Director's Message
Greetings from Buffalo, New York, the home of breathtaking natural beauty, stunning mid-century architecture, world-class museums and theaters, and the #5 ranked1 department of communication in the United States!
At UB, we study communication as a science. We investigate a variety of communication phenomena through empirical, social-scientific research methods and advanced analytic techniques. Our graduate faculty members are internationally recognized experts in:
- Narrative communication and social influence (e.g., media processes and effects, narrative persuasion, entertainment-education)
- Science, health, environmental, and risk communication (e.g., risk perception, risk analysis, innovative interventions, campaign/program evaluation)
- Digital and social media (e.g., technology and well-being, social networks, computational research)
- Political communication (e.g., mediated public discourse)
- Misinformation and society (e.g., mass and social media, morality, and extremism)
- Nonverbal communication (e.g., facial expressions and deception)
- Interpersonal communication (e.g., social support, and end-of-life communication, close relationships)
- Media psychology of entertainment (e.g., media entertainment and morality, positive media psychology)
But our faculty members are not only great researchers, they are also great mentors. As a testament to the collaborative environment that we have built in our department, our students routinely present at (inter)national conferences, publish in high-impact journals, and pursue meaningful careers in academia, business, and government. Our graduate students are also incredibly supportive of one another through personal networks, various research groups and labs, and our Communication Graduate Student Association.
If all of this sounds good to you, we encourage you to apply. We admit new students once a year. The deadlines to apply for our graduate programs are:
PhD applicants: December 1
International MA applicants: April 1
Domestic MA applicants: August 1
Please browse our website for tips on completing your application, frequently asked questions (FAQs) for MA and PhD applicants, and detail on our graduate faculty and student-led research. If you have any further questions about our graduate programs, do not hesitate to contact me at any time.
Wishing you only the best,
Arthur A. Raney, PhD
Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
1 In 2024, UB’s Department of Communication was ranked #5 of 144 (or 97th percentile) communication departments in the United States by Academic Analytics’ Scholarly Research Index, which combines metrics of faculty publications, grants, awards, and citations.
