Ph.D. in Media and Communication

Ph.D. introductory note

The School of Digital Media and Communication at Mahindra University will launch its fully funded doctoral programme leading to the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Media and Communication. The first cohort of scholars will be selected for the term beginning August 2024 after a rigorous assessment of their candidature through a multi-step process. Applicants may seek part-time or full-time enrolment.

Entry into our Ph.D. programme is not meant to be competitive, rather it is qualitative. This means that deserving candidates will normally not be denied admission subject to the availability of advisory expertise, funding and assistantship work. Therefore, the idea is not to “fill the seats” but to nurture the production of scholarship of the highest quality by selecting scholars with high potential.

However, each of our cohorts of scholars will share some commonalities. Firstly, they will all be deep readers and well-read in the area they have pursued so far. Secondly, they will have a natural command over English, the language of instruction and output at the school. (We may in future introduce Indian language scholarship when both reference material and the School are suitably equipped.) Thirdly, they will be passionate about a humanities or social science approach.

We may view a field as a delightful and dynamic platform – like a field of force, where the thought and domains of practice meet, interact, collaborate, conflict, and/or highlight fundamental differentiations or integrations. This interpretation of field forms the crux of the interdisciplinary nature of any solid research project. Thereby, interdisciplinarity is an organic part of the scholarship that is expected of each final product. Interdisciplinarity lends the dynamism and fluidity that must mark the implications of the scholarship as future scholars draw from, interpret and apply it further.

Ph.D. Admission Entrance Exam Format

The fields within the areas of mediated communication offer a vast and highly diverse canvas, including:

  • Journalism studies
  • Media studies
  • Mass communication
  • Film and television studies
  • Strategic communication

  • Media and communication management
  • History, technology and systems of media and communication
  • Ethics, policies and laws of mediated communication
  • Human and machine-interface communication

Implications may span an even wider spectrum from pedagogical to international policy. Doctoral pursuit may be in any of these other fields whose concepts align with the School of Media.

Curricula

Semester 1 Semester 2
JM1101 Learning to Learn JM1201: History of Media
JM1102 Photography JM1202: Visual Communication and Graphic Design
JM1103: Introduction to Media and Communication JM1203: Introduction to Advertising, PR, Communication Management
JM1104: Literature, Art, Storytelling JM1204: Fundamentals of Writing and Editing
JM1105: News Analysis I JM1205: News Analysis II
JM1106: Data Communication and Basic Software JM1206: Media Technologies
JM1107: Professional Communication JM1108: Media, Gender, Human Rights
JM1209: Media Production I
JM1298: Know your industry I
JM1299: Social sensitization internship or Guided project
Semester I
Research in Journalism, Media Studies and Communication Management
Applied Theories and Models
Data Management for Media Research
Semester II
Ethical Integrity in Research
History and Philosophy of Communication and Inquiry
Media Research Methodology
Semester III
Media Appreciation
Research Writing and Presentation
Landscape of Media and Communication Education
Semester III
Media Appreciation
Research Writing and Presentation
Landscape of Media and Communication Education

Important Dates

Last Date for submission of applications for 2nd round of interviews 10th July, 2024
Ph.D. Entrance Test / Interview 14th July, 2024
Announcement of Results 23rd July, 2024
Commencement of the Fall 2024 Semester Teaching 7th Aug,2024
Note: Admission closes on 23 august 2023
*Subject to revision