PhD programs in communication cover various specializations, including journalism, social impact of media, interpersonal and health communication, and political communication and rhetoric. These programs analyze how people transfer information and how media affects society. Journalism and public life programs analyze how journalists affect people’s daily lives, while social impact of media programs examine how different forms of media affect society. Interpersonal communication programs focus on how people relate to each other, while political communication programs analyze how political leaders communicate and relate to people.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in communication is usually the last degree earned by people interested in journalism or human communication. There are many doctoral programs in communication, usually based on the school where the doctorate is obtained and usually divided into separate but somewhat interconnected categories. These doctoral communication programs are usually named by the college or university that offers them, so there are not many strictly defined titles for different programs. Common programs include areas of study such as journalism and public life, social impact of media, interpersonal and health communication, and political communication and rhetoric.
Communication is a field of inquiry, usually found at universities as part of the journalism program, that seeks to better understand how people transfer information. This can include a focus on interpersonal communication between two people or small groups of people, or mass communication between a news anchor and millions of viewers. The many disparate aspects of studying communication mean that numerous specializations and fields of study are available to someone interested in pursuing a degree, and a plethora of PhD programs in communication are offered by many different schools.
Journalism, public life, and the social impact of media are different doctoral programs in communication offered by various schools. The focus of a journalism and public life program is to analyze how journalists affect people’s daily lives by creating the meaning of a “public life”. With 24-hour news stations needing material to fill their programming times, more and more information has become public knowledge in recent decades. This has led to the formation of a public life in which many people feel interconnected and studying this modern phenomenon typically involves interdisciplinary studies through communications and sociology.
The social impact of media is a branch of communication that examines how different forms of media affect society. These types of communication Doctoral programs often combine aspects of the social sciences and artistic analysis, as well as understanding communications to better understand the way media affect society. Other doctoral programs in communication may focus on issues such as interpersonal communication or political communication.
Interpersonal communication programs often focus more on how people relate to each other and small group communications rather than analyzing media trends or larger public life. These types of programs may also have a specific aspect of the interpersonal communications studied, such as changes in communications based on age or the study of communication and familiarity. Political Communications Doctoral programs often focus on how political leaders communicate and relate to people. These programs may focus on issues such as advertising, oratory or the use of rhetoric and other communication methods to influence people.
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