, your primary activity is completing your dissertation work. In the fifth year, you will have assignments as teaching and research assistants. You may also apply for dissertation-year fellowships that the University and some of its research centers award to doctoral students.

For more detailed information visit the Graduate School’s Financial Aid site.

 Application Requirement,

• Statement of Purpose (may not exceed two single-spaced pages)
• Resume or CV
• 2 or 3 letters of recommendation, submitted online
• Unofficial transcripts from each university you have attended, i.e. scanned copies. To note: The Graduate School will request official transcripts should you be admitted and choose to enroll.
• Writing Sample (preferably something academic, such as a term paper, honors thesis or something equivalent) limited to 15-20 pages or less
• GRE scores are not required.You may submit them if you wish. Official GRE scores should be sent by ETS to institution code 1565, the NU Graduate School. ETS will not report GRE scores more than 5 years old.
• If your native language is not English, you must certify your proficiency in the English language in one of the four following ways:
• Provide official transcripts verifying an undergraduate degree from an accredited four-year institution or equivalent, where the language of instruction is English.
• Provide official transcripts verifying a graduate degree from an accredited institution or equivalent, where the language of instruction is English.
• Score 100 total or higher and 26 or higher on the Speak section on the Internet Based TOEFL (IBT) and have ETS send your official scores to institution code 1565 (the NU Graduate School). The scores must be from a test taken no more than two years before the desired quarter of entry.
• Score 7 or higher on the IELTS and submit your scores electronically or as a hard copy (physical score reports should be mailed directly to the Communication Studies Department in the Frances Searle Building, 2240 Campus Drive). The scores must be from a test taken no more than two years before the desired quarter of entry.
• You may request an application fee waiver in the online application portal. Please see The Graduate School’s information page about application fee waivers.
• Please also see the The Graduate School’s page for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

Application Deadline,

Dec 01, 2024

Application Fee,

• Apply for admission, the application fee is $95 and isnon-refundable.