RAIL

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has recently launched an interdisciplinary initiative in graduate education in technology studies under the “INTERSECT” program. This initiative is called “Learning to See Systems.”  It includes a Communication MA or PhD track.

A special *Fellowship* will be offered by the Graduate College through the Department of Communication to fully fund graduate study on this track for two years (no TA-ing or RA-ing), followed by up to three successive years of normal departmental funding from the Department of Communication if the student is a doctoral student.

The Department of Communication is therefore seeking applicants interested in the intersections between technology studies and communication studies, especially communication design, *rhetorical studies*, and/or the critical/cultural study of technological systems from a communication perspective.

Those participating in the initiative will be working with me and Prof. Sally Jackson in Communication, as well as several other faculty from other departments on campus. They will, of course, be able to work with other faculty as well in their general studies.

Those interested in the initiative and the Fellowship should apply to the graduate program in Communication at the University of Illinois, noting in their cover letter their interest in the “Learning to See Systems” initiative and the “INTERSECT Fellowship.”

To apply to the graduate program go to: http://www.communication.illinois.edu/prospective/. The deadline for applications is January 15, 2013. All applicants interested in the
INTERSECT Fellowship must meet general departmental criteria for admission. The INTERSECT Fellowship is highly competitive, so students who apply for it may be admitted to the PhD program, participate in the “Learning to See Systems” initiative, but not be awarded the Fellowship. They would, instead, typically receive normal departmental funding.

In addition, applicants interested in the initiative should contact (nogorman@illinois.edu) and/or Prof. Sally Jackson (sallyj@illinois.edu) to let them know of their interest.

More information on the special INTERSECT initiative in technology studies can be found here: http://publish.illinois.edu/seeingsystems/

Questions about the initiative can be directed to nogorman@illinois.edu or to Sally Jackson at sallyj@illinois.edu. General questions about the graduate program in Communication at the University of Illinois, however, should be directed to the Director of Graduate Study.

Original post via CSSR website.