The disavowal of race in communication theory

Here, we consider how graduate education in communication fares when it comes to engaging conceptual and theoretical legacies of racial apartheid and modern European and American imperialism. Treating syllabi as a discourse which powerfully represents the field to future scholars, and graduate classrooms as sites of power, we assess foundational theoretical pedagogy through an examination of syllabi from required doctoral seminars across sixteen highly ranked communication, media studies, and mass communication programs in the US. Finding an ongoing disavowal of critical theories of race and imperialism, but hopeful exceptions, we offer recommendations as part of ongoing projects to decolonize university curriculum.