Program Statistics
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Last Updated: August 28, 2026
Rhetoric, Media, and Publics
Overview
Degree Type: PhD
The Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is replacing the PhD in Communication Studies (Rhetoric and Public Culture). Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is an interschool program between the School of Communication, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and the Medill School of Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications. It is housed in the Department of Communication Studies and administrated through the School of Communication.
The PhD program in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is grounded in the humanistic tradition of rhetoric and its focus on the study of politics, philosophy, and the arts. The new program asks the fundamental question of how people influence, reflect, and transform society through mediated practices. Students learn to analyze the production and circulation of meaning in a range of rhetorical and journalistic texts, practices, and institutions through varied modes of qualitative inquiry, and to engage audiences and communities directly in the production of knowledge. The stakes of this inquiry are profoundly social and political as well as formal and aesthetic. The program teaches students to approach public media as sites for political contestation, for the representation and interrogation of ethics and power, and for imagining personhood and collective life.
Additional resources:
Program Contact
Contact
Kate Haddock
Senior Program Coordinator
Degree Requirements
Degree Requirements
The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, those requirements outlined in The Graduate School Policy Guide.
Master's
Students entering without a master's degree must complete a capstone MA thesis no later than the end of the Summer quarter of Year 2; program faculty recommend that students without an MA aim to complete the MA by the end of Year 1 if possible. The selection and specific definition of the scope of an MA thesis will be worked out by the student in consultation with the advisor.
Note: all students must complete the MA in RMP unless they already hold a MA degree in a humanistic field of study suitably proximate to RMP program study. The Executive Committee must approve an outside MA as exempting a student from the MA thesis requirement.
PhD
Students must complete at least 12 courses (and a maximum of 18) in the first 2 years of study.
Total Units Required: 12
| Course | Title |
|---|---|
| Core Courses (6 units) | |
| One of the following courses | |
COMM_ST 410-0 | Rhetoric: History and Theory |
COMM_ST 414-0 | Classical Rhetoric and Its Afterlives |
| COMM_ST 419-0 | The Practice of Public Scholarship 1 |
| COMM_ST 454-0 | Making and Unmaking of Audiences and Publics |
| COMM_ST 485-0 | Media Theory |
| COMM_ST 489-0 | History of Media Technologies |
| One of the following courses | |
COMM_ST 416-0 | Contemporary Rhetorical Analysis |
COMM_ST 418-0 | Critical Media Practice |
| Elective Courses (6 units) | |
| 6 letter-graded graduate level courses | |
Students may take no more than 12 elective courses total | |
- 1
COMM_ST 419 can be substituted for an appropriate alternative course with DGS approval.
Other PhD Degree Requirements
- Examinations: upon completion of coursework, written and oral comprehensive examination
- Research/Projects: toward qualifying exams and dissertation
- PhD Dissertation: based on original, independent research
- Final Evaluations: oral defense of dissertation
- Other: attend program and other university events including visiting lectures, workshops, symposia, conferences, reading groups, arts events, summer institutes, etc.