11 PhD programmes offered by the university

Students in the Economics program at the University of California, Davis gain advanced knowledge of modern economic theory, both in the areas of microeconomics and macroeconomics, and advanced proficiency in econometrics and quantitative methods. 

Students in the Anthropology program from University of California, Davis gain advanced knowledge of the evolution of primate and human behavior.

The Communication program at University of California, Davis focuses on the social scientific study of human communication using quantitative research methods with a concentration in mediated communication and digital society. 

The Geography Graduate Program at University of California, Davis provides a strong core in geographic concepts, theories, methods, and traditions, with more in-depth course-work available in geography’s four main areas of emphasis: environmental sciences; methods, models, and GIS Science; nature and society; and people, place, and region. 

The Psychology Department at University of California, Davis offers a graduate program oriented toward training qualified students to pursue careers in the areas of research and teaching.

This rigorous, strongly interdisciplinary Performance Studies program at University of California, Davis encourages students to develop original dissertation research that explores and questions the artistic, social, and political ramifications of performance and the performative.

Cultural Studies at University of California, Davis offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of culture and society that highlights how sexuality, race, ability, citizenship, gender, nationality, class, and language organize embodied identities, social relations, and cultural objects. 

This Human Development program at University of California, Davis emphasizes an interdisciplinary understanding of various aspects of human behavioral development and the contexts in which they take place across the lifespan. 

This graduate Political Science program at University of California, Davis provides strong substantive and methodological training in political science and promotes close working relationships between faculty and students. 

The Sociology graduate program at University of California, Davis emphasizes rigorous preparation in sociological theory and research methodologies as the basis of sound scholarship. 

At the University of California, Davis, the Native American Studies Graduate Group’s interdisciplinary and hemispheric approach includes attention to the increasing diaspora of indigenous peoples throughout the Americas, and calls upon the authority of native intelligence to address the issues that concern native peoples.