Since its inception, the Institute of Communications Research's (ICR) doctoral program has encouraged interdisciplinary studies of communication and media. ICR faculty represent the three academic departments within the College of Media: Advertising, Journalism, Media & Cinema Studies. ICR faculty are also active in a wide array of interdisciplinary campus initiatives which include but are not limited to: Illinois Informatics Institute, Beckman, Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory, Center for Advanced Study (CAS), Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH), and the Departments of Gender and Women's Studies, Latina/Latino Studies, Communication, Psychology and Business Administration. These affiliate networks allow ICR students to develop and pursue unique programs of research that extend the boundaries of current scholarship. Coursework: The ICR requires 64 credits of coursework and dissertation research for students entering with a Master’s degree. Students are responsible for designing their own programs of coursework, which are submitted for approval by the Institute's Program Evaluation Committee. Although students are given the broadest latitude in designing interdisciplinary programs, they must include courses that fill certain requirements. Specifically, all new students will take a two course Proseminar sequence during their first year. Because students are admitted from diverse backgrounds, these courses introduce them to the history of and current trends in the field of media and communication research. This sequence also helps new students begin to locate their own research interests more precisely within the broad landscape of contemporary media and communication research.

Related Jobs