The Media and Information Studies (MIS) PhD program at Michigan State University invites applications for its interdisciplinary program that joins the study of media, information and design across several departments within the College of Communication Arts & Sciences. Offered jointly by the departments of Media and Information, and Advertising & Public Relations, and the School of Journalism, the MIS PhD program gives students access to fifty PhD faculty with research interests that span important current and emerging issues in media and information studies. Students get involved early on in projects, complementing theoretical coursework with hands-on research experiences.
Current research of the faculty include: social media and social computing; human-computer interaction; interactive media and games; Internet for development and ICT4D; media effects; socio-technical systems, including a growing focus on ICTs and health; and media, communication and Internet policy and regulation, to name a few.
Over 90 percent of our current doctoral students are supported by graduate teaching and research assistantships with generous monthly stipends, tuition remission, and health benefits. University fellowships, dissertation completion fellowships, summer research fellowships, and stipends for travel to academic conferences round out the resources available for students.
More than three-fourths of our graduates are hired into faculty positions at four-year institutions at graduation. They are based in departments of mass media, journalism, advertising, public relations, and information studies across the United States and worldwide. Others have gone on to careers in public service and business.
The National Communication Association (NCA), in their most recent doctoral program reputation study, ranked MSU’s Ph.D. programs as No. 1 in educating researchers in communication technology, and in the top four in mass communication. Michigan State University ranked third in frequency of faculty publication in communication in a study reported in The Electronic Journal of Communication in 2012.
East Lansing and the greater Lansing area offer a welcoming academic and cultural environment with easy access to a variety of outdoor activities and the scenic beauty of our state year-round. Blending urban and sub-urban living, it is one of the nation’s most affordable places to complete a doctoral program in media and information studies.
If you want to learn more, take a look at the program’s web page, contact one of our faculty members, or visit us on Facebook.