GRADUATE PROGRAMS
73% of all Communication M.A. students are underrepresented minorities.
Graduate Study
The city of Atlanta, a major world media center, offers graduate students a wealth of opportunities. Georgia State is within walking distance of CNN, Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), Edelman and Fortune 500 companies. Atlanta is also home to the Martin Luther King Jr., Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Students are mentored by a highly acclaimed and passionate faculty that includes Emmy- and Sundance-award winning media makers and accomplished and prolific scholars.
Master of Arts in Communication
The Master of Arts degree in Communication is a multidisciplinary degree designed to prepare communication professionals and academicians for the demands of the twenty-first century. Required core classes are designed to provide coherence to the multidisciplinary offerings of the program by providing an overview of the communications field and by introducing concepts common and debated in all areas of communication.
M.A. in Communication Studies
The Master of Arts program with a concentration in Communication Studies allows for in-depth research in speech communication and mass communication. Our faculty is particularly interested in studying how the media represents interpersonal relationships, especially those involving older Americans, and in analyzing various aspects of the mass media from qualitative and social scientific viewpoints. Students in this program can choose to focus on areas such as interpersonal communication, international media, journalism, strategic communication and public relations, social media, media effects, or audience studies.
M.A. in Digital Media Strategies
The M.A. in Communication with a concentration in Digital Media Strategies is a non-thesis track program designed to enhance the expertise of current professionals in Public Relations, Television and cross-platform Journalism, and other digital media-focused fields. It is also intended to jumpstart the career of junior/early career media professionals.
A strong demand exists in the public and private sectors for advanced instruction in media practices in Public Relations, Digital Journalism, Corporate Communication, and other media-focused positions in fields such as Sports Journalism, Health Communication, and Entertainment News, as Atlanta continues to be a major media market in its own right, employing approximately 3,150 editors, broadcasters, reporters and analysts, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Ph.D. in Communication
The doctoral program in communication encourages students to engage in theoretically rigorous, methodologically sophisticated and ethically informed research. Our students are encouraged to undertake research that makes a difference and contributes substantively to the human understanding of how communication and media fundamentally shape and are shaped by an increasingly complex social world.
The curriculum draws upon social scientific and humanities-based theories and methods to prepare a diverse group of students for a job market that expects them to be literate across multiple sub-disciplinary domains of communication, in particular, media studies, rhetoric and speech communication.
Doctoral students work with graduate faculty who have gained national and international prominence across a diverse range of research areas, including:
International media and politics
Health communication
Strategic communication
Media effects and psychology
Media representation and stereotypes
Rhetorical studies
Legal communication
Journalism studies
Media ethics
Visual communication
Environmental and critical animal studies
Terrorism studies
Public argument and deliberation
Persuasion, public relations
Interpersonal and intergroup communication
Networks
Ideological formations of power and resistance
The intellectual and creative energies activated by this rich and interdisciplinary activity within Atlanta’s dynamic urban location make the department an ideal place for students from around the world to prepare for a career in communication.
Graduate Faculty
Core Graduate Faculty
Core faculty can teach doctoral-level seminar/research courses, serve as PhD/MA advisors, and serve on graduate student committees.
Associate Graduate Faculty
Associate graduate faculty can serve as MA advisors and serve on MA/PhD committees.
Contact Us
Communication Department
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday
8:30 a.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Graduate Programs
PH.D. Program
Undergraduate Programs
Internships
Equipment Checkout/Return
Other Inquiries
Office/Delivery Address
Georgia State University
Communication Department
25 Park Place, NE
8th Floor, Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30303
USPS Mailing Address:
Georgia State University
Communication Department
P.O. Box 5060
Atlanta, GA 30302-5060