Graduate Students
The Department of Communication offers both a 33-credit MA degree in the study and practice of health, risk, and crisis communication, and a 60-credit (Post MA) Ph.D. degree program focused on health and strategic communication that prepare students for increasingly complex public and private communication environments.
The MA and Ph.D. programs provide students with a strong theoretical and multi-methodological foundation to examine the critical role communication performs in health promotion, disease prevention, quality of care, risk assessment, and crisis management. Faculty and students conduct important research concerning consumer-provider relationships, risk communication, crisis management, organizational communication, media systems, health campaigns, new information technologies, communication policy, media advocacy, and health communication interventions.
Courses explore important communication issues such as communicating complex information, influencing health behaviors, disparities in health outcomes, the digital divide, public advocacy, intercultural sensitivity, media literacy, homeland security, and social support. We support a broad array of theories and methodologies, while examining a range of important health, crisis and risk contexts. We welcome students in the beginning stages of their careers as well as those who are more established.
Click here for the PhD Program Overview
Click here for the PhD Program Information
Click here for the M.A. Program Information
Click here for M.A. Advising FAQ
Please look to the links below for more information