Media, Culture, and Communication (PhD)

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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. The program offers five overlapping and interrelated research areas that operate as guiding frameworks for intellectual inquiry and collaborative work across the department. Students are encouraged to take advantage of course offerings across all five areas: Global and Transcultural Studies, Technology and Society, Visual Culture and Sound Studies, Media Institutions and Politics, and Critical Theories of Media and Communication.

Career Opportunities

PhD graduates have assumed full-time academic positions at American University of Paris, Carleton University (Canada), City University of New York, Drexel University, Fordham University, University of London (UK), Manhattan Marymount, Michigan Technological University, NYU, The New School, Northeastern University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, Stanford University, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and the University of Washington, among other academic institutions. Recent graduates have also taken postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Rutgers’ Center for Cultural Analysis, Microsoft Research New England, the University of Pennsylvania–Annenberg School, and Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy.

Special Opportunities

Students attend special events throughout the year and can apply to present their original research at the department’s annual Neil Postman Graduate Conference. Internships in a wide array of media and communication positions are available to master’s students through the department’s online internship database. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the full academic and professional resources of the University and metropolitan area.

The University and department offer graduate summer and January intersession study-abroad programs to explore globalization, global visual culture, and media and culture in other countries.

Locations have included Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, Paris, Prague, and Shanghai.

These courses typically examine the social, economic, political, and cultural implications of global media and culture in relation to the site of study. Courses integrate lectures, seminars, and site visits and deploy a comparative approach. Courses vary year to year. Recent topics have included Race and Media (London); Migration, Media, and the Global City (Berlin); Producing French Culture (Paris); Visual Culture of Memory (Buenos Aires).

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.

See How to Apply for admission requirements and instructions specific to this program.