phd philosophy northwestern

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PhD in Communication Studies - Northwestern University School of Communication

The Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is replacing the PhD in Communication Studies (Rhetoric and Public Culture). Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is an interschool program between the School of Communication, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and the Medill School of Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications; and it is based in the School of Communication.

The Rhetoric, Media, and Publics PhD program, grounded in the humanistic tradition of rhetoric, asks the fundamental question of how people influence, reflect, and transform society through mediated practices. Students learn to analyze the production and circulation of meaning in a range of rhetorical and journalistic texts, practices, and institutions through varied modes of qualitative inquiry, and to engage audiences and communities directly in the production of knowledge. The stakes of this inquiry are profoundly social and political as well as formal and aesthetic. The program teaches students to approach public media as sites for political contestation, for the representation and interrogation of ethics and power, and for imagining personhood and collective life.

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Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

For students in The Graduate School ,   the   academic year runs from the Fall quarter through the Summer quarter, so the Summer 2024 quarter is the last term of the 2023-2024 academic year. The Fall 2024 quarter is the first term of the 2024-2025 academic year.

Your Cost of Attendance for the 2023-2024 academic year is the total of your direct and indirect costs as listed below. To determine your tuition cost, add the quarterly tuition rates for your enrollment category. Add the fees for those terms. Then add the total indirect cost for the number of terms you will be enrolled.

Your Cost of Attendance for the 2024-2025 academic year is the total of your direct and indirect costs as listed below. To determine your tuition cost, add the quarterly tuition rates for your enrollment category. Add the fees for those terms. Then add the total indirect cost for the number of terms you will be enrolled.

DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES

The Department of Religious Studies at Northwestern offers a small, highly flexible, interdisciplinary Ph.D. program that takes full advantage of faculty strength within our department as well as ancillary fields of the humanities and social sciences.  In the spirit of the inherently interdisciplinary character of religious studies, we train scholars both in the history of theory and method in religious studies and in important complementary approaches like ethnography, textual study, philosophy, historiography, and art history.  Our exceptional faculty’s wide training and diverse interests provide a rich foundation for future scholarship and teaching in a field that demands deeply trained specialists who are nonetheless avidly engaged in broad methodological and theoretical conversations of interest to the whole discipline.

Graduate students take at least two years of course work, including seminars, tutorials, and independent studies. All students take a two-quarter sequence in theories and methods in the study of religion and at least one course in comparative study of religion. Examples include "The Study of Religion as Vocation," "Classical Theories of Religion," "Sin, Salvation, and Racialization," and "Secularities: Thinking with, through, and against 'Religion'."

In addition, all students expand their circles of mentors and colleagues by taking up to half their course work in other departments.  Many students join an entering cohort in an affiliated department by participating in its standard first-year program, e.g. writing a first-year paper in History, taking the Introduction to Graduate Study in English, or taking the introductory seminars in cultural anthropology and anthropological research. But not all external coursework need be done in the same department. Rather, classes are chosen flexibly in consultation with the student's adviser in order to take full advantage of faculty resources in the field. To guarantee appropriate cross training, each examining committee and dissertation committee includes at least one faculty member from outside the department.

The third year is devoted to written and oral qualifying exams, to the preparation of a prospectus, and to additional course work if desired; the fourth and fifth years are dedicated to dissertation research and writing. Most students complete the degree within five years, although dissertations that require extensive fieldwork or archival research might take longer; additional competitive funding is available for longer projects.

PROGRAM IN CRITICAL THEORY

The Critical Theory graduate program is an interdisciplinary cluster and certificate program that exposes graduate students to the scholarly practice of critical theory through a variety of disciplines. The Critical Theory program provides a thorough introduction to critical theory through interdepartmental course offerings. Exposure to critical theory is highly recommended for students of literature, philosophy, politics, culture, the visual arts, gender and race studies, rhetoric, and society in our post-colonial, post-modern world.

There are several ways graduate students (prospective and current) can get involved in the Critical Theory Program:

Prospective Students:

• Indicate your interest in the Critical Theory Cluster  on the application for your respective graduate degree program.
• Apply for a Critical Theory Mellon Fellowship on your application. *While any graduate student can affiliate with the cluster, a select few are named Mellon Fellows which indicates a strong fit for the cluster and carries additional benefits.

Current Students: 

• Become a Critical Theory graduate affiliate. Fill out this information form or e-mail [email protected]
• Complete the Interdisciplinary Certificate in Critical Theory
• Participate in events and/or reading groups

Explore our website for more information. For questions, please contact one of the directors or the program administrator .

We hope you will take advantage of the interdisciplinary and international partnerships the cluster offers!

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Thank you for your interest in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering.

Our knowledgeable and approachable faculty, exceptional facilities, and well-rounded curriculum provide an undergraduate experience that leaves students suited for success in any field.

We look forward to your application.

How to Apply

All prospective students should apply through Northwestern University's Office of Undergraduate Admission . Visit their website for more information on how to apply.

Application Deadlines

Freshman entering in the fall quarter.

• Early Decision: November 1
• Regular Decision: January 1

Transfer Students

• Entering in the Fall (September): March 15

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Did you take one or more AP or IB exams? If so, you may receive Northwestern credit for your scores and/or be able to skip introductory courses in some sequences. Learn how to ensure your credits are processed smoothly.

Arrange a visit to Northwestern University and attend an information session for prospective students of the McCormick School of Engineering.

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For international students, Northwestern’s frequently asked questions page covers many issues including the admissions process, application deadlines, notification dates, language requirements, standardized testing, and more.

If you have additional questions about admission to the McCormick School of Engineering, contact Wesley Burghardt, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Engineering, at 847-491-7379 or via email at [email protected] .

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THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

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Rhetoric, Media, and Publics

• Degree Requirements

Learn more about the program by visiting the Rhetoric, Media, and Publics

See related Interdisciplinary Clusters and Certificates

Degree Type: PhD

The Doctor of Philosophy in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is replacing the PhD in Communication Studies (Rhetoric and Public Culture). Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is an interschool program between the School of Communication, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, and the Medill School of Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications. It is housed in the Department of Communication Studies and administrated through the School of Communication.

The PhD program in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics is grounded in the humanistic tradition of rhetoric and its focus on the study of politics, philosophy, and the arts. The new program asks the fundamental question of how people influence, reflect, and transform society through mediated practices. Students learn to analyze the production and circulation of meaning in a range of rhetorical and journalistic texts, practices, and institutions through varied modes of qualitative inquiry, and to engage audiences and communities directly in the production of knowledge. The stakes of this inquiry are profoundly social and political as well as formal and aesthetic. The program teaches students to approach public media as sites for political contestation, for the representation and interrogation of ethics and power, and for imagining personhood and collective life.

Please note the program is in a period of transition. The older Communication Studies: Rhetoric and Public Culture PhD program is being replaced by a new PhD program in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics. Though this new program has been approved by Northwestern, Northwestern is currently unable to issue F-1 or J-1 documents for the PhD in Rhetoric, Media, and Publics while the program undergoes review by the federal government. In this interim period, we ask students requiring immigration documents to study in the United States to apply to the current Communication Studies: Rhetoric and Public Culture PhD program, which is able to issue F-1 or J-1 documents. All students not needing an immigration document from Northwestern should complete the application for the Rhetoric, Media, and Publics PhD program. These two groups will be considered together to admit our new Fall 2023 cohort.

Additional resources:

• Department website

Program Statistics

Visit PhD Program Statistics for statistics such as program admissions, enrollment, student demographics and more.

Program Contact

Contact Department of Communication Studies Graduate Program Assistant 847-467-3551

The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, those requirements outlined in  The Graduate School Policy Guide .

Total Units Required: 12

• Students must complete at least 12 courses (and a maximum of 18) in the first 2 years of study. These include 6 required courses : COMM_ST 410-0 Rhetoric: History and Theory ; COMM_ST 419-0 The Practice of Public Scholarship ; COMM_ST 454-0 Making and Unmaking of Audiences and Publics ; COMM_ST 485-0 Media Theory ; COMM_ST 489-0 History of Media Technologies ; and one of either COMM_ST 416-0 Contemporary Rhetorical Analysis or COMM_ST 418-0 Critical Media Practice . These also include a set of elective courses relevant to the student’s planned research and teaching expertise, which must be approved by the student’s adviser and the Director of Graduate Studies.
• The PhD Qualifying Exam should be taken at the end of Year 2. Reading lists will be written in consultation with a faculty adviser. The exam consists of 3 take-home written exams to be assessed by three faculty examiners who will constitute the qualifying exam committee.
• In the Fall quarter of Year 3 students will submit and defend a PhD Prospectus , a document outlining a planned dissertation project to be approved by a faculty examining committee.
• Years 3, 4, and 5 should be devoted substantially to the writing of the dissertation for defense by the end of Year 5. The completed dissertation must be approved by the faculty dissertation committee.

Northwestern has many resources for research. It is expected that doctoral students will attend program and other university events as part of their studies. These include visiting lectures, workshops, symposia, conferences, reading groups, arts events, summer institutes, and more.

Last Updated: September 12, 2023

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2024 Incoming Graduate Students

Jordan Brown 

MA in Medical Humanities and Bioethics, Northwestern University, 2020 MS in Genetic Counseling, Northwestern University, 2017 BA in History, George Mason University, 2015

Sze Hoi (Steve) Chan

BA in Philosophy, University of Hong Kong MA in Philosophy, University of Houston

My main areas of interests are moral psychology and ethics. Recently, I think a lot about ethical phenomena that involve interesting (or puzzling) psychological mechanisms. Here are two examples.

• When an object of public value (e.g., democracy) deteriorates, political resistance may aim to preserve the object of value. However, certain political resistance is criticized for “making things worse” — not only does the resistance not help preserve the object of value, but the resistance even seems destructive to the marginal remains of the object of value that still remain. I want to make the claim that sometimes it can be apt to destroy, instead of preserving, marginal remains of what we value in order to prevent the perversion of our value.
• It is not uncommon for one to find another agent’s quality of will to be indeterminate. Consider a helicopter parent that is overly controlling, which harmed you when you were a kid. The parent’s motive may be largely unconscious (it is hard for anyone, not even the parent themselves, to tell whether the action was out of love or a desire to control). The motive/intention may be rediscovered in a therapy session (the parent thought it was love at the time of action, but learnt that they were just a control freak; and the rediscovery can go on and on). And there may be no explicit intention of the parent’s behaviour when the behaviour is habitual or instinctive (your parent may be largely mirroring what your grandparents did to them). Perhaps there are interesting ethical lessons to be learnt from such seeming indeterminacy. 

Robert Laurent

BA in Philosophy and English, Missouri - St. Louis MA in Philosophy, Missouri - St. Louis

Areas of interest: Philosophy of Language, Mind, History of Philosophy  

I am interested in concepts, both as they occur in mental representations and as intersubjective social categories that evolve over time. I would like to be able to reconcile these two concepts of concepts and to explore the extent to which our knowledge depends upon them.

Liz Rozenberg B.A. (Hons) in Philosophy, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2022 M.A. in Philosophy, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2024 Area of Interest: Philosophy of Mind, Ethics My primary research interests concern the nature and significance of various mental states. I am especially interested in affective mental states, including questions about their phenomenology as well as their potential role in rationalizing action and belief.

Eli Schantz B.A. in Philosophy & B.A. in Biology, Indiana University Bloomington M.D. in progress, Indiana University School of Medicine

Areas of interest: Philosophy of medicine, metaphysics, applied ethics

As an MD/PhD student, my interests naturally lie in the philosophy of medicine. I am particularly interested in medical concepts, such as those of disease and harm , and how our understanding of these concepts impacts clinical practice; I am also interested in how these metaphysical considerations can shed light on ethical controversies in medicine. Outside of philosophy, I am heavily involved in healthcare advocacy, and am always willing to share a cup of tea over a game of chess. 

Mingyan Yang

B.A. in Philosophy, Nanjing University, 2021 M.A. in Philosophy, Western University, 2023 M.A. in Philosophy, Fudan University, 2024 Area of interest: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Epistemology

My current research focuses on the relation between perception and cognition. I am particularly interested in cognitive penetration, the hypothesis that cognition can influence perception in certain way. My work seeks to investigate its potential mechanism and philosophical implications. I’m also drawn to topics such as perceptual learning and attentional effects in philosophy of cognitive science.

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How We Could Warm Mars

A new idea among a rich history of proposals to make the surface of the cold planet habitable.

The Problem

The surface of Mars averages about -80 degrees Fahrenheit, well too cold to be suitable for microbial life.

A method using engineered dust particles released into the atmosphere that could potentially warm the Red Planet by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Why It Matters

This could be a first step toward making Mars habitable.

Graduate Student Samaneh Ansari, Professor Hooman Mohseni

Ever since learning the surface of the planet Mars is cold and dead, scientists have wondered if there was a way to make it friendlier to life.

In a groundbreaking study  published Aug. 7  in Science Advances , researchers from Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and University of Central Florida have proposed a revolutionary approach toward terraforming Mars. This new method, using engineered dust particles released into the atmosphere, could potentially warm the Red Planet by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, to temperatures suitable for microbial life — a crucial first step toward making Mars habitable. 

The proposed method is more than 5,000 times more efficient than previous schemes to globally warm the planet, representing a significant leap forward in our ability to modify the Martian environment, according to lead author and Northwestern electrical and computer engineering graduate student Samaneh Ansari, who works in the lab of Northwestern professor Hooman Mohseni .

What sets this approach apart is its use of resources readily available on Mars, making it far more feasible than earlier proposals that relied on importing materials from Earth or mining rare Martian resources.

This strategy would take decades. But it appears logistically easier than other plans proposed so far, the researchers said.

“This suggests that the barrier to warming Mars to allow liquid water is not as high as previously thought,” said Edwin Kite, an associate professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago and corresponding author on the study.

Making the planet suitable for humans to walk on the surface unaided requires much more work — astronauts still won’t be able to breathe Mars' thin air. But perhaps groundwork could be laid by making the planet habitable for microbes and food crops that could gradually add oxygen to the atmosphere, much as they have done for Earth during its geologic history.

A new approach to an age-old dream

There is a rich history of proposals to make Mars habitable — Carl Sagan himself came up with one back in 1971. These have ranged from outright daydreams, such as science fiction writers depicting turning one of Mars’ moons into a sun, to more recent and scientifically plausible ideas, such as engineering transparent gel tiles to trap heat.

Any plan to make Mars habitable must address several hurdles, including deadly UV rays and salty soil. But the biggest is the planet’s temperature — the surface of Mars averages about -80 degrees Fahrenheit.

The average temperature of Mars' surface

Times more efficient the proposed method is than previous schemes to warm mars, the amount the new method could potentially warm the planet.

One strategy to warm the planet could be the same method that humans are unintentionally using here on Earth: releasing material into the atmosphere, which would enhance Mars' natural greenhouse effect, trapping solar heat at the surface.

The trouble is that tons of these materials would be needed — literally. Previous schemes depended on bringing gases from Earth to Mars, or attempting to mine Mars for a large mass of ingredients that aren’t very common there are both costly and difficult propositions. But the team wondered whether it could be done by processing materials that already exist abundantly on Mars.

Changing the shape of the planet’s dust

Scientists have learned from rovers like Curiosity that dust on Mars is rich in iron and aluminum. By themselves, those dust particles aren’t suitable to warm the planet; their size and composition mean they tend to cool the surface slightly rather than warm it. But if dust particles could be engineered to have different shapes or compositions, the researchers hypothesized, perhaps they could trap heat more efficiently.

The researchers designed particles shaped like short rods, similar in size to commercially available glitter. These particles are designed to trap escaping heat and scatter sunlight towards the surface, enhancing Mars' natural greenhouse effect.

“How light interacts with sub-wavelength objects is fascinating,” Ansari said. “Importantly, engineering nanoparticles can lead to optical effects that far exceed what is conventionally expected from such small particles.”

A step toward feasibility

Mohseni, a study co-author and the AT&T Professor of Information Technology at the McCormick School of Engineering, as well as a professor of physics and astronomy in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences , believes that they have just scratched the surface.

“We believe it is possible to design nanoparticles with higher efficiency, and even those that can dynamically change their optical properties,” he said.

“You'd still need millions of tons to warm the planet, but that’s five thousand times less than you would need with previous proposals to globally warm Mars,” Kite said. “This significantly increases the feasibility of the project.”

Calculations indicate that if the particles were released into Mars’ atmosphere continuously at 30 liters per second, the planet would warm by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The effect could be noticeable within as soon as months. Similarly, the warming would be reversible, stopping within a few years if release was switched off.

The authors used the Quest high-performance computing facility at Northwestern and the University of Chicago Research Computing Center.

Potential impact and future research

Much work remains to be done, the scientists said. They don’t know exactly how fast the engineered dust would cycle out of Mars’ atmosphere, for example. Mars does have water and clouds, and, as the planet warms, it’s possible that water would increasingly start to condense around the particles and fall back to the surface as rain.

"Climate feedbacks are really difficult to model accurately," Kite cautioned. "To implement something like this, we would need more data from both Mars and Earth, and we'd need to proceed slowly and reversibly to ensure the effects work as intended."

While this method represents a significant leap forward in terraforming research, the researchers emphasize that the study focuses on warming Mars to temperatures suitable for microbial life and possibly growing food crops — not on creating a breathable atmosphere for humans.

“This research opens new avenues for exploration and potentially brings us one step closer to the long-held dream of establishing a sustainable human presence on Mars,” Kite said.

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Academic Catalog

2023-2024 Edition

PhD Degree Requirements

The only doctoral degree offered by The Graduate School is the doctor of philosophy (PhD). In some cases, this degree is offered in conjunction with another degree through an approved dual degree program, whether from another program administered by The Graduate School, from another school at Northwestern University, or through an agreement with a partner University.

The PhD degree is oriented toward research that will advance knowledge. Study for a specified time and accumulation of credit for courses taken are not by themselves sufficient to earn the PhD degree. A student must demonstrate scholarly distinction and the ability to advance knowledge through independent research by achieving admission to candidacy and writing a dissertation.

Each student enrolled in a PhD program must have a principal research adviser and a committee.

The principal research adviser (also known as mentor, PI, dissertation director, adviser) is a member of the Northwestern University Graduate Faculty who works with the student to develop a research topic, formulate ideas and structure for, and guides the progress of the thesis/prospectus/dissertation. In some cases, although rare, there is a principal research co-adviser who also works with the student to develop a research topic, formulate ideas and structure for, and guides the progress of the thesis/prospectus/dissertation.

The committee members are those who have expertise in and inform the student's area of research, serve as a reader of the thesis, prospectus, or dissertation, and vote on the outcome of the proposal defense/final exam. The committee chair is a member of the Graduate Faculty who leads the committee for the defense of the prospectus or PhD final exam (dissertation). In some cases, there is a committee co-chair who co-leads the committee. The committee chair may or may not be the same individual as the principal research adviser. A minimum of three individuals must serve on the final exam committee. At least two members of this committee, including the chair, must be members of the Northwestern University Graduate Faculty.

All Northwestern University PhD students must fulfill a set of requirements regarding:

• Coursework and registration
• PhD candidacy (qualifying exam)
• PhD prospectus
• PhD dissertation and defense
• PhD completion and filing for graduation
• PhD time to degree

PhD Coursework and Registration

A student who enters a doctoral program must successfully complete at least nine quality letter-graded course units (ABC, not P/NP or S/U) authorized for graduate credit . Students must maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA. The Graduate School does not accept transfer credit in lieu of the nine letter-graded minimum unit requirement.

Two types of advanced courses, 499 Independent Study (or 499 Projects) and 590 Research bear restrictions:

• 499 Independent Study  - For doctoral students, independent studies may not represent more than half of the total units taken in the first three quarters of enrollment in a PhD program.
• 590 Research -  Departmental 590 research may be taken for one, two, three, or four course units per quarter.  All 590 Research registrations must be taken on a P/N/K grading basis.

All coursework requirements for a doctoral program are expected to be completed by the end of the 12th quarter. Students who are funded and who register for less than three course and/or research units in any given quarter must also register for TGS 500-0 Funded Doctoral Study . 

Students in quarters 13 and beyond may register for non-required coursework in addition to TGS 500-0 Funded Doctoral Study if the courses are related to the student's area of study.

No credit will be awarded by The Graduate School for work completed in a graduate program prior to admission to and enrollment in the PhD program in The Graduate School. Individual programs may waive program-specific course requirements based on work completed outside of the graduate program (either prior to or after enrollment at Northwestern), but all doctoral students must complete nine quality letter-graded (ABC) course units authorized by The Graduate School for graduate credit and maintain at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA. 

PhD Candidacy

Admission to The Graduate School does not constitute or guarantee a student's admission to candidacy for the PhD degree. Admission to candidacy is contingent upon the recommendation of the student's program and upon approval of The Graduate School.

A student must be admitted to candidacy by the end of the third year of study, which falls on the last date of the 12th quarter. A student failing to meet this milestone will be considered not in good academic standing and therefore will be placed on academic  probation . Deadlines will be altered in the case of an approved leave of absence.

• Admission to candidacy is reached by passing a comprehensive qualifying examination, written or oral or both. Individual programs determine the character of this examination. At the time of admission to candidacy, proficiency in the major and related fields is certified and additional requirements for the PhD degree are stipulated.
• The student submits the PhD qualifying exam form online via TGS Forms in  GSTS . The Director of Graduate Studies (or their proxy) must submit approval of this form before the end of a student's third year of enrollment in the PhD program. Following the submission of the approved qualifying exam form students are admitted to candidacy. Students are notified via email by TGS of approval of their qualifying exam form and admission to candidacy.

PhD Prospectus

Students must have a prospectus (dissertation proposal) approved by their committee no later than the end of the fourth year of study, which falls on the last date of the 16th quarter. A student failing to meet this milestone will be considered not in good academic standing and therefore will be placed on academic  probation . Deadlines will be altered in the case of an approved leave of absence. The prospectus must be approved by a faculty committee.  Individual programs determine the exact nature of this requirement.

A minimum of three individuals must serve on the prospectus committee. At least two members of this committee, including the chair, must be members of the Northwestern University Graduate Faculty. The student must submit the PhD prospectus form through TGS Forms in GSTS . The Director of Graduate Studies (or their proxy) must approve this form before The Graduate School enters the final approval. Students are notified via email by The Graduate School of approval of their prospectus form.

PhD Dissertation and Defense

Every candidate for the PhD degree must present a dissertation that gives evidence of original and significant research.

Dissertation Assistance

All dissertators should consult with their advisers about appropriate forms of assistance before assistance is rendered. Dissertations must acknowledge assistance received in any of the following areas:

• Designing the research
• Executing the research
• Analyzing the data
• Interpreting the data/research
• Writing, proofing, or copy editing the manuscript 

Dissertations must be formatted according to the Dissertation Formatting Requirements . Dissertations not conforming to these instructions will not be accepted by The Graduate School.

Dissertation Defense

The Graduate School requires that PhD students complete a dissertation defense (final examination). Individual programs determine the exact nature of the defense.  Scheduling the defense is the responsibility of the candidate and the members of the committee. The PhD final exam form must be approved by a faculty committee. A minimum of three individuals must serve on the final exam committee. At least two members of this committee, including the chair, must be members of the Northwestern University Graduate Faculty.

Depositing the Dissertation

Dissertations must be deposited into the  ProQuest Database . In addition, the University Library receives a copy of the dissertation that may be used at its discretion for reasons including but not limited to long term archiving, library use and interlibrary loan, and dissemination through an institutional repository or other means. The library also archives electronic copies of dissertations to help ensure that the content is preserved for future generations.

Dissertation Embargo

With the permission of a faculty member well-versed with the student's work, presumably the primary adviser, students may request to embargo (delay release of) their dissertation for a period of six months, one year, or two years. To request an embargo, the student must complete the Dissertation Embargo (Delayed Release) Request form and obtain the faculty mentor’s signature.  The completed and signed form must be uploaded in the “Administrative Documents” section of ProQuest when submitting the dissertation.

An approved request to place an embargo has the effect of restricting online access to the dissertation through the library’s discovery systems and ProQuest for the period of the embargo. Metadata (author, title, abstract, keywords and subjects) about the embargoed dissertation will be available through the ProQuest system and the library catalog. Users of those systems are able to search for and see the metadata, but not the actual text or other content of the dissertation.

The dissertation will automatically be released in the University repository and  ProQuest  after the approved embargo expires. To extend the embargo with  ProQuest  and/or the University Library, students must contact The Graduate School Student Services at least thirty days prior to the point of expiration. The student may request a one-time extension of the embargo for up to six years and must provide a sufficient intellectual and/or professional rationale in seeking approval from The Graduate School.

PhD Completion and Filing Requirements

Filing requirements and forms.

Students pursuing the Doctor of Philosophy degree must file the following required documents prior to graduation and by the  published deadlines :

• Application for Degree form : this form must be filled out via GSTS . Students should login to GSTS , click on the"TGS Forms" tab and create a new "Application for a Degree" form.
• Each PhD  Final Exam committee member must approve the form after the final exam (defense) date. Committee members render their approval by clicking the embedded link in the email they automatically receive once the exam date passes. 
• Dissertation submission via  ProQuest's website . Once the dissertation has been approved by the committee and all edits and revisions are complete, the student must submit online via ProQuest. The dissertation must conform to The Graduate School's Dissertation Formatting Requirements . Once the student has submitted the dissertation online, a Student Services representative will review its formatting and confirm via email that the dissertation is acceptable or notify the student if changes need to be made.
• Change of Grade form(s) : Students with incomplete (Y, X, K) or missing (NR) grades on their transcript must work with their program/department to ensure the appropriate change of grade forms are submitted to The Graduate School by the published deadline.

PhD Timeline

All requirements for the doctoral degree must be met within nine years of initial registration in a doctoral program, which falls on the last day of the 36th quarter. For students on an approved  leave of absence , milestones will be extended accordingly.

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PDF of the 2023-2024 The Graduate Catalog.

Department of Environmental Toxicology

Ph.d. environmental toxicology degree.

The purpose of the proposed Doctor of Philosophy degree program in Environmental Toxicology is to provide an academic structure through which students receive formal classroom education and strong guidance regarding complex research problems that evaluate toxic substances that are released into the environment. Doctoral graduates will be qualified to fill positions in universities, colleges, governmental agencies, foundations, and industry.

The objectives of the Doctor of Philosophy program in Environmental Toxicology are to provide skilled researchers with background to:

• Develop and manage nationally and internationally recognized research programs which utilize the expertise of toxicologists, chemists, engineers, wildlife biologists, ecologists, statisticians and invertebrate biologists to determine the effects of environmental contaminants on humans and free-living populations of animals.
• Increase our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of toxic response in humans, wildlife fish and other biological resources.
• Assess the direct and indirect effects of environmental contaminants on humans, wildlife, fish and other biological resources.
• Integrate research efforts with those of federal, state and local regulatory agencies, private industry and environmental groups to provide the highest quality scientific data upon which environmentally sound policy decisions can be made.
• Provide classroom and laboratory instruction in Environmental Toxicology at the associate, baccalaureate and graduate teaching levels.
• Interpret and communicate intramural and extramural technical data so that the general public as well as the scientific community will be able to develop informed opinions on the effects of toxic substances in the environment.

Environmental Toxicology, Ph.D. About the Environmental Toxicology Doctoral Program

The Department of Environmental Toxicology offers a graduate program within the College of Arts and Sciences as well as fixed and variable credit courses for undergraduates. The courses are designed to provide undergraduate students the opportunity to learn about and conduct scientific research in environmental toxicology. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of environmental toxicology, prospective students should contact the Graduate Program Coordinator to discuss prerequisites and prior training. Generally, a strong background in the natural, physical, or health sciences will provide the necessary preparation. Students interested in pursuing a degree must complete the online application to the Graduate School. Interested students should contact faculty within the department.

The Department of Environmental Toxicology integrates the efforts of Texas Tech University, the School of Law, and the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in a joint venture to assess the impacts of toxic chemicals and other stressors on the natural environment. Attracting graduate students at both the master's and doctoral level, The Department of Environmental Toxicology includes faculty with backgrounds in biological sciences, medicine, epidemiology, biostatistics, engineering, chemistry, computer science, law, mathematics, pharmacology, physiology, and wildlife biology.

The Ph.D. program (72 hours) is composed of coursework emphasizing the principles of toxicology, the environmental fate of chemicals, statistical approaches to study design, data handling, and data analysis, and seminars in environmental toxicology. Supplemental coursework, research, and dissertation hours are chosen by the student with the guidance of their committee, allowing for focus on the student's particular research emphasis. Students pursuing this degree must perform an original research project, prepare a written dissertation, and defend the work in a public defense.

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Mechanical Engineering

• Graduate study in Mechanical Engineering
• Ph.D. programs

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering

The Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering prepares students for careers in research and academia. Our collaborative faculty are investigating a diverse range of research areas like additive manufacturing, air quality, cellular biomechanics, computational design, DNA origami, energy conversion and storage, nanoscale manufacturing, soft robotics, transdermal drug delivery, transport phenomena, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

Interested? Visit our research pages for more information, including faculty areas of expertise and research videos.

• Other Ph.D. programs

I’d like more information.

View the  degree requirements  in the handbook.

Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering

Students typically complete the Ph.D. degree requirements in three to five years. Early in the program, students focus on course-work that enhances their knowledge as they prepare to conduct research.

Within one year, students must pass the departmental qualifying exam, an oral exam that tests research skills and knowledge of a core mechanical engineering subject area.

Student research forms the core of the Ph.D. program. Research involves active student-directed inquiry into an engineering problem, culminating in a written thesis and oral defense.

Ph.D. Financial Support

The majority of full-time Ph.D. students accepted through the standard application process receive fellowships that cover full tuition, the technology fee, and a stipend for living expenses for up to five years, as long as sufficient progress is made toward degree completion. These awards are sufficient to cover all expenses for the year (including summers). Students are required to pay for health insurance, the transportation fee, the activity fee, books, and course supplies. Off-campus housing is available within walking distance of campus. At least one year of residency is required for the Ph.D. We offer two ways to enter the Ph.D. program.

Advanced entry Ph.D.

The advanced entry Ph.D. is for students with an M.S. in an engineering discipline or equivalent field.

Direct Ph.D.

The direct Ph.D. is for students entering the program with a B.S. in an engineering discipline or equivalent field.

For a comprehensive overview of the programs, including degree requirements, please consult the most recent handbook

Ph.D. candidate Remesh Shrestha, co-advised by Professors Sheng Shen and Maarten de Boer, explains his research to create polymer nanowires that have high thermal conductivity:

Other Ph.D. programs and partnerships

Apply here (by these deadlines).

For spring 2023

For fall 2022

The application for fall entry opens in October.

More information

Ph.D. employment stats

Ph.D. enrollment and completion stats [pdf]

Designated Emphasis

The Designated Emphasis in Film & Media Studies provides curricular and research resources for students who want to concentrate on Film & Media within their respective disciplines and have their work formally recognized in their degree designation. Designed to bring together faculty and students from different departments, the D.E. is administered by the Graduate Group in Film & Media Studies and provides a unique context for rigorous cross-disciplinary research. Students applying to the D.E. must be prepared to integrate high-level Film & Media research into their coursework, qualifying exam, and dissertation.

Requirements for Admission

Any UC Berkeley Ph.D student in good standing may apply after completing either the Film Theory seminar (Film & Media 200) offered each fall semester, or the Film Historiography seminar (Film & Media 201) offered each spring semester. Students must be admitted to the D.E. prior to taking their Qualifying Exams.

Requirements for the Designation

Students admitted to the Designated Emphasis Program must complete the following requirements before completion of their degree:

• A minimum of three graduate seminars in Film & Media must be taken at Berkeley:
• Film & Media 200;
• Film & Media 201;
• Film & Media 240 or a graduate seminar cross-listed with Film & Media.

Note: Independent study courses are not acceptable to fulfill this requirement.

• A member of the Graduate Group in Film & Media must be a formal member of the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination committee. Under most circumstances, the Film Graduate Group member in the student’s home department will serve in this function. A member of the Graduate Group may also serve as the outside member of the qualifying exam committee.
• A Film & Media topic must be included as a subject on the Qualifying Examination.
• A member of the Graduate Group in Film and Media must be a formal member of the dissertation committee.
• The dissertation must contribute to the study of film and moving-image media.

Upon completion of these requirements and the dissertation, the student will receive a designation on their transcript to state that they have completed a “Ph.D. in (…) with an Emphasis in Film & Media.”

Please note that descriptions will vary according to the instructor. Additional seminars with substantial film or visual culture components are offered by various departments each semester.

Film & Media 200: Film Theory

This course will provide an advanced introduction to the by-now substantial field of Film Theory. Equal attention will be given to the classic texts of early and of contemporary Film Theory, and to the theoretical issues raised in each. It will not be the governing assumption of this course that an implicit teleology underpins the development of Film Theory, leading from primitive to ever more sophisticated formulations; consequently, while we will of course read that discipline’s founding texts through the prism of the late twentieth century, we will also complicate its contemporary debates through the work of figures like Benjamin, Eisenstein and Kracauer. Although the theoretical category to which we will most insistently return will be spectatorship, it will be formally as well as narratively and ideologically specified, and complicated through the related notions of “race,” “gender,” “class,” “nation” and “history.” We will read texts by Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, Bela Belazs, Andre Bazin, Sergei Eisenstein, Jean-Louis Baudry, Christian Metz, Laura Mulvey, Stephen Heath, Linda Williams, Thomas Elsaesser, Tom Gunning, Mary Ann Doane, Kaja Silverman, and Gilles Deleuze.

Film & Media 201: Film Historiography

The seminar provides both a theoretical overview of film historiography and an introduction to specific examples and methods of historically oriented film research. One focus of the seminar will be an introduction to methodological aspects to film-archival research. Students will become familiar with campus libraries, film collections, and archival resources, especially Pacific Film Archive. The seminar’ s theoretical project will be to develop a repertoire of historiographical questions that can help shape research information into historical narrative. On the one hand, we will examine metahistorical writings on film history from the past two decades for an understanding of the questions undergirding various kinds of investigations. On the other, we will examine interesting case-historical examples dealing with film technology, style, studio history, exhibition, spectatorship, and cultural history.

Film 240: Special Topics (selected titles):

Sample titles from recent seminars:

Silent Film Comedy, Horror Film, Film Noir, The Courtroom Film, Racial Melodrama, Griffith, Eisenstein, Resnais/Renoir, Fellini, The Dialectical Image, Weimar Cinema, Italian Neo-Realism and Marxism, Caravaggio: Film and Painting, Narrative Theory in Literature and Cinema, Film and Modernism, Avant- garde, Psychoanalysis and the Socio-Political, Theory of Cultural Studies, Feminist Film Theory, Cinema, Nation, Memory, Third Cinema

Applying for the Film Designated Emphasis

Applications to the Designated Emphasis program are accepted in fall and spring semesters for admission in the following semester. Please email the Graduate Assistant to request the current application. The deadlines are April 1 for admission the following fall semester, and November 1 for the following spring semester. Only a limited number of students will be admitted. Please submit the following materials to the Film DE Graduate Advisor at [email protected] . Check back approximately one month after the deadline to check your status if you have not been notified.

• A succinct one-page statement about your research interests and background in film
• A writing sample (maximum 25 pages), ideally relating to a film topic.
• A current, unofficial copy of your UC Berkeley transcript.
• At least one letter of recommendation from a faculty member from your home department. 

Film & Media Graduate Group Faculty

Jinsoo An Ph.D., UCLA, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures (Korean Studies) Professpr An research interests encompass Korean film history, East Asian cinema, film genre, authorship, history and memory, film historiography, language and cinema, and film censorship.  His current research focuses on the cinema of South Korean director, Kim Ki-young (1919-1998). 

Nicholas Baer Ph.D., Berkeley; Assistant Professor of German Professor Baer’s research examines film and digital media in conjunction with traditions of modern thought, with a particular emphasis on aesthetics, critical theory, and the philosophy of history. He teaches courses on philosophy and film, psychoanalysis, the Frankfurt School, media archaeology, and theories of media.

Weihong Bao Ph.D., University of Chicago; Associate Professor of Film & Media and East Asian Languages & Cultures and Pamela P. Fong and Family Distinguished Chair in China Studies Professor  Bao’s teaching and research interests cover comparative media history and theory, media and environment, early cinema, war and modernity, affect theory, propaganda theory and practice, and Chinese language cinema of all periods and regions.

Rizvana Bradley Ph.D. from Duke University;  Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies and Affiliated Faculty in the History of Art Department and the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California, Berkeley   Professor Bradley’s book,  Anteaesthetics: Black Aesthesis and the Critique of Form , was published in 2023 by Stanford University Press. Her scholarly work has been published in  Diacritics: A Review of Contemporary Criticism ,  Film Quarterly ,  Black Camera: An International Film Journal ,  Discourse: Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture ,  TDR: The Drama Review ,  Rhizomes: Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge , and  Women and Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory , and her art criticism has also been published in  The Yale Review ,  Artforum ,  e-flux ,  Art in America , and  Parkett . Bradley has curated a number of academic arts symposia, including events at the British Film Institute, London, the Serpentine Galleries, London, and most recently, the Stedelijk Museum of Art, Amsterdam.

Natalia Brizuela Ph.D., New York University; Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese Prof. Brizuela has areas of research that lie at the intersection of Latin American literature and visual technologies new media, specializing in Argentine, Brazilian and Chilean literature and culture.

Abigail De Kosnik Ph.D., Northwestern University, Associate Professor in the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM) and the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) Professor De Kosnik researches television, film, and new media, focusing on the intersections of media and technology with race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and nationality. Specific areas of interest include: fandom; piracy; diversity in media; repetition in media; linkages between film, television, social media and performance theory; hip-hop and digital sampling; Philippine media; transnational media flows; transmedia; and histories of internet use.

Mary Ann Doane Ph.D., University of Iowa; Class of 1937 Professor of Film & Media Prof. Doane teaches courses on film theory, psychoanalytic theory, technology and media, cultural theory, feminist theory, the avant-garde, and film and modernity. Doane works in the areas of film theory, feminist film studies, cultural theory, and semiotics, and has also written on photography, television, and digital media.

Jacob Gaboury Ph.D., New York University, Associate Professor of Film & Media  Professor Gaboury’s teaching and research interests include the history of computing and digital image technologies, media archaeology, digital game studies, science and technology studies, queer theory, and media theory.

Deniz Göktürk Ph.D., Free University of Berlin; Associate Professor of German Prof. Göktürk has taught courses on transnational cinema, world cinema/global cities, and German cinema.

Anne Nesbet Ph.D., Berkeley; Professor of Slavic; Film & Media Professor Nesbet teaches courses in film history, film theory, and Russian and European cinema before WWII. Her research interests include Eisenstein, Soviet cinema, and children’s literature

Greg Niemeyer MFA, Stanford University; Associate Professor of Art Practice Prof. Niemeyer teaches new media and creates digital media installations.

Linda Rugg Ph.D., Harvard; Professor of Scandinavian Professor  Rugg has teaching and research interests that include Swedish literature and culture, 1870 to the present; August Strindberg; Ingmar Bergman; autobiography, including visual autobiography, and literature and the visual arts.

Mark Sandberg Ph.D., Berkeley; Professor of Scandinavian; Film & Media Professor  Sandberg works on serial and global format television, silent cinema, Scandinavian film history, museology, and pre-cinematic visual culture. He teaches courses on film historiography, cinema and architecture, silent comedy, and Scandinavian film and television.

Miryam Sas Ph.D., Yale University; Associate Professor of Comparative Literature; Film & Media Prof. Sas is interested in experimental film, Japanese film, critical theory, twentieth century Japanese, French, and English literature, and the visual and material cultures of modern Japan.

Rhiannon Noel Welch Ph.D., UC Berkeley, Associate Professor of Italian Studies and Affiliated Faculty in Film & Media Professor Welch’s teaching and research interests at once locate and complicate the bounds of Italian literature and cinema, focusing on formal and ideological relations to broader cultural spaces and phenomena, such as urban modernity; fascism and postwar ‘redemption’; race and the biopolitics of capture; colonialism and its afterlives; migration and diaspora; oceans, ecology and climate change; and elemental film and media.

Kristen Whissel Ph.D., Brown University; Associate Professor of Film & Media Prof. Whissel works on American modernity in early cinema, including representations of the Spanish-American wars, new technologies at World’s Fairs and expositions, and the “white slavery” scandals.

Damon Young Ph.D., Berkeley, Associate Professor, French; Film & Media Professor  Young researches and teaches on film and media theory; art cinema, with a focus French and francophone; critical theory; digital media technologies; and queer studies and gender & sexuality in relation to film and media.

DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

• Continuing Faculty

Morgan Thompson

Assistant professor.

• [email protected]
• Kresge 3-415

Morgan Thompson specializes in philosophy of science, feminist philosophy, and social philosophy. Her current work addresses issues in measurement and data collection, such as when and how racial/ethnic data should be collected in official statistics and the validity of self-report methods in social science. Her second research project concerns public participation in scientific research. She distinguishes standpoint theoretic approaches from calls for “democratizing science.” In previous research, she addressed empirical questions about the demographics of philosophy and potential explanations of the underrepresentation of women in philosophy. She teaches courses in philosophy of science (especially the social sciences and psychology), social metaphysics, and feminist philosophy.

Selected Work:

• Daniel James, Morgan Thompson, Tereza Hendl. (2024). Who Counts in Official Statistics? Ethical-Epistemic Issues in German Migration and the Collection of Racial or Ethnic Data. Journal of Applied Philosophy .  https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12737
• Morgan Thompson. (2023). Characterizing and Measuring Racial Discrimination in Public Health Research. Philosophy of Science . 90(3): 721-743
• Morgan Thompson. (2023). Epistemic Risk in Triangulation: The Case of Implicit Attitudes. Synthese . 201: 1
• Morgan Thompson, Toni Adleberg, Sam Sims, and Eddy Nahmias. (2016). Why Do Women Leave Philosophy? Surveying Students at the Introductory Level. Philosophers' Imprint . 16(6), 1-36.
• ​Liam Kofi Bright, Daniel Malinsky, and Morgan Thompson. (2016). Causally Interpreting Intersectionality Theory. Philosophy of Science . 83(1), 60-81.

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Department of Geography

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

The Ph.D. is a different kind of degree from the master’s degree. A doctoral candidate in geography must be capable of making original contributions to knowledge and scholarship. For the students to make such contributions, they must concentrate on a narrow and clearly defined field of study. We require, however, that doctoral candidates know more of geography than their particular specialties; thus, any aspirant for a doctorate must obtain master’s training or its equivalent before being admitted to doctoral candidacy. In short, admission to doctoral candidacy is official recognition that a student’s general foundation in the breadth of geography is satisfactory. Students then devote their attention to developing depth in chosen specialties.

The general requirements for a doctoral degree in geography are more rigorous than those for a master’s degree. At the same time, the greater flexibility of the doctoral program allows advanced students to pursue programs of study tailored to their special interests and needs.

Progress through the degree is marked by: 

• Successful performance in a verbal qualifying exam; 
• Four-day written comprehensive exam, with a verbal portion after the written answers have been assessed by the committee;  
• Formal dissertation proposal; and 
• Verbal defense of a completed dissertation.

The four-year Ph.D. program is reserved for students who have a master’s degree from another graduate program. That can be another geography program at another university, a non-geography program at another university, or a non-geography program at Penn State.

Students entering the four-year Ph.D. program must take the doctoral qualifying exam in their first year. A committee from three of the four fields of geography and formally appointed by the Graduate Program Officer will administer the qualifying exam. The qualifying exam can take place any time during the year, but students in the four-year Ph.D. program typically take it during spring semester.

Students in the four-year Ph.D. program complete a comprehensive exam and defend their dissertation proposal in the second year. Depending on the needs of their research, and in agreement with their doctoral committee, students can fulfill these two requirements in either order. Once students have successfully passed their comprehensive exam and defended their proposal, they typically take two years to research, write, and defend their dissertations.

Our online Graduate Student Handbook explains the program requirements for all degrees.