NCSU CRDM vs. Clemson RCID programs

[hejduk]

Looking for some insight or opinions on the NCSU "Comm, Rhetoric, & Digital Media" PhD program and Clemson's "Rhetoric, Comm, Info Design" PhD program. Anyone attend or look at the programs? My background is mass comm, but I'm really impressed with the interdisciplinary nature of the programs. Also, the emphasis on incorporating new pedagogic methods (social networking, blackboard, etc) is really where I believe programs are headed.

[brussell]

From what I understand, Clemson is more of a rhetoric program with a media sub-emphasis, whereas NC State is more of a communication/media program with a rhetoric sub-emphasis. The Clemson curriculum is more rhetoric-based and humanistic, while NC State seems to be more oriented toward media studies. The Clemson TA-load is pretty heavy, 2-2, while NC State's is 2-1 or 1-1. And from what I can gather, Clemson seems to be placing its students a little better, though NC State's students have more diverse assistantship opportunities. (As perhaps expected from the curriculum, Clemson's current students don't seem to be teaching anything other than Composition; but NC State's students, on the other hand, are teaching lots of different lower- and upper-division classes in both English and Communication.) That being said, both programs, despite their newness, have placed at least some of their very few grads in R-1s. That seems like a good sign.

I spoke with students from both places, and all were really enthusiastic.

Hope this helps.

Edited July 6, 2010 by brussell