PhD in Cultural Studies in Davis United States | University of California Davis

The Cultural Studies Graduate Group at UC Davis provides a cross-disciplinary framework for examining culture and society, emphasizing how factors like sexuality, race, ability, citizenship, gender, nationality, class, and language shape identities, social dynamics, and cultural artifacts. Under faculty mentorship, doctoral candidates conduct interdisciplinary investigations spanning diverse fields such as critical race studies, ecocriticism, fashion theory, queer studies, media analysis, science and technology studies, Marxist thought, tourism research, food studies, disability studies, cultural geography, transnational politics, globalization, religious studies, rhetoric, performance theory, and critical theory. While both Ph.D. and M.A. degrees are available, the program exclusively accepts Ph.D. applicants, with the M.A. serving as an optional milestone toward doctoral completion.

Guided by faculty advisors, scholars explore interdisciplinary topics ranging from migration/border studies to social justice and human rights, alongside comparative race analysis, environmental humanities, fashion theory, queer perspectives, media studies, technological impacts, Marxist frameworks, travel cultures, culinary traditions, disability discourse, spatial theory, global cultural flows, religious expressions, rhetorical analysis, performance arts, and critical social theory. The curriculum incorporates coursework from various disciplines including Anthropology, English, Comparative Literature, History, and Sociology.