Media, Culture, and Communication (PhD)

Program Description

The PhD program in Media, Culture, and Communication is committed to interdisciplinary, theoretically sophisticated, multi-methodological, historical, and comparative approaches to the study of media and culture. Five research areas operate as guiding frameworks for intellectual inquiry across the department: Global Communication and Media, Technology and Society, Visual Culture and Sound Studies, Media Industries and Politics, Interaction and Experience. Students attend special events throughout the year and can apply to present their original research at the department’s annual Neil Postman Graduate Conference. 

Doctoral student work is shaped by the program's commitment to:

• Engaging with theoretical concepts from a range of disciplines—media and cultural studies, visual culture, history, science and technology studies, anthropology, sociology, disability studies, sound studies, political science.
• A multi-methodological approach to research—from semiotics, global ethnography, gender and queer theory, critical race theory, qualitative and quantitative discourse analysis, to political/cultural economy, among other critical frameworks.
• A global perspective—conceiving of the global mediascape as transnational and transcultural.
• Recognizing media and technology’s long history and antecedents.

Career Opportunities

Graduates of the PhD program join academic departments of media and communication, with placement in the social sciences and interdisciplinary humanities becoming increasingly common. MCC PhDs who graduated in the past ten years are now tenure-track or tenured professors at the University of California, Berkeley; University of Washington, Seattle; Cornell University; Stanford University; UCLA; Rutgers; Fordham; University of Michigan; George Mason University; University of North Carolina; University of Arizona; College of Charleston; Memorial University of Newfoundland; University of San Francisco; Scripps; Pratt; University of Maryland; American University of Beirut; American University of Paris; Ryerson University; Trent University; St. Joseph’s College.

Over the past decade, PhD graduates have received numerous prestigious postdocs, including a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities in the Department of Comparative Media Studies/Writing at MIT; Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at MIT's Center for Art, Science, and Technology; Postdoctoral Fellow, Berkman Klein Center, Harvard University; Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science; Postdoctoral, Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University; Postdoctoral Fellowship at Rice University in Technology, Culture, and Society; Research Associate, Center for Digital Humanities, Princeton University; Postdoctoral Fellow, Media, Inequality & Change Center, University of Pennsylvania.

Admissions

Admission to graduate programs in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development requires the following minimum components:

• Résumé/CV
• Statement of Purpose
• Letters of Recommendation
• Transcripts
• Proficiency in English

See NYU Steinhardt's Graduate Admissions website for additional information on school-wide admission. Some programs may require additional components for admissions.

Program Requirements

The PhD program requires 48 credits of coursework for students with a master’s degree; 54 credits are required for those admitted only with a bachelor’s degree. Core courses must be taken in sequence:

Courses are taken by advisement, including specialized elective courses inside the department (8–10 credits); research and methods electives inside or outside the department (14–16 credits); and theoretical or disciplinary foundational study outside the department (12 credits). A minimum of 12 credits from these remaining courses must be taken in the department.

Students move quickly toward pursuing their dissertation research in the third year of study, accompanied by teaching and research opportunities that will help prepare them for academic positions in the fields of media studies, cultural studies, communication, and related disciplines.

Sample Plan of Study

Following completion of the required coursework for the PhD, students are expected to maintain active status at New York University by enrolling in a research/writing course or a Maintain Matriculation (MAINT-GE 4747) course.  All non-course requirements must be fulfilled prior to degree conferral, although the specific timing of completion may vary from student-to-student.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will:

1. Display fluency in core texts and scholarly literature, contemporary theory, and key debates in media, culture, and communication.
2. Display fluency in and in depth knowledge of the areas of specialization in student's field of study.
3. Analyze and synthesize scholarship in a range of disciplines related to media, culture, and communication and understand the ways in which these disciplinary perspectives are integrated and transformed through interdisciplinary study.

Policies

Program Policies

STEM OPT Benefits for International Students

If you’re an international student, you may be able to work in the United States after graduation for an extended period of time. Most students studying on F-1 visas will be eligible for 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) off-campus work authorization. F-1 students in this program may also be eligible for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics) OPT extension, allowing you to extend your time in the United States to pursue degree-related work experience for a total of 36 months or 3 years. For more information on who can apply for this extension visit NYU’s Office of Global Services: STEM OPT.

NYU Policies

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.

Steinhardt Academic Policies

Additional academic policies can be found the Steinhardt academic policies page.