NCA's Doctoral Program Guide

The Ph.D. program in the College of Communication & Information at the University of Kentucky emphasizes communication as a social science. Graduates are prepared for university positions and careers in government, the media and other organizations as researchers, consultants and policy makers. Students must demonstrate general knowledge of communication theory and research methods, as well as competence in a core area of specialization. Current core areas include health communication, information studies, instructional communication, media and mass communication, risk and crisis communication, and strategic and organizational communication.

Admission Requirements

• Admission to the Graduate Program in Communication is highly competitive.  The number of applicants is far greater than the number of available spaces. Each year, our Admissions Committee is faced with the challenge of selecting the best from a pool of highly qualified applicants.  We take into account all elements of the application, however students must have a 3.0 GPA or higher from their undergraduate and graduate institution in order to be considered for admission. Please note that we only review applications that are completed by the deadline.  Due to the competitive nature of our program, we strongly advise that you complete your application materials well before the deadline.

Graduate Faculty

• Professor Chike Anyaegbunam, Ph.D., University of Iowa 
• Associate Professor Tae Hyun Baek, Ph.D., University of Georgia 
• Professor Beth Barnes, Ph.D., Northwestern University 
• Assistant Professor Sean Burns, Ph.D., University of Missouri 
• Associate Professor Maria Cahill, Ph.D., University of Texas Knoxville 
• Associate Professor Namjoo Choi, Ph.D., University of Albany, SUNY 
• Associate Professor Deborah S. Chung, Ph.D., Indiana University 
• Professor Alan D. Desantis, Ph.D., Indiana University 
• Assistant Professor Marko Dragojevic, Ph.D, University of California, Santa Barbara 
• Associate Professor Alyssa Eckman, Ph.D., University of Kentucky
• Assistant Professor Fatima Espinoza-Vasquez, Ph.D., Syracuse University
• Assistant Professor Laura Fischer, Ph.D., Texas Tech University
• Assistant Professor Diane Francis, Ph.D., North Carolina University
• Associate Professor Brandi Frisby, Ph.D., West Virginia University 
• Assistant Professor Spencer Greenhalgh, Ph.D., Michigan State University
• Assistant Professor Adriane Grumbein, Ph.D., University of Florida 
• Professor Nancy Harrington, Ph.D., University of Kentucky 
• Associate Professor Donald W. Helme, Ph.D., University of Kentucky 
• Associate Professor James K. Hertog, Ph.D., University of Minnesota 
• Professor Jeff Huber, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh 
• Assistant Professor Kyra Hunting, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin 
• Associate Professor Phillip Hutchison, Ph.D., University of Utah 
• Professor Bobi Ivanov, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma  
• Assistant Professor Hyun Ju Jeong, Ph.D., Michigan State University
• Assistant Professor Mengtian Jiang, Ph.D., Michigan State University
• Assistant Professor Soohyung Joo, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 
• Assistant Professor Renee Kaufmann, Ph.D., University of Kentucky
• Assistant Professor Jihye Kim, Ph.D., University of Florida
• Associate Professor Sujin Kim, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh 
• Associate Professor Yung Soo Kim, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University 
• Associate Professor Youngseek Kim, Ph.D., Syracuse University 
• Associate Professor Derek Lane, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma
• Assistant Professor Nicky Lewis, Ph.D., Indiana University 
• Associate Professor Anthony Limperos, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University 
• Assistant Professor Kelly McAninch, Ph.D., University of Illinois
• Assistant Professor Bryce Newell, Ph.D., University of Washington
• Assistant Professor Aurora Occa, Ph.D., University of Miami
• Professor H. Dan O’Hair, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma 
• Associate Professor Shannon Oltmann, Ph.D., Indiana University
• Associate Professor Kimberly Parker, Ph.D., University of Oklahoma
• Assistant Professor Andrew Pilny, Ph.D., University of Illinois 
• Assistant Professor Nick Proferes, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin 
• Associate Professor Kevin Real, Ph.D., Texas A&M University 
• Assistant Professor Jennifer Scarduzio, Ph.D., Arizona State University 
• Associate Professor Allison Scott Gordon, Ph.D., University of Illinois
• Associate Professor Jeannette Sutton, Ph.D., University of Colorado 
• Associate Professor Zixue Tai, Ph.D., University of Minnesota 
• Assistant Professor Jessalyn Vallade, Ph.D. West Virginia University
• Professor Shari Veil, Ph.D., North Dakota State University 
• Assistant Professor Rong Wang, Ph.D., University of Southern California
• Associate Professor Sherali Zeadally, Ph.D., University of Buckingham