PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The Texts and Technology PhD program focuses on theory and practice in new media combined with historical grounding in pre-digital media studies. This program prepares students for positions in research, teaching and program development, including web design, multimedia production, distributed education, entertainment, publishing, information architecture and visualization.
The doctoral program in Texts and Technology provides training in an interdisciplinary field combining scholarly study, creative production and critical assessment of digital media texts. Texts include visual, audio, multimedia and performance, as well as printed and spoken words. The curriculum emphasizes theory and practice in new media supplemented by historical grounding in pre-digital media studies. This program prepares students for positions in research, teaching and program development. Areas of research and production include web design, multimedia production, distributed education, entertainment, publishing, information architecture and visualization.
CURRICULUM
The Texts and Technology PhD program requires four core courses (12 credits), four restricted elective courses within the Texts and Technology course offerings (12 hours), three restricted interdisciplinary electives (9 hours), two courses in the internship and teaching area (6 credits), three credit hours for candidacy examination, and at least 15 credit hours of dissertation work for a total of at least 57 semester hours of credit taken at UCF.
| Total Credit Hours Required: |
| 57
Credit Hours Minimum beyond the Master's Degree |
Students must write a dissertation on their research that will explain and defend a significant original contribution to the field of Texts and Technology. Students choose their dissertation adviser and committee from within the program. Students will submit at least one substantial scholarly article to a national peer-reviewed journal with the approval and assistance of the dissertation chair and the director of the doctoral program.
Required Courses—12 Credit Hours
Core
- ENG 6800 Introduction to Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6810 Theories of Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6801 Texts and Technology in History (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6812 Research Methods for Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
Electives Courses—21 Credit Hours
Restricted Texts and Technology Electives—12 Credit Hours
- ENC 6428 Rhetoric of Digital Literacy (3 credit hours)
- ENC 6XXX Acoustical Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENC 6426 Visual Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENC 6814 Gender in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6811 Cultural Contexts in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENC 5225 Theory and Practice of Document Usability (3 credit hours)
- ENC 6XXX Ethics in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6939 Topics in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6948 Teaching Practicum in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
Restricted Interdisciplinary Electives—9 Credit Hours
Nine hours of advised interdisciplinary electives are required for students in the PhD Program in Texts and Technology. This requirement encourages students to find graduate-level coursework best suited to develop their research agendas and to prepare for their dissertation.
Dissertation—18 Credit Hours
Candidacy Examination—3 Credit Hours
- ENC 7919 Doctoral Research (3 credit hours)
Students are admitted to doctoral candidacy status upon completion of a written examination with three parts—one part based on a reading list reviewed annually by the Texts and Technology faculty and the other two parts based on reading lists prepared by each student and approved by the examination committee. The candidacy examination for each student is written and evaluated by a committee of three UCF graduate faculty chosen by the student; however, at least two members of each candidacy examination committee must be members of the Texts and Technology core faculty. Students must be registered for ENC 7919 during the semester in which they take their candidacy examination and they must find a Texts and Technology core faculty member to serve as the chair of their examination during the semester before taking ENC 7919. Students cannot register for dissertation credit ENC 7980 until the semester after they have successfully completed the candidacy examination. Students who fail the candidacy examination a second time cannot continue in the program.
Dissertation and Oral Defense—15 Credit Hours
- ENC 7980 Doctoral Dissertation (15 credit hours)
Students choose their dissertation adviser and committee from among the faculty in the Texts and Technology PhD program. They choose the adviser and committee after they have completed approximately 27 credit hours toward the degree or after the first year-and-a-half of course work. All dissertation committee members, including outside readers, must hold a PhD or another relevant terminal degree.
Students must write a dissertation on their research that will explain and defend a significant original contribution to the field of Texts and Technology. It may be of a theoretical, historical or pragmatic nature, but must meet conventional academic standards. The dissertation committee administers the candidate’s oral defense of the dissertation, with passing determined by acceptance by a majority of the committee. The dissertation adviser, the dissertation committee and the dean of the college or designee must approve the final dissertation. Format approval is required from the Thesis and Dissertation Office and final approval of degree requirement completion by the College of Graduate Studies (Millican Hall 230).
Students will submit at least one substantial scholarly article to a national peer-reviewed journal with the approval and assistance of the dissertation chair and the director of the doctoral program.
Internship and Practicum—6 Credit Hours
- ENG 6813 Teaching Online in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6947 Internship in Texts and Technology* (3 credit hours)
* With permission of the Texts and Technology program director, this course can be waived if the student has relevant experience working in industry. If the course is waived, the student must substitute three credit hours of restricted electives.
Application Requirements
For information on general UCF graduate admissions requirements that apply to all prospective students, please visit the Admissions section of the Graduate Catalog. Applicants must apply online. All requested materials must be submitted by the established deadline(s).
Applicants must hold a master’s degree from any accredited field. Fields with a technological and/or textual theory background, such as cultural studies or linguistics, are especially applicable.
In addition to the general UCF graduate application requirements, applicants to this program must provide:
- One official transcript (in a sealed envelope) from each college/university attended.
- Official, competitive GRE score taken within the last five years.
- Three letters of recommendations, at least two regarding the applicant’s potential for success in the program.
- Goal statement.
- Substantial writing sample and an optional digital portfolio illustrating the applicant's ability to engage in advanced academic work. Acceptable writing samples can include a chapter from a master's thesis, a conference paper, a term paper from a seminar course, scientific, or other research.
- Résumé.
Meeting minimum UCF admission criteria does not guarantee program admission. Final admission is based on evaluation of the applicant's abilities, past performance, recommendations, match of this program and faculty expertise to the applicant's career/academic goals, and the applicant's potential for completing the degree.
Application Deadlines
All application materials must be submitted by the appropriate deadline listed below.
| Texts and Technology PhD |
Fall Priority
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Fall
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Spring
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Summer
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Domestic Applicants
| Jan 15 | Jan 15 | - | - |
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International Applicants
| Jan 15 | Jan 15 | - | - |
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International Transfer Applicants
| Jan 15 | Jan 15 | - | - |
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FINANCIALS
Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see Student Finances, which describes the types of financial assistance available at UCF and provides general guidance in planning your graduate finances. The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.
Fellowships
Fellowships are awarded based on academic merit to highly qualified students. They are paid to students through the Office of Student Financial Assistance, based on instructions provided by the College of Graduate Studies. Fellowships are given to support a student’s graduate study and do not have a work obligation. For more information, see Fellowships, which includes descriptions of UCF fellowships and what you should do to be considered for a fellowship.