The Course of Study
The formal portion of the Ph.D. program involves a series of courses and fellowship
assignments designed to help students become experts in a chosen area of communication
research. The informal part of the program involves the experiences students share
as part of the Annenberg School and Penn intellectual communities. This blend of
directed study and research, combined with the broader activities of academic citizenship,
helps provide an exciting, expansive way for students to reach their professional
and personal goals.
Annenberg’s curriculum is structured around courses designed to help the student
become an expert in a chosen research area. A total of 20 course units are required
before starting the dissertation; up to five of these may be transferred from a
previous Master’s program with approval from the student’s academic
advisor. All students are required to take a noncredit proseminar as well as introductory
courses in research methods and statistics. Students are also expected to achieve
milestones along the way, including the Qualification Evaluation, the Comprehensive
Examination, and the Proposal Defense.
At the beginning of the program, students typically take survey courses to learn
about different areas of communication (such as Political Communication or Media
Industries). As students become interested in specific issues, they choose courses
that allow them to focus their efforts accordingly and conduct original research.
By the end of the second year, each student will have completed at least one research
project independently and will have formed a preliminary dissertation goal. To help
students deepen their research interests, the School has designated three broad
areas: Communication Influence, Communication and Culture, and Communication Institutions.
The student must complete at least two courses in each of these three areas to gain
an understanding of communication research and to identify topics for more specialized
inquiry. By the end of the fourth year the student will have finished coursework
and will be on a trajectory to research and write the dissertation.
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