Media & Cultural Studies

General
Information		 Master's
Requirements		 PhD
Requirements		 Internal
Minor		 Professional
Organizations		 Recent
PhDs

PhD Requirements

  • Four semesters of coursework (40 credits) past the MA, each consisting of 3 three-credit courses plus colloquium.
  • No more than 9 credits at the 300-400 level
  • 12 credit minor (can be intra-departmental)
  • At least 12 credits at 900 level in MCS courses
  • 4 credits of MCS colloquium
  • Ph.D. Preliminary Exam
    • 4 four-hour written exams, determined in consultation with advisor and major faculty, followed by an oral defense.
  • All Ph.D. level students must be officially accepted by a dissertation advisor no later than the second semester of their first year. A dissertation proposal is required with strong recommendation that it be completed within 8 months past prelims.

Course Work

To attain a Ph.D. in Media and Cultural Studies, students must

  1. Complete the course work required of M.A. students in Media and Cultural Studies
  2. Complete additional course work chosen in consultation with the student's advisor and doctoral committee
  3. Complete the requirements for a doctoral minor
  4. Pass a set of preliminary examinations at the end of course work
  5. Prepare a dissertation proposal that is approved by the student's doctoral committee
  6. Write and defend a doctoral dissertation
  7. It is also strongly recommended that students take an advanced production course, so as to enhance their critical skills and qualify them to teach media production courses to undergraduates during their time in residence in Communication Arts.

Students entering with an M.A. in Media and Cultural Studies from another school may be able to use course work from that school to satisfy some requirements of the Media and Cultural Studies program, but according to Graduate School rules, all doctoral students must complete a minimum of 32 graduate-level credits (approximately two years of course work) at UW-Madison. Those credits include work in the doctoral minor.

PhD Minor

The minor requirement is designed to give breadth to the doctoral program and should expose the student to subjects and/or methodologies that expand upon and complement his or her work in Media and Cultural Studies. The minor requirement can be fulfilled in one of three ways:

  1. By taking 12 credits in a single department other than Communication Arts
  2. By taking 12 credits distributed across two or more departments other than Communication Arts
  3. By taking 12 credits in another area in Communication Arts.

The choice of which option to pursue is made by the student in consultation with his or her advisor and doctoral committee.

Preliminary Examination

After successfully completing all course work, including that required for the doctoral minor, students take preliminary examinations. The written component of the examination is prepared by the student's doctoral committee, though in some cases professors outside the department may be invited to submit questions. Students take 16 hours of written examinations in theory, method, and area(s) of specialization. The distribution of hours will be determined by the student's doctoral committee. The written exam is followed by a two-hour oral examination.

The preliminary examination typically emphasizes the student's ability to synthesize and apply creatively what he or she has learned. Factual knowledge is not the sole focus of the examination; nor does it suffice merely to know what others think or say. Likewise, the preliminary examination should not be regarded simply as a repetition of exams and materials covered in the student's courses, although the questions typically relate to those courses.

Preliminary examinations are administered three times per year:

  • Late August
  • End of the fall semester
  • End of the spring semester

Students who enter the Media and Cultural Studies program without an M.A. usually take prelims by the end of their eighth semester in residence.

Policies on Dissertation Defenses

Dissertation Proposal

The aim of a dissertation proposal is to articulate a scholarly problem and a plan for addressing it. The proposal should identify and explain the significance of the dissertation topic, analyze the state of the scholarly literature on the topic, describe preliminary arguments or hypotheses the dissertation will investigate, identify the primary research sources for the dissertation, and sketch out a research and writing schedule. The proposal is developed in consultation with the student's advisor and doctoral committee and must be formally approved by the committee before the student can proceed with writing the dissertation.

The dissertation should provide evidence of scholarship, originality, and research competence. The line of inquiry selected should be something students can pursue for years following the awarding of a degree--not a single requirement-fulfilling effort. A student's course work and preliminary examination are preludes to and preparation for building a program of research that can sustain her/him through the early phase of her/his career. Ideally, the dissertation is completed within three years after the student is admitted to candidacy.

Services Login Instructional Media Center Comm Arts 100 Cinematheque