From social media to interpersonal relations and team meetings, we’re surrounded by nonstop communication and the way we connect really matters. In the IU School of Liberal Arts, our Communication Studies graduate program has M.A. and Ph.D. options to help you make sense of it all and prepare you to lead and influence, advance your career, or shift into a new professional field. You’ll build real-world skills and dive into theory, with opportunities in corporate, health, media, and public communication.
Learn to address specific issues and implement real change
Communication challenges are everywhere—from public health messaging to workplace dynamics. The Applied Communication M.A. helps you build the skills to tackle these issues head-on. You’ll learn how to analyze problems, design solutions, and create meaningful change in real-world settings.
This program blends theory with practice, giving you a deeper understanding of how communication works and how it can be used to address complex social issues. You’ll be prepared to lead projects, shape public discourse, and improve communication across organizations in a variety of industries.
For more information, contact Jen Bute, graduate director.
Training professionals to lead in health and patient interaction
This doctoral program prepares you to become a thought leader in the dynamic intersection of health and human connection. You’ll explore how communication influences health outcomes, policy, and equity across different populations. Coursework and research span intercultural health dynamics, ethical messaging, digital health literacy, and the evolving role of media in clinical and public health settings.
What You’ll Gain:
Advanced Research Expertise: Design and conduct impactful studies that address pressing health communication challenges—from misinformation to patient-provider interactions.
Educator Development: Strengthen your ability to teach and mentor in academic and clinical settings.
Applied Theory Skills: Translate complex theories into practical interventions that improve health literacy, behavior change, and community engagement.
Leadership Preparation: Position yourself for influential roles in academia, healthcare organizations, non-government organizations, and government agencies.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Work across fields like public health, psychology, media studies, and sociology to tackle real-world problems.
Whether you're driven to improve health equity, shape public discourse, or lead institutional change, this program equips you with the intellectual tools and professional network to lead innovation in communication and care.
Learn how improved health communication improves healthcare delivery
Health communication is a rapidly growing field that contributes to the knowledge of and improvement in the delivery of healthcare.
In our Ph.D. minor, you’ll study areas such as patient advocacy, empowerment and activation, patient-provider communication, shared decision-making, patient-caregiver communication, successful transfers of care among clinicians, communicative approaches to reducing healthcare disparities, and addressing clinician burnout.
Health communication scholarship adds unique and important dimensions to the study of healthcare and its delivery in a variety of fields, including public health, nursing, psychology, biomedical informatics, rehabilitation science, and other disciplines.
For more information, contact Jen Bute, director of Ph.D. program and Ph.D. minors.
Round out your degree with the leadership and interpersonal skills
The graduate minor in communicating science is designed for master’s and doctoral students in the sciences and health professions. You’ll learn to develop audience-centered communication, distill scientific concepts into meaningful narratives, and connect effectively with collaborators and funders.
You’ll study communication and rhetorical theory combined with the techniques of applied improvisation to enhance your career prospects, help you secure funding, and teach you to serve as effective teachers.
The Communicating Science minor is not open to Health Communication Ph.D. students or Applied Communication M.A. students.
For more information, contact Krista Longtin, Ph.D., associate professor of Communication Studies.
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