Admission & Application
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences at NC State offers a new interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media (CRDM). Built on the premise that new developments in communication media and information technologies require a dramatic shift in instruction and research, this program integrates the study of oral, written, and visual modes of communication to focus on the human dimensions of information and communication technologies.
Students in this program work with a diverse and accomplished faculty from the departments of Communication and English, use the resources of a high-tech campus, and build relationships with Research Triangle organizations. A highlight of the program is its emphasis on professional preparation, including a course in digital pedagogy and a colloquium devoted to professional issues and practices.
Research Areas
Students will be able to create programs of study in areas such as these:
- computer-mediated communication
- visual rhetoric
- digital culture
- electronic communication across the curriculum
- media and technology policy
- textual mediation
- digital literacy
- online information design
Graduates will help meet the increasing national demand for faculty with technology specializations to teach and lead programs in areas such as writing and speaking across the curriculum, organizational communication, technical communication, and media studies. Industry and government, also need professionals to conduct research, manage development, and analyze policy in the uses and applications of new communication technologies.
Program Objectives
The program is designed to enable students to achieve the following objectives:
A. Pose and solve research problems pertaining to the uses and potentialities of new communication media and information technologies, especially as they are applied in emerging contexts in the 21st century, and with special attention to their impact on human interaction, human values, and human diversity
B. Work with faculty to produce a new synthesis of theories and concepts to form an integrated foundation for teaching and researching issues raised by new communication technologies
C. Master the central theories and concepts from traditional disciplinary approaches to oral, written, and visual modes of communication
D. Acquire detailed historical and critical understanding of the changing relationships among communication technologies, theoretical perspectives, and rhetorical practices
E. Gain experience with a variety of research and analytical methods, both quantitative and qualitative, and understand their epistemological orientations and limitations
F. Prepare to be teachers who can effectively instruct undergraduates in the common principles and concepts that underlie oral, written, and visual modes of communication, the distinctly separate skills of performance in these three modes, and their interactions in the context of new technologies
G. Prepare to be professionals who are themselves exemplary communicators, effective members of interdisciplinary work teams, and experienced researchers
"The integrated, multidisciplinary design of this program is a distinct strength. ... We need more programs like this one, willing to move beyond traditional academic-disciplinary boundaries (that don't make much sense in the digital realm)."
The program is "conceptually very, very strong and fulfills what I see as serious demands upon the academy."
