The
graduate program in Communication at the University of Pittsburgh is
consistently identified as one of the top ten programs in the country.
Its faculty and graduates have provided leadership to the field and
have shaped the study of communication in significant ways.
The program aims to train rigorous researchers. insightful theorists, and excellent
teachers for placement in tenure-stream positions at either major
research universities or quality four-year colleges. To this end it
offers philosophical, theoretical, critical, historical, and cultural
approaches to the study of communication. The curriculum includes
traditional and innovative course work from four areas of emphasis:
- History,
Theory and Criticism of Rhetoric
- Media
and Culture
- Public
Argument and Argument
- Rhetoric
of Science
The Department sponsors
The Agora Speakers Series during the Fall and Spring terms as well as other academic colloquia.
History, Theory, and Criticism of Rhetoric
(Fusfield, Lyne, Mitchell, Olson, Poulakos, and Warnick).
The program of rhetoric at the University of Pittsburgh has enjoyed
considerable prominence since the 1920s. Since then it has produced
influential scholarship in the 
theory,
the history and the criticism of rhetorical discourse. Today’s
program encourages opening of new areas of study rather than settling
into established territories. Informed by the demands of tradition and
innovation, the program regards rhetoric as an orientation to the world
and a situated practice. As such it promotes a rhetorical understanding
of other disciplines and welcomes their contributions to it.
The department has a long tradition of excellence in the study of
rhetorical theory and practice from antiquity to the present day.
Courses include rhetorical theory, classical rhetoric, rhetorical
criticism,
rhetoric and philosophy, critical theory, contemporary rhetoric, and
visual rhetoric. Many students also draw from course work in media and
cultural studies. Others take their already strong background in
rhetoric to work in other fields such as bioethics, Latin American
studies, Russian and Eastern European studies, classics, cultural
studies, philosophy, history and philosophy of science, women's
studies, and public and international affairs.
The department has a long tradition of excellence in the study of
rhetorical theory and practice from antiquity to the present day.
Courses include rhetorical theory, classical rhetoric, rhetorical
criticism, rhetoric and philosophy, critical theory, contemporary
rhetoric, and visual rhetoric. Many students also draw from course work
in media and cultural studies. Others take their already strong
background in rhetoric to work in other fields such as bioethics, Latin
American studies, Russian and Eastern European studies, classics,
cultural studies, philosophy, history and philosophy of science,
women's studies, and public and international affairs.
Media and Culture
(Egolf, Warnick, and Zboray; adjuncts: Feuer and Fischer) 
The Media and Culture area aims at cultural, contextual, and historical
understandings of media. Courses examine cultural, economic, political,
and philosophical questions through historically and contextually grounded
analyses of media. Approaches include those of the Birmingham and
Frankfurt Schools, feminism, continental philosophy, social and
political theory, American Studies, histoire du livre, the new
historicism,
Marxism, critical race theory, oral history, pragmatism, visual
rhetoric, and cultural and intellectual history. Faculty and students
in Media and Culture also routinely combine their interests with other
areas of departmental strength and align with other programs at the
University,
such as film studies, cultural studies, Africana studies, women’s
studies, bioethics, philosophy, and the history and philosophy of
science, as
well as Pitt’s area-studies centers focusing on East Asia,
Western Europe, and Latin America.
Public Address and Argument
(Lyne, Mitchell, Olson, Warnick, and Zboray).
The historically grounded study of public argument and discourse has
long been a touchstone for the Department of Communication. Faculty and
students explore both the potentials and problems of public argument
and discourse within historically specific events and traditions.
Questions
include: How does the content and form of argument bear on judgment and
action? What public forums are available today, and to whom? What are
the promises and pitfalls inherent in grounding civic culture in
argumentation and debate as organizing principles? And what forms of
individual or collective agency are possible in public deliberation?
Points of departure include argumentation theory, applied debate
practice, political traditions, critical theory, mass mediated
discourses, African American rhetoric, and communication pedagogy.
Rhetoric of Science
(Fusfield, Lyne, and Mitchell; adjunct: McGuire).
The
Rhetoric of Science is grounded in the assumption that rhetoric
mediates the shape and influence of science. The rhetorical analysis of
scientific texts brings attention to the persuasive dimensions of
scientific and technologically mediated cultural artifacts. Critical
study of science policy controversies looks to those public places
where scientists, journalists, politicians, and others debate
scientific issues. Resources include the Department of Communication,
the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, and the Center for Bioethics and
Health Law. A Certificate in Rhetoric of Science may be completed as
part of graduate work towards the doctorate in Communication.
Concurrent MAs may be sought in cognate departments, like the History
and Philosophy of Science, Philosophy, or Bioethics.
Department News | Agora: Speakers & Events | Debate
Communication Lab | CXC: Communication Across the Curriculum
Undergraduate Advising Announcements.
