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University of Pittsburgh    
2024-2025 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog 
    
 
  Oct 03, 2024
 
2024-2025 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog

Communication: Rhetoric and Communication, PhD


The aim of the program is to train rigorous researchers and excellent teachers. To this end it offers historical, theoretical, and critical approaches to the study of communication. The curriculum includes traditional and innovative course work drawn from four intersecting areas of emphasis: History, Theory and Criticism of Rhetoric; Media and Cultural Studies; Public Address and Argument; and Rhetoric of Science.

Requirements for the PhD


  • 24 courses (72 credit hours) required, thirteen of which will consist of the departmental core requirements of COMMRC 2295 Teaching Practicum, COMMRC 2296 Approaches to Communication, COMMRC 2297 Faculty Research Forum, COMMRC 2298 Research Laboratory, and COMMRC 2299 Writing Workshop.  Complete a first semester in residence enrolled in a minimum of nine credit hours under the guidance of the DGS, who will approve course selections for the following semester and offer advice about choosing a DPA.  Students entering with a recent MA in Communication or cognate field may be able receive credit toward the PhD.
  • Approved Plan of Study (by end of third semester of degree work)
  • Portfolio-based Comprehensive Exam with Oral Defense (after or near the end of coursework)
  • Dissertation Prospectus and Oral Defense
  • Dissertation and Final Oral Defense


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