Difference b/t ICR and Department of Communication at UIUC

[sungyongahn]

Hello!! I want to know the difference between ICR(Institute of Communications Research) and the Department of Communication at UIUC, both of which are located on the same campus. ICR is in the College of Media while the other is in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Both provide Ph.D. in communication but it is difficult to distinguish each program's difference and uniqueness from the other's, depending solely on their websites. Do you know what's the difference and which program is better? Which program has better refutation in the academia or the field of communication and media studies?  

[lyrehc]

I am not familiar with either program, but based solely upon what you have written I'm guessing that the ICR program is more of a journalism/new media focus while the other is more of a social science focus.  A lot of universities do that.

 

What are you wanting to study?  

[VioletAyame]

I might be late for this but I think the best course of action is to look up faculty in each department and their research to see what lines of work they're in. If that fails, you can always email the departments directly and ask them

[CommPhD20]

ICR has more faculty in advertising, film studies, and generally cross-disciplinary foci that don't fit neatly even into the very inclusive field of communication. There are some great scholars in ICR. It's a new program that is doing some innovative things, but is also a bit more scattered/unfocused; this is the nature of highly interdisciplinary research and is not inherently bad.

 

With that said, the Department of Communication enjoys incredibly high esteem in the field as one of the oldest and best programs. It is a generalist department, meaning they have faculty that cover virtually all niches in communication (though not so much media studies). Internal surveys of communication researchers and assessments of citations and the like always rank this department as one of the best 3-5 programs in the country. Of course, these things aren't so easily measured, but I share that to express the idea that this department is very well-regarded. Having visited there and being familiar with several of their faculty, I myself hold the place in very high esteem. 

 

The choice will come down to where you fit best, though.