College: College of Letters and Science
Designation: School
Majors and degrees offered: M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication; Ph.D. in Mass Communications (in cooperation with the Department of Life Sciences Communication in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences)
Other: Ph.D. Minor in Mass Communications
Faculty: Professors Baughman (director), Blum, Drechsel, Dunwoody, Fair, Friedland, McLeod, Mitchell, D. Shah, H. Shah, Vaughn; Associate Professors Downey; Assistant Professors Brossard, Riddle, Robinson
Graduate programs in journalism and mass communication are designed for advanced academic preparation in the various fields of mass communication and journalism, and for training in research and teaching. The curriculum features twelve domains of knowledge--cognitive responses to mass communication; communication campaigns; community and social movements; consumer and popular culture; health and science communication; history of mass communication; international communication; media acountability and criticism; media law and policy; new media technology; political communication and public opinion; and race, gender and mass communication. Graduate work prepares students to use and contribute to the research and scholarship of the field. Identifying important questions, gathering evidence, and understanding standards of inference are dominant features of graduate-level courses.
The Center for Environmental Communication and Education Studies focuses on teaching and research within the wider sphere of mass media communication of science, environment, and technology. The center maintains a small library of books and articles and provides resources for students who wish to conduct research on various aspects of media coverage of science and technology.
The Mass Communication Research Center of the school is an interdisciplinary research facility that conducts research into all phases of communication and provides a common meeting ground for scholars who have an interest in communication behavior. It also provides an opportunity for graduate students to participate in research programs and to initiate and conduct their own thesis projects.
The Mass Communication History Center, a part of the Wisconsin Historical Society, provides scholars access to private collections, papers, and various types of unpublished materials relating to the growth of mass communication in the United States and other parts of the world. The Wisconsin Historical Society also has a large collection of bound and microfilm files of American and foreign newspapers.
The Center for Communication and Democracy is a research and action project at UW-Madison. The goals of the center are to study how citizens can use new communications technologies to advance democratic discussion and civic participation; to explore the relationships between geographic communities and the emerging world of cyberspace; to explore the structural relations among communications and information markets, the civic sector, and government to find relationships necessary to build and sustain a public sphere in communication that is not dominated by the market, while sustaining economic growth and technological innovation; and to ask what government policies are most appropriate for combining the vibrancy of the market with the common needs of citizens in the sphere of communication.
All master's students select their programs of course work through a certification process. During the second semester of course work, students must assemble a three-person committee and propose a program of course work and rationale for the program. If the proposed program meets the course requirements of the master's program, the school will issue a formal program certification letter to the student. For more information about the master's program, see the school Web site.
A candidate for a Ph.D. degree in another area may earn a minor in mass communications. Normally, the student will write a dissertation combining research in the major and minor fields. Among the areas that have been related to mass communications are economics, history, psychology, sociology, political science, business, communication arts, education, and English. A minor consists of at least 12 graduate credits in journalism and mass communication.
Students must have a four-year bachelor's degree, which can be in any area of the social sciences or humanities. (They are not required to have practical communication experience.) An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) is required of all applicants. Admission on probation may be recommended for some students below this requisite, provided they submit strong supporting evidence such as high scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), extensive professional experience, compelling letters of recommendation, or high grades during the latter part of undergraduate work. Candidates for the Professional M.A. program should indicate their desired area of specialization in their statement of purpose.
Students seeking admission after completing a master's degree, or at least one year of graduate work at another university, will be admitted only if the undergraduate and graduate records indicate an unusually high caliber of training and ability. They will be expected to meet the 3.0 undergraduate GPA and to have earned a 3.5 GPA in graduate work. Exceptions may sometimes be made where unusually high GRE scores or other evidence warrants.
Three letters of recommendation are required of all applicants. GRE scores (verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing tests) are required for U.S. students and international students. International students are also required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam. Test scores must be furnished to the school before the application is considered complete.
The Ph.D. degree in mass communications is an interdisciplinary program offered jointly by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Department of Life Sciences Communication.
The program provides training for independent and original research. Programs are related to specific interests and are arranged to draw freely from appropriate departments within the university. Early in the program, the student specifies the nature of the proposed research. Then, in consultation with the major professor and the dissertation committee, the student develops an individual plan of courses and seminars. Candidates for this program are expected to have demonstrated an interest and background in communication research by having earned the M.A. degree in journalism and mass communication as offered at UW-Madison, or its equivalent. The committee administering the program, however, may accept other evidence of suitable preparation.
Some areas emphasized by Ph.D. students in the past have included international communication, history of mass communication, social or psychological factors affecting communication, and technological and legal aspects of mass communication.
The program is supervised by the Joint Committee on the Ph.D. in Mass Communication. This committee is made up of members of the graduate committees of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Department of Life Sciences Communication.
For more information: School of Journalism and Mass Communication, 5115 Vilas Hall, 821 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706; 608/262-3691; or Department of Life Sciences Communication, 205D Agricultural Journalism Building, 440 Henry Mall, Madison, WI 53706; 608/262-1614; admissions@journalism.wisc.edu; www.journalism.wisc.edu.