Programs in Communication and Rhetoric School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

The Program Mission

For nearly 40 years, PhD graduates from Rensselaer's Department of Communication and Media have been the leaders in the study of the relationship between communication and technology. As new forms of technologically mediated communication emerge, research and scholarship are needed to describe their natures and account for their unique effects.

The mission of the PhD program in Communication and Rhetoric at Rensselaer is to enable students to make contributions with rigor, depth, and creativity to research and scholarship from a variety of perspectives, on issues related to communication in technologically mediated contexts, using both traditional and new and emerging media and technology. This approach draws on the insights of rhetoric, technical communication, composition, communication studies, human-computer interaction, media and game studies, composition and graphic design. Rensselaer is uniquely positioned to provide an environment for graduate study in communication and technology, combining the resources of a premier technological university with a faculty strongly grounded in theory and research as well as technology and media.

Careers

The Department of Communication and Media has nearly 40 years of experience placing graduates. Since the first doctoral graduates in 1972, the PhD in Communication and Rhetoric has graduated over 170 students, including 14 full professors, 6 department chairs, 3 deans, and 2 endowed chairs. Among graduates from the last 15 years, the majority (over 70%) have permanent positions in academia; nearly half of those work in "Doctoral/ Research Universities--Extensive," the most prestigious category of university in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Most of the remaining doctoral alumni work in industry.

Faculty

Faculty in the Department of Communication and Media comprise a diverse, yet integrated community dedicated to teaching and mentoring graduate students. They make an exceptionally strong contribution to research in communication in technologically mediated contexts through an active program of publication in a variety of fields and in the production of artistic media. C&M faculty members are successful in securing external funding for their work. Recent research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Society for Technical Communication, and the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education. The faculty members publish and present broadly, attending conferences such as ACM/CHI, DiGRA, NCA, ICA, IEEE/ PCS, AIGA, IGDA, RSA, SIGCHI, and STC. They win awards including numerous fellowships, awards for best articles, visiting professorships, teaching awards, and professional society awards, from such organizations as the College Art Association, the Fulbright Program, the Game Developer's Conference, the IEEE Professional Communication Society, the International Visual Literacy Association, the National Communication Association, the Popular Culture Association, the Rhetoric Society of America, and the Society for Technical Communication.

Finally, C&M faculty members serve on editorial boards of major presses (such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the State University of New York) and are associated with a number of professional journals. In fact, "The Journal of Technical Writing and Communication" and "The Electronic Journal of Communication" were established at Rensselaer. Other department faculty members have served as reviewers or editorial board members of such journals as "Advances in the History of Rhetoric," "Human Communications Research," "Written Communication," "Rhetoric Review," "Technical Communication," "Journal of Personal and Social Relations," Feminist Media Studies," Journal of Popular Communication," "Computers and Composition," "Journal of Advanced Composition," "College Composition and Communication," "Journal of Online Behavior," "Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication," "Communication Theory," "Communication Research," "Organization Science," "Journal of Business and Technical Communication," and "Communication Education".

Program and Opportunities

The key to a Rensselaer education is multidisciplinarity. The doctoral program in communication and rhetoric draws from numerous disciplines across the humanities, the social sciences, and the arts. Students in the PhD in Communication and Rhetoric program take advantage of this multidisciplinary base to design dissertation projects that are both innovative and rich.

In the PhD in Communication and Rhetoric program, each student completes a 2-course core, 2 methods courses, and at least 3 graduate seminars. Students may also take up to 3 application courses in areas such as graphics, human-computer interaction, hypermedia, web design and development, or writing. With this structure, the program is highly tailored to the individual career goals of each student.

Students who join the C&M community are expected to become active researchers and scholars. All are required to have at least 4 public presentations or publications prior to completing the degree. PhD students also have numerous opportunities to further their teaching experiences under the direction of faculty supervisors. Professional development is valued, and graduate students have opportunities to undertake important service obligations to the department and community. Two years of teaching assistantships and 2 years of support through School stipends or research are available. Students in the Communication and Rhetoric program are also very competitive for university-level fellowships at Rensselaer and are also encouraged to apply for external fellowship support.

• Degrees Offered
• Major Degree Levels Offered
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  Master of Science (MS)

• Degrees Awarded
• Master's Degrees 2
• Doctoral Degrees 4
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported
• * Shows the number of degrees awarded for the last academic year that data was reported.

• Earning Your Degree
• Part-time study available? No
• Evening/weekend programs available? No
• Distance learning programs available? No
• Terminal master's degree available? Yes

• Degree Requirements
• Master's Degrees Optional
• Doctoral Degrees Required and Required
• First Professional Degrees Not reported
• Other Advanced Degrees Not reported

• Acceptance Rate
• Applied38
• Accepted10
• Acceptance Rate26%
• Enrolled2
• Applying
• Application Fee - Domestic $75
• Application Fee - International $75
• Electronic applications accepted? Yes
• Applications processed on a rolling basis? Yes
• Application Deadlines
• Type Domestic International Priority Date
• Fall deadline January 1st January 1st Yes
• Winter deadline Not Reported Not Reported Not Reported
• Spring deadline August 15th July 14th Yes
• Entrance Requirements
• Master's DegreesGRE General Test, resume
• Doctoral's DegreesGRE General Test, writing sample, resume or curriculum vitae
• First-Professional's DegreesNot Reported
• Other Advanced DegreesNot Reported
• International DegreesTOEFL required, 570 paper based, TOEFL iBT

• Tuition & Fees
• In-state tuition *$39,600
• Out-of-state tuition *$39,600
• International student tuitionNot Reported
• * Tuition for full-time graduate student per academic year
• Fees
• Per-academic year fees$1,896.00
• Per-term feesNot Reported
• One-time feeNot Reported
• * Fees for full-time graduate students
• Financial Support
• Financial award applicants must submitNot Reported
• Application deadlines for financial awardsJanuary 15
• Types of financial support availableFellowships, Research Assitantships, Teaching Assistantships, Career or Field-Related Internships, Institutionally-sponsored Loans, Graduate Assistantships

• Gender
• Total Graduate Students16
• Female Percentage44%
• Male Percentage56%
• Participation
• Total Graduate Students16
• Part-time Percentage6%
• Full-time Percentage94%
• Ethnicity
• Hispanic / Latino0%
• Black / African American0%
• White / Caucasian100%
• American Indian / Alaskan Native0%
• Asian0%
• Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander0%
• Two or more races0%
• Unknown0%

• Faculty Breakout
• Total Faculty15
• Full-time Percentage93%
• Part-time Percentage7%
• Female Percentage53%
• Male Percentage47%

• Existing Research
• Focus of faculty researchHuman-computer interaction (HCI) and usability design and analysis, media design and theory, rhetoric and culture, digital and visual rhetoric, communication in technologically-mediated contexts, technical/professional/cross- and inter-cultural communication
• Externally sponsored research expenditures last year$73,438