Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Communication and Media Studies

Advanced Credit

Advanced Credit may be granted to students admitted to the PhD program. Approval of the Graduate Program Director is required.

Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade)

The program of Communication and Media studies in the department of Communication, Media and Film will not permit the Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade) for any course that is applicable to their degree.

Students may not choose the CG grade for a course taken extra to load.

The use of the CG grade will affect students' eligibility for internal awards.

Credit for Undergraduate Courses

Students in the doctoral program will not be given credit for undergraduate courses.

Time Limit

Expected completion time is four years for the Doctor of Philosophy degree. Maximum completion time is six years.

Supervisory Assignments

Students are not required to choose a supervisor before they are admitted. An interim advisor is assigned by the program in the first year. The student must choose a thesis supervisor by the beginning of the second year.

By June of the first year in program, the student must submit their proposed field of research and the name of a proposed supervisor for approval by the program. The supervisory committee must be appointed no later than three months after the appointment of the supervisor.

Research Proposal

Students whose research involves human subjects must receive approval from the University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board before beginning data collection.

Students must submit a written thesis proposal, which is approved by their Supervisory Committee. See commfilm.ucalgary.ca/candidacy-requirements for further information.

Required Examinations

In addition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies requirements for Candidacy and Thesis Examinations, the Department requires:

Candidacy

Doctoral students must pass oral and written Fields of Study examinations. For complete details of the examination format and other candidacy requirements, see commfilm.ucalgary.ca/candidacy-requirements.

Thesis Examination

Scheduling of the Examination
All members of the Supervisory Committee must have reviewed the student’s draft thesis document before an examination can be scheduled.

Composition of the Committee
The Internal Examiner may be internal or external to the home program.

Financial assistance may be available to qualified students. For information on Awards, see the Awards and Financial Assistance section of this Calendar and grad.ucalgary.ca/awards.

Students applying for the Graduate Awards Competition must submit their applications to the Department of Communication, Media and Film Graduate Programs Office by January 15.