Graduate Studies in Communication and Culture
Masters Program
The Master of Arts in degree serves as a foundation for the Ph.D. in Communication and Culture. Students work with an adviser to construct a curriculum that addresses individual needs and interests while benefiting from the broad expertise of our faculty. Explore the following links to learn more about degree requirements for the Masters program, examine reading lists, and peruse information on comprehensive exams.
Degree Requirements | Reading Lists | Exams
Candidates for the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree must complete a minimum of thirty credit hours of approved graduate coursework as designated below:
- Two of the following three introductory courses: C501 - Introduction to Rhetoric and Public Culture, C502 - Introduction to Performance and Ethnography in Communication and Culture, or C503 - Introduction to Media Aesthetics.
. - One of the following three methods courses: C505 - Productive Criticism of Rhetoric, C506 - Methods of Ethnography, or C507 - Media Research Methods.
. - C700 - Independent Readings in Communication and Culture; normally taken during the summer following the first full year of coursework. Students choose to complete two reading lists drawn from the three departmental areas of research (rhetoric, media, and performance and ethnography) and work independently in preparation for the M.A. Comprehensive Examination. Students will be graded pass or fail on the basis of the outcome of their examination.
. - An additional eighteen hours of graduate coursework, of which no more than six hours will be at the 400-level, and no more than three additional hours of C700. Students may take a maximum of eight hours of coursework outside of the Department of Communication and Culture.
. - Students may transfer a maximum of eight hours of graduate coursework with grades of B or better with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies and the Dean of the University Graduate School.
. - Five-hour, written comprehensive examination to be administered in January of the second year of coursework.
. - Coursework taken towards the M.A. must be completed no more than five years prior to the awarding of the degree. Coursework that does not meet this criterion may be revalidated. For the rules governing revalidation, see the University Graduate School Bulletin.
The M.A. reading list in Communication and Culture consists of three separate lists, each calibrated to one of the department's three areas of research. Students are expected to complete the readings on any two of the three lists in order to prepare for the five-hour M.A. Comprehensive Examination.
The examination will consist of a two-hour question in one topos, a second two-hour question on a different topos, and a one-hour question which asks the student to articulate relationships between those two areas of research. Each student determines which two areas of research s/he will select for the examination. If, for example, a given student chooses to prepare for exams on rhetoric and media, s/he will answer a two hour question in rhetoric and another two-hour question in media, followed by a one-hour question that relates rhetoric and media. The exam questions will be prepared by a committee of faculty members. All students will answer the same question in a given topos. Thus, for example, one two-hour question in performance and ethnographic studies will be prepared for all students who have selected this topos as one of the two areas of research in which they wish to be examined. Similarly, one question will be prepared in rhetoric and one in media for students who wish to write in either or both of those areas.
Written M.A. comprehensive examinations are scheduled for January 2-8, 2008, May 5-9, 2008 and August 18-22, 2008. Exams are not typically administered at other times of the year. The M.A. examination is prepared and graded by the M.A. Examination Committee. The student's advisor also serves as a grader for the examination. Once everyone is agreed on what the examination will consist of, and no later than one month prior to when the examination will be taken, the students needs to file the Application for M.A./Ph.D. Examination Form with the Academic Records Secretary.
Written comprehensive examinations may be prepared in either long hand or at a computer/word processor:
Hand Written Answers: Students may submit handwritten answers at the end of each examination period, retain a photo copy of their answers for typing, and have these typed versions included with the original when examinations are distributed to the faculty. In the typed version, students may make minor changes to correct punctuation and spelling if the location of these changes is highlighted in the original. Students must submit the typed versions to the Academic Records Secretary within 48 hours of having completed the examination.
Word Processed Answers: Students may submit a hard copy of word processed examinations at the end of each examination period, retain a disk copy of their answers for minor corrections in punctuation and spelling if the location of these changes is highlighted in the original print-out, and have these revised versions included with the original when examinations are submitted to the faculty. Students must submit the revised versions to the Academic Records Secretary within 48 hours of having taken the examination.
Click here to view MA exam questions for the 2007-2008 academic year.
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Introduction
Masters Program
