PhD in Media Arts & Sciences

The freedom to research your passions

Whether you want to dive more deeply into a current interest or branch out into fresh fields of inquiry, we’ll prepare you for a successful career in academia. Our Ph.D. in media arts and sciences program is one of the top research programs in media and communication, with one of the most productive graduate student research records in the world.

Our customizable curriculum will give you plenty of room to grow and explore. It grants the opportunity to dive deeply into your disciplinary focus, but also provides a space in which you can explore meaningful interdisciplinary discussions and collaborations. Our doctoral students research topics as varied as embodied cognition, Israeli satire and black Twitter.

Plus, you’ll join a dynamic, diverse group of students who share your love of media research.

Curriculum

This 90-credit program includes a core curriculum, courses in research methods and a custom course plan — including a minor — that you'll choose under the guidance of a faculty advisory committee.

See degree requirements

Courses

Tailor your Ph.D. to suit your academic and career goals. The program features small classes in a variety of media topics. You’ll also complete a dissertation and take qualifying exams under the guidance of a faculty committee.

Here are a few courses you'll take:

Epistemologies of Media

Gain familiarity with concepts and ideas critical to the study of media.

Media Pedagogy

Explore the theory and practice of college pedagogy, paying specific attention to skills required for teaching mass communication.

Media Theories

Gain exposure to the wide range of social scientific and humanistic theories that guide research in media.

Join our community of student scholars who are asking and answering the questions that matter to them.

Learn about student research opportunities

What’s the historical significance of the demise of Kodak Park? How does India’s caste system impact portrayals of sexual harassment accusations? Do we respond differently to advertisements based on the gender identity of the model?

Faculty

You’ll work with internationally ranked faculty whose wide range of expertise will allow you to hone your research and critical-thinking skills. Faculty areas of study include environmental communication, Afrosurrealism and public access to government-held information, to name a few.

Once you get familiar with The Media School, you’ll select a faculty advisor and nominate an advisory committee who will guide you through your graduate school career.

Meet Media School faculty

Research centers

The Media School is home to several centers and institutes that focus on specific areas of study and fields of expertise — expanding your opportunities for research and education.

Two students take research notes as a participant with electrodes on her arm works on a computer.

Institute for Communication Research

The Institute for Communication Research is your gateway to pioneering social science media research. The ICR supports survey research, focus groups and content analysis of media in addition to psychophysiology labs to measure heart rate, skin conductance, facial muscle coding and eye tracking.

Visit the ICR’s website

Black Film Center/Archive

The Black Film Center/Archive is a resource for scholars, students and researchers studying films and related materials by and about Black people. Included are films that have substantial participation by Black writers, actors, producers, directors, musicians and consultants, as well as those that depict some aspect of black experience.

Visit the BFC/A’s website

Center for Documentary Research and Practice

The Center for Documentary Research and Practice serves as a research hub for historical, theoretical and critical research on nonfiction film and video, and hosts visiting artists and scholars who are working on projects with nonfiction media components.

Visit the CDRP’s website

Center for International Media Law and Policy Studies

The Center for International Media Law and Policy Studies researches the legal protection of media rights in Indiana, the United States and the world. The center studies free expression rights, educates the public and develops opportunities for students.

Visit CIMLAPS’s website

Careers

Our graduates frequently move on to tenure-track positions at prestigious institutions around the world.

Explore media research careers

The training I received was both methodologically rigorous and theoretically informed, and came from some of the warmest and best faculty in the world.
Jacob Groshek, PhD’08, associate professor, Boston University

PhD in Media Arts & Sciences

The freedom to research your passions

Curriculum

Courses

Epistemologies of Media

Media Pedagogy

Media Theories

Faculty

Research centers

Institute for Communication Research

Black Film Center/Archive

Center for Documentary Research and Practice

Center for International Media Law and Policy Studies

Careers

The Media School resources and social media channels