is concerned with issues of power in communication, mediated messages, protest and dissent, and cultural expression.
Communication, Culture and Media Studies
About CCMS
The department provides doctoral-level studies leading to the PhD, which focuses on communication problems of importance in an emerging digital and multicultural world.
The curriculum is designed to train scholars and academic leaders to contribute to interdisciplinary research in communication with a particular emphasis on multicultural and mediated communication.
The program offers core competencies in research strategies (qualitative, quantitative, and critical), theory, and methodology. The program also responds to the university’s historical mission to advance African Americans and other underserved communities by emphasizing multiculturalism, global issues and social justice concerns in its curriculum.
Applicants to the CCMS program must possess a master’s degree by the time they enter the program. The CCMS department does not offer a master’s degree.
Contact Us
The MET Building
300 Bryant Street, NW,
Room 101-C3
Washington D.C. 20001
Chair: Frances Gateward, Ph.D.
email: ccms@howard.edu
A Message From Our Chair
Welcome to the Department of Communication, Culture and Media Studies, the only doctoral level program in Communications at an HBCU. The study of communication remains a most vital field and our interdisciplinary approach makes possible innovative and transformative research.
We offer three tracks in CCMS: Health Communication, Technology, Policy and Society; and Media and Cultural Studies, each fulfilling the mission of Howard University to develop scholars and professionals who drive change and engage in scholarship that provides solutions to contemporary global problems. Our location in Washington DC as a governmental, health, and media hub provides unique opportunities for study and experience with a world-class faculty committed to student success.
Our students are drawn from across the globe, representing a variety of ethnicities, races, genders, backgrounds, and interests. Our alumni go on to successful careers in academia as scholars and administrators, and to private industry, government, and NGOs as researchers, consultants, and policy analysts.
Our Programs
Our Faculty & Staff
Loren Saxton Coleman, Ph.D.
(she/her)
Communication Culture & Media Studies
loren.coleman@Howard.eduFrances Gateward, PHD
she/her
Professor and Chair
Communication Culture & Media Studies
frances.gateward@howard.eduGyo Hyun Koo, Ph.D.
she/her/hers
Assistant Professor
Communication Culture & Media Studies
Hyun.Koo@howard.eduMonica Lindsey Ponder, PhD
Assistant Professor Health Communication & Culture
Communication Culture & Media Studies
monica.ponder@Howard.eduAffiliate Faculty
Dr. Roger Caruth, Communications
Dr. Jae Eun Chung, Communications
Dr. Emily Cramer, Communications
Dr. Jean Claude Kwitonda, Communications
Dr. Kehbuma Langmia, Communications
Dr. Gracie Lawson-Borders, Dean
Dr. Chuka Onwumechili, Communications
Dr. Stacy Patton, MJFC
Dr. Samantha Powers, Communications
Dr. Tia Tyree, Communications