Braddock Journey

In with the new

Most of my time lately has been taken up with labor, delivery, and care of a newborn.

But when I saw the announcement in my email for a new media psychology program at the University of Michigan, I wanted to share it. The press release is below. I love seeing new opportunities and expanding programs in the field.

University of Michigan
Department of Communication Studies PhD Program
MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY SPECIALTY

The media psychology concentration of the PhD Program in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan blends theory and research in communication studies and social, cognitive, and developmental psychology. Our goal is to train students to understand and investigate how media affect individuals? thinking, emotions, and behaviors and how these in turn shape the experiences that individuals have with the mass media.
Faculty research interests are wide-ranging with regards to media (we study TV, movies, videogames, social networking, “new” media, print, and more) and variables of interest, including aggression, health behavior, self and identity (including race, gender, sexuality), and well-being. A list of the core faculty in the sub program is below.

In addition to courses in the Department of Communication Studies, students will have the opportunity to take relevant graduate courses in other departments, including Michigan’s Psychology Department and School of Public Health. The faculty also have close ties to the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research (ISR), where graduate students can contribute to research being conducted in, for example, the Aggression Research and Health and Media Research groups.

Course of Study

The PhD program in Communication Studies at Michigan is designed to take 5 years to complete, and students are generally provided with 5 years of financial support including support for the summer between their first and second years. Required courses are minimized and are completed in the first two years of graduate school in order to allow students to focus on individualized research programs as early as possible. Students generally pass their preliminary exams and reach candidacy at the end of their second year and focus on research and elective courses in their remaining years.

A typical program of study for the first 2 years for a student majoring in Media Psychology might be:

Year 1 FALL TERM
Comm 781(3hr)- Research Methods: Qualitative Emphasis
Comm 775(3hr)- Media Theory in the Humanities Tradition
Comm 698(2hr)- Planning for First Year Research Project
Psych 613(4hr)- Statistics 1
Communication Studies Weekly Colloquium (no credit)

Year 1 WINTER TERM
Comm 783(4hr)- Research Methods: Quantitative Emphasis
Comm 776(3hr)- Media Theory in the Social Science Tradition
Comm 699(2hr)- First Year Research Project Work
Comm 993(1hr)- Pedagogy Seminar (if appointed as GSI)
Communication Studies Weekly Colloquium (no credit)

Year 1 SPRING-SUMMER TER
First Year Project Research

Year 2 FALL TERM
Comm 810(3hr)- Media Psychology
Psych 682(3hr)- Advanced Social Psychology
Comm 8xx(3hr)- Special topics in communication studies
Comm 990 (2hr)- Directed pre-dissertation research
Communication Studies Weekly Colloquium (no credit)

Year 2 WINTER TERM
Comm 8xx(3hr)- Special topics in media psychology
Elective (3hr)- Special topics in comm studies or outside course
Psych 614(4hr)- Advanced Statistics II
Comm 990(2hr)- Directed research
Communication Studies Weekly Colloquium (no credit)

Questions regarding the Media Psychology program may be directed to the department’s graduate coordinator, or to any of the faculty listed below.

Faculty
Brad Bushman, Professor of Communication Studies and Psychology and Research Professor in ISR; , http://www.sitemaker.umich.edu/brad.bushman/home
Sonya Dal Cin, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology, and Faculty Associate in ISR, , http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sdalcin/
Dara Greenwood, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology, and Faculty Associate in ISR, , http://sitemaker.umich.edu/dgreenwood
Rowell Huesmann, Professor of Communication Studies and Psychology, and Research Professor in ISR, , http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/aggr/personnelprofiles/huesmann.html
Russell Neuman, Professor of Communication Studies, Adjunct Professor of Sociology, and Research Professor in ISR, , http://www.wrneuman.com/