The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders provides disciplinary and interdisciplinary education to prepare research scientists capable of addressing both theoretical and applied issues in laboratory, clinical, and classroom settings. Academic preparation emphasizes basic and advanced study in the communicative sciences, interdisciplinary study, and extensive research preparation. The program of study is tailored to meet individual interest areas. The overall aim of the doctoral major is to produce graduates who excel in meeting the rigorous demands of an academic/research career.
Major Research Areas:
- Speech-Language Sciences: Speech perception and production processes, speech perception by normal hearing listeners and listeners with hearing loss, non-native speech, language development in at-risk populations, linguistic and discourse correlates for reading, writing, and spelling, second language learning and literacy learning, and language variation and multiculturalism;
- Hearing Sciences and Audiology: Aural rehabilitation, psychoacoustics, aging, temporal processing, speech perception by impaired listeners, auditory evoked potentials, and otoacoustic emissions;
- Neurocommunicative Sciences: Aphasia, cognitive/linguistic processing in normal aging and adults with neurological disorders, cognitive neuroscience.

