Graduate Information
The graduate program in Communication at UC Davis is an intensive, two year program leading to the Master of Arts degree. The program emphasizes the strategic aspects of social interaction and mediated communication. The program is distinctive in three ways.
- First, we maintain small class
sizes to provide a personal educational
experience and extensive student-
faculty contact. Most courses are
taught as seminars in which students
learn from each other in small, facultyfacilitated
groups.
- Second, we stress knowledge generation
and the primacy of theory. We
expect our students to master the fundamental
theories that explain the dynamics
of everyday social interaction
and mediated communication, learn
how to critique extant theories, and
develop the skills required to generate
their own theories and models of communication.
- Third, our program draws upon communication researchers from other fields to offer a rich, interdisciplinary experience. In addition to the Department of Communication, our program faculty comes from Political Science, Psychology, and Medicine.
The program offers thesis and non-thesis
tracks. The thesis option requires students to
complete 32 units of course work and carry out
independent research, culminating in a thesis.
The non-thesis option requires students to complete
40 units of oursework and pass a comprehensive
examination that includes written and oral
components.