Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Our rigorous, two-year master's degree program in communication and rhetorical studies demands superior skills in critical reading and writing as well as the inclination and confidence to fulfill teaching duties.
We are an inquiry-based department. Our faculty members employ a broad spectrum of methods and theories to explore the questions posed by human communication, and we offer that same high degree of flexibility to accommodate the varied, often multidisciplinary interests of our students. For those seeking the advantages of a clearly marked path toward the degree, we offer the following focused perspectives:
Communication Theory and Research
This area focuses on the study of human communication as symbolic interaction. Its goal is to describe the processes at work in salient facets of language and interaction, including interpersonal, family, social, and intercultural communication. Through a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, this degree path will bring the student to such topics as social cognition, sexual communication, and interracial, intra-racial, and ethnic relationships.
Cosmopolitan Studies
This area of study uses a variety of critical, feminist, postmodern, and post-colonial perspectives to examine and enlarge discourses about the role of communication in the formation of organizations, communities, and societies. It focuses on such problems as representation, identity and difference, space and design, innovation, alternative forms of public dialogue, performance and culture, and other social justice issues. Courses include Communication, Space and Design; Dialogue and Experience; and Communication, Power, and Gender.
The focus here is on the study of rhetoric, from antiquity to contemporary theory. The degree path explores the relationship between theory and criticism by surveying such issues as the construction of rhetorical texts, definition of the public sphere, techniques in popular culture, personal and social identity, and public memory. The broader goal is to familiarize the student with the elements of persuasive communication in the social, political, economic, and artistic processes.