NCA's Doctoral Program Guide

The Ph.D. Program in Communication at UCSD is known worldwide as a center of innovative scholarship. Among the distinctive characteristics of the program are: 1) Broad interdisciplinary training, linking the study of communication with theoretical currents across the social sciences and humanities; 2) A blending of "critical" and "empirical" traditions in communication scholarship, and a reputation for producing firmly grounded research on issues related to power, inequality, democracy and social change; 3) Methodological diversity, with particular strength in the use of historical, ethnographic, comparative and interpretive methods; 4) An emphasis on the unity of theory and practice, and an opportunity for graduate students to combine research scholarship and media production; 5) A strong global focus; and 6) A strong commitment to diversity in the student body and in the focus of our research.

Admission Requirements

• Graduate Admission Application.
• Transcripts from each institution attended.
• Official scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).
• Three letters of recommendation.
• Writing sample (such as term paper, journal article, or other examples of intellectual work).

Graduate Faculty

• Assistant Professor Patty Ahn, Ph.D., University of Southern California
• Associate Professor Morana Alač, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego
• Professor Patrick Anderson, Ph.D., University of California
• Associate Professor Boatema Boateng, Ph.D., University of Illinois
• Associate Professor Angela Booker, Ph.D., Stanford University
• Assistant Professor Matilde Córdoba Azcárate, Ph.D., Universidad Completense de Madrid
• Professor Zeinabu Davis, M.F.A., UCLA 
• Assistant Professor Andrew deWaard, Ph.D., UCLA
• Assistant Professor Fernando Domínguez Rubio, Ph.D., University of Cambridge
• Professor Gary Fields, Ph.D., University of California
• Associate Professor Kelly Gates, Ph.D., University of Illinois
• Associate Professor Brian Goldfarb, Ph.D., University of Rochester
• Professor Daniel C. Hallin, Ph.D., University of California
• Professor Valerie Hartouni, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz
• Assistant Professor Erin Hill, Ph.D., UCLA
• Professor Robert Horwitz, Ph.D., Brandeis University
• Assistant Professor Lilly Irani, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
• Assistant Professor Shawna Kidman, Ph.D., University of Southern California
• Professor Carol Padden, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego
• Assistant Professor Thomas Schmidt, Ph.D., University of Oregon
• Associate Professor David Serlin, Ph.D., New York University
• Associate Professor Christo Sims, Ph.D., University of California
• Professor Stefan Tanaka, Ph.D., University of Chicago
• Associate Professor Olga Vásquez, Ph.D., Stanford University
• Associate Professor Elana Zilberg, Ph.D., University of Texas

NCA Awards to Faculty and Students, 2000-present

• Diamond Anniversary Book Award, 2005