Ph.D. Requirements

Requirements for the Ph.D.

To graduate, each candidate must demonstrate a general understanding of the field of communications as a whole and acquire a deep knowledge of one of the areas of specialization through research and coursework in appropriate disciplines ranging from business and law to sociology and public affairs. Specialists in the area of journalism and public life, for instance, will explore the history, ideals, ethics, and theory of the craft of journalism through the study of political theory and history; democratic theory; the nature of social movements; language and literature; storytelling; and the social and political practices of the everyday world of the professional journalist.

Below are the specific requirements for successful completion of the program. These requirements should be read in conjunction with those set out in the most recent bulletins of the Journalism School and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The M.A. and M.Phil. degrees are awarded as part of the normal progress toward the Ph.D.; the program does not accept candidates for terminal M.A. or M.Phil. degrees.

About the M.A. in Communications

Students who enter the program without an applicable master's degree or its equivalent must first earn a Master of Arts in communications, which requires the completion of 30 graduate-level points (usually 10 courses in two semesters, of which all but J9900 must be taken for standard A-F letter-grade credit), and the submission of an acceptable master's thesis. The thesis is a substantial research paper of about 25-30 pages, usually building on the student's work in a particular course and overseen by the professor of that course.

Students who enter with an advanced degree from another institution or a different department or school at Columbia may receive up to 30 points of advanced standing if the following qualifications are met. The previous coursework must have been comparable to Columbia's; the work must be relevant to the student's research at Columbia; and the grades must have been acceptable. Courses deemed "professional" rather than academic, including most courses in the skills and techniques of journalism, are not acceptable toward a doctoral degree. Final decisions about advanced standing are made by the doctoral subcommittee after the student has completed one year at Columbia.

About the M.Phil.

To earn the M.Phil., which signifies that the student has completed all requirements for the doctorate except for the dissertation, the student must:

1. Complete 54 additional graduate-level points in no fewer than four semesters, for a total of 84. At least 36 of those additional points must be for letter-grade credit. This coursework should constitute a concentration in one of the three major areas defined by the program.

No course taken for Pass/Fail credit after the 2000/01 academic year will count for degree credit. The doctoral subcommittee will not normally recommend for the M.Phil. any student who has one or more F's outstanding on his or her transcript, even if the F is the temporary result of a lapsed Incomplete and even if she or he has enough credits otherwise to qualify.

2. Over the course of his or her enrollment, complete the five core courses, all of them for letter-grade credit:

- Communications/Journalism J6030, Social impact of media;
- Communications/Journalism J8040, Proseminar in communications;
- Communications/Journalism J9042, Communication research problems;
- Communications/Business Economics G8210, Management of information, communication and media; and
- Communications/Political Science G8247, Mass-mediated American and global politics).

3. Pass a foreign language proficiency exam administered by the appropriate Columbia department in a language relevant to his or her research.

4. If necessary, complete a course or independent work in research methods appropriate to the research, such as quantitative methods (including experimental or survey methods and social statistics), analytic methods for networks and systems, econometrics, qualitative and historical methods, or other tool subjects.

5. Deliver an oral presentation outlining the proposed dissertation topic and plan of research. This is generally done during an informal gathering of classmates and advisors held during the spring term of the second year of coursework.

6. Pass a comprehensive examination. Students choose ONE of the following options: 1) a traditional set of exams that assesses the student’s mastery of the significant literature in his or her fields of concentration; or 2) a series of tasks modeled on the kind of work normally carried out in an academic career. In either case, the student proposes and the program chair must approve an advisory committee of three faculty members, at least one and preferably two of whom must be members of the communications Ph.D. faculty subcommittee; if appropriate, the committee may include a member from outside Columbia. Students are strongly encouraged to finish this requirement no later than the end of the semester following the one in which they have finished all coursework, but they must finish the comps by the end of the second semester after coursework.

OPTION 1:

The goal of the examination is for the student to demonstrate that he or she has the necessary preparation, knowledge, and understanding to proceed with the planned dissertation. The exam consists of a written portion of no more than one day's duration followed within one month by a two-hour oral portion. Each committee member works individually with the student to define the area covered by the exam and to suggest the preparation she or he finds appropriate. During the written portion the student answers one question from each adviser; students must earn a grade of either Pass or Contingent for each question in order to proceed to the oral exam, but they may retake any part(s) of the written portion that received a failing grade. During the oral exam, committee members may ask students to clarify, expand on, or defend any of their answers. In order for the student to pass the oral portion, the vote of the committee members must be unanimous in his or her favor.

OPTION 2:

Students must complete all of the following requirements. The chair of the student’s advisory committee certifies the completion of each element after meeting with the student.

1. Submit an article to a refereed scholarly journal in an appropriate field. Since academic journals often take many months to respond, notice of the acceptance of the piece is not required, but all three committee members must approve the choice of journal and agree that the article is ready to be sent; they should be able to say that if they were the editors they would be willing to publish the piece.

2. Present a paper (an entirely distinct work from the journal article) at an appropriate scholarly conference for which the submission was accepted in competitive judging. The committee members must agree that a given conference is acceptable – i.e. that it is sufficiently rigorous, serious, and competitive; in general, presentations at conferences devoted entirely to graduate-student work are not acceptable for this requirement. (Any student in the second or later year of enrollment whose work has been accepted for presentation at a conference may apply for up to $500 towards his or her properly documented plane/train/bus and lodging expenses no more than once each academic year. Funds are limited and preference may be given to people who did not receive conference money in the previous year.)

3. Prepare a syllabus for a semester-long course suitable for advanced undergraduates or master’s-level students on a broad and significant topic in communications. The syllabus should include appropriate readings and assignments as well as a statement of the purpose, goals, and scope of the course. Students should conceive of this not as a specialized upper-level seminar but rather as a wide-ranging exploration of an interesting and clearly defined subject or theme – something along the lines of, say, “Broadcast Regulation,” which would consist of a historical, comparative, social, legal, economic, and political survey of regulatory policy in the U.S. and one or two other countries. Committee members should approve the topic before the project is begun. Students will also be expected to present the introductory lecture for their proposed class (30-60 minutes) to their committee and any interested classmates, and to be prepared to defend the organization of the course, the choices of readings, and other matters.

About the Ph.D.

A dissertation embodying original research, and its defense before an appropriate committee, constitute the major requirement of the Ph.D. Each student must have three approved faculty sponsors, including one who serves as dissertation adviser. The dissertation proposal must be approved by the three faculty sponsors by the end of the semester that follows the term in which the comprehensive examinations were taken. The proposal, at least 20 pages, should include:

• A clear statement of the argument or thesis and how it will be developed.
• A brief review of the relevant literature, describing the contributions this work will make to the field.
• A description of the sources (whether published or human) and research methodologies to be employed.
• A work plan indicating what's already been done, what's expected, and any research travel, surveys, or other tasks to be carried out, with an estimated schedule.
• Any additional matter the advisers may require.

University and federal regulations require that any project that involves research with human subjects be approved beforehand by the Institutional Review Board; details are available at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/irb/ The regulations generally apply to research methods such as focus groups, surveys, or polls. While one-on-one interviews with scholars or experts discussing their specialties probably do not require approval, students are urged to consult with the board if they have any doubt.

More information about preparing and defending the dissertation is available on Columbia's website. GSAS requires the dissertation defense committee to consist of five members, including, in addition to the three sponsors chosen by the student, two other readers who will be appointed by the doctoral subcommittee; all members must be approved by the Dissertation Office. Normally three of the five readers must be members of the student's department or subcommittee and two must come from outside that department (or outside the university, though for both logistical and financial reasons we will generally not approve outsiders who must travel from places beyond the Boston-Washington corridor). Since however the Communications subcommittee is small and the students' range of interests wide, GSAS will when necessary approve a defense committee consisting of two members from the Communications subcommittee, one in a "cognate" discipline, and two from outside.

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Preparing and defending the dissertation
Communications subcommittee
Institutional Review Board