Discover communication’s contribution to accelerated, but sustainable, participatory change.
Conduct research via the Distinguished Fellowship in Global Communication. Learn more.
With its global reach, Miami’s diverse and vibrant population fuels the program’s dynamism.
Exceptional, Interdisciplinary, Engaged.
Ideal for students motivated to better address today’s most urgent global and social concerns. Students work with a diverse faculty in a wide array of specializations as they acquire the communication theories and methodologies they need to advance original, interdisciplinary scholarship.
We offer interdisciplinary education and research experiences in the following areas:
- Communication and technology
- Health communication
- Environmental communication
- Intercultural communication
- Global communication
- Communication and social change
- Organizational communication
- Strategic Communication
- Public Relations
- Computer-mediated communication
- Information design
- Journalism Studies
- Media Studies
A 360° Education
Fully Funded
The Ph.D. program is four years long. Typically students complete their course work in the first three years and spend their fourth year working on their dissertation. Our doctoral students are fully funded for four years. The costs covered for our doctoral students for four consecutive years are as follows: tuition for the required 57 credit hours, a $36,225 stipend per year for four years, and the cost of University health insurance for four years, all contingent on adequate progress in the four years of the program.
Center for Communication, Culture, and Change
The Center for Communication, Culture, and Change promotes positive social change through communication research, practice, and evaluation. It benefits students and faculty with collaborative projects addressing contemporary challenges like health, climate change, and social justice. The Center’s mission is to advance communication through theory-based, impactful research and creative activities in areas such as augmented reality, film, strategic communication, global communication, and more.
Distinguished Fellowships
Two Distinguished Fellowships are offered: the Distinguished Graduate Fellows in Global Communication and the Distinguished Graduate Fellows in Global Health, Sustainable Development, and Communication. Both fellowships provide supplemental stipends and support for individual research projects that align with the School’s global initiatives. Fellows in Global Communication receive release time to work on projects supporting the School’s global social justice efforts, while the Global Health, Sustainable Development, and Communication fellowship supports summer research expenses and conference travel, focusing on new project aspects.
Funded Projects and Initiatives
School of Communication doctoral students have recently participated in the following funded projects and initiatives:
- Climate adaptation strategies in low-resource communities
- Cancer prevention and cancer screening
- Social impact game design and evaluation
- Evaluation of the impact that parks and green spaces have on health in under-resourced communities
- Clinical trial communication with African American and Black Caribbean patients
- Sexual and reproductive health among indigenous women in Guatemala
- Development of XR, VR, and mobile applications for health and social change
- User experience evaluation of apps and web-based health interventions
“I love the University of Miami because of the strong mentorship provided by faculty, the opportunity to engage in extensive health communication research and, of course, the ability to gain meaningful practical experiences in the multicultural city of Miami.”
“I came into the doctoral program with an M.F.A., with a desire to take my foundation in filmmaking in a scholarly direction. This Ph.D. program allowed me to connect all of my interests, including environmental communication, theories of virtual reality, and media studies. I am grateful that I had very supportive professors from the very beginning all the way through to the dissertation phase.”
“I choose this program because the University of Miami is diverse. Here I can choose the direction I am interested in for in-depth research on public relations, social media, and strategy consulting. The professors are friendly and willing to help me with my research.”
“I love the University of Miami because of the strong mentorship provided by faculty, the opportunity to engage in extensive health communication research and, of course, the ability to gain meaningful practical experiences in the multicultural city of Miami.”
Kinza Shah
“I came into the doctoral program with an M.F.A., with a desire to take my foundation in filmmaking in a scholarly direction. This Ph.D. program allowed me to connect all of my interests, including environmental communication, theories of virtual reality, and media studies. I am grateful that I had very supportive professors from the very beginning all the way through to the dissertation phase.”
Katlyn Aviles
Admission FAQs
Meet our Doctoral Students
Research Day
Each year, students and faculty gather for Research Day which explores the innovative and interdisciplinary work being done across the School of Communication. Last year’s theme, “The Power of Stories to Create Social Change,” highlighted Communication and Public Relations research in addition to VR projects focused on health and social change. Past keynote speakers include Dr. Melanie Green of the University at Buffalo and Dr. Walid Afifi of UC Santa Barbara.
