Goal of the Doctoral Degree

The doctoral program in Communication Studies at the University of Texas is devoted to increasing understanding of the processes and effects of communication. As a result, doctoral students may specialize in one of several academic concentrations:

• Interpersonal Communication
• Organizational Communication
• Rhetoric & Language Studies

The goal of the doctoral program is to prepare students to conduct original research extending human knowledge in all of these areas of Communication Studies.

The Doctoral degree is seen by faculty members as a research degree; completion of the doctoral program assumes a willingness and capacity on the part of students to conduct original research in a chosen area, and a receptivity to a well-rounded education in Communication Studies. The Department's philosophy is to produce specialists in Communication Studies who:

• have a broad understanding of their discipline
• can contribute importantly to scholarly dialogues with their colleagues in the discipline
• articulate the tenets of their discipline throughout the academic community
• are capable of imparting and applying their insights to the public through teaching and service.

Before the doctoral degree is awarded, students are expected to:

• achieve mastery of a body of literature pertinent to the student's major area of interest and necessary supportive area,
• obtain proficiency in a research methodology appropriate to the focus of the student's research program,
• acquire basic teaching skills necessary to teach courses in the student's major area of interest,
• demonstrate a minimum understanding of at least one other area in Communication Studies outside of the student's individual academic concentration.