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Classes

Classes are designed to challenge your thinking and develop your professional skills. You’ll leave each class with a unique set of tools to approach new communications challenges.

Tailor your experience to your career goals by focusing on one of eight areas of specialization. Use the search widget below to sort classes by quarter, specialization, instructor and degree track for each quarter. Get a comprehensive view of the full academic year in our Course Guide.

View the University of Washington Academic Calendar for important dates, including quarter start and end dates, registration dates and deadlines, and campus holidays.

Registration numbers (SLNs) are located on the Time Schedule. Please read the Department’s statement on internet resource requirements for access to courses.

COMMLD 551: The Law and Ethics of Organizations

(

Tausch Lapora

)

- 2019-2020 | Spring

MCCN Elective, Meets Law and Ethics Core Requirement
Wednesdays, 3/30 – 6/5 | 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 126

Course Description:

All organizations — private, public and non-profit — inevitably encounter legal and ethical challenges when building and engaging with their communities and networks. Leaders must be able to identify, anticipate, and problem solve issues such as how to create and maintain legal and ethical organizations, and how legal relationships are created. They must also grapple with challenges such as to whom legal and ethical duties are owed, and what advocacy strategies to employ when defining deliverables and implementing initiatives. This course considers and juxtaposes the legal and ethical realities of community building through a cross-sector approach. We will survey a wide array of case studies, many with a social justice backdrop, in which law and ethics may overlap, conflict, or contain gaps. We will engage in practical story exercises that maximize understanding of how law and ethics impact how organizations communicate to clients, customers, and constituencies. Throughout the course, you are encouraged to bring in legal and ethical issues from your professional experiences to enrich discussion of course topics.

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COM 597: The Art & Science of Text-Based Marketing

(

Schiller

)

- 2016-2017 | Spring

Track Neutral, 3 Credits
Saturday, April 22, May 6, 20, 9-5pm | CMU 242

Course Description: 

This advanced marketing writing class is designed for students who can already write well, but want formal training in persuasive copywriting techniques – the kind that drive people to call, buy, join, or sign-­‐up. If you’ve ever agonized over finding just the right words to achieve your goals, this class is designed to get you there faster. It introduces some of the most effective and well-­‐tested methods used by professional storytellers to outsell and outrun the constantly changing market. Students will learn how to use techniques based in psychological research to get measurable lift in subject line open rates, landing page conversion rates, app store downloads, and more. Using a combination of readings, case studies and practical writing assignments students will learn the art and science of creating top-­‐performing marketing text.

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COM 597: Audio Storytelling: Education, Engagement, and Entertainment

(

Crofts

)

- 2016-2017 | Spring

Track Neutral, 3 Credits
Wednesday, 3/27/17-6/2/17, 6-8:30pm | CMU 242

Course Description:

Whether gathered around a radio in a living room or walking plugged in with headphones, the medium of audio storytelling has always offered the opportunity to build mindset-shifting community around content. This course traces the evolution of audio storytelling from radio to podcasting that links to communities for various purposes: to educate, to entertain, and to inspire action. Consideration is given to the core characteristics of strong storytelling, observed through an auditory filter. Class materials are twinned with a selection of cross-sector guest speakers who bring their own craft perspective. Students will experiment with designing their own short audio pieces.

Student Testimonial:

“Three words are all it should take to convince any CommLeader that this course is awesome: Anita. Verna. Crofts. As we all observed, first hand, in her core class, Anita is one of those professors who not only excels at teaching course material, but also models effective communication, leadership, and community building techniques at all times. You learn a ton just by being around her, and she’s been known to bring amazing desserts to class as well.

In addition to the “AVC Factor”, this class will help you beef up your skills as a storyteller, interviewer, writer, and editor, especially when it comes to content that is meant to be engaged with auditorily. The course materials, which include a number of great podcast episodes, radio stories, and relevant readings, help provide solid examples of how audio stories can be used to educate, inspire, and entertain. There were also several guest speakers who shared insights both on the “how to’s” of audio storytelling and ways in which it can be used as a community building tool as well. Lastly there were several opportunities for rich class discussion and peer-review time which I always appreciate since we are surrounded by such a talented community here in CommLead.”

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COM 546: Communication Through Digital Media & Networks

(

Yasin

)

- 2016-2017 | Spring

Required Core Course for MCDM and MCCN
Tuesdays, 03/27/17-06/2/17, 6-9:50pm | PCAR 391

Course Description: 

Communication through Digital Media and Networks: Organizational Storytelling and the Digital Age tackles how organizations across all sectors successfully craft their story and message it internally and externally. The course looks at various theories and case studies of organizational communication, which provide important context for how organizations map their values, identities and image to the story they convey to employees and the broader public. The course also asks students to apply these theories, create solutions and draft a plan concerning an actual organizational challenge for class clients that they are matched with in the class. In working with real clients, the class hopes to facilitate the pursuit of professional networks for students whilst also building strategic thinking and planning skills, which will be reflected in students’ in-class group projects. In addition to the group projects, students also write a case-study about the organization and the communicative challenge they face on their own to further develop students’ skills as forecasters and leaders in the field.

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COM 597: Introduction to Project Management: Principles & Best Practices

(

Franco

)

- 2016-2017 | Winter

Track Neutral Elective, 3 Credits
Saturdays, 1/28, 2/11, 2/25, 9-5pm | CMU 126

Course Description: 

The legacies of communication leaders are built upon the successful management of projects. Whether you are involved in a small web project, a social media campaign or a long-term multi-platform initiative, strong project management can be the difference between merely completing a project and taking your team’s work to the next level. Effective project management requires discipline from all project team members; thus, this course is intended for anyone – not just aspiring project managers. In this course, students will be introduced to project management fundamentals and best practices. We will cover various tools and methods for planning and controlling scope, schedule, budget, quality, communication, risk and more. During the class, we will discuss and examine common practices used for interactive and digital communication projects that students will be able to immediately apply to their work elsewhere. By the end of this course, students will understand how to compose effective project management plans. There may be some opportunities for working in groups but most assignments will not be group work.

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COM 597: Thinking Story- Fundamentals of Storytelling for Organizations, Business, and Movements

(

Kessler

)

- 2016-2017 | Winter

Track Neutral Elective
Saturdays, 1/7, 1/21, 2/4, 2/18, 3/4, 9-5pm | CMU 126

Course Description:

Thinking Story is a foundational class that focuses on the art and craft of nonfiction storytelling to communicate ideas and emotion, build relationships and community, promote change and inspire action. The class reflects the need in all sectors for superb storytelling. The class explores, investigates and discusses the elements of narrative — what makes a story a story – and looks at examples of nonfiction storytelling across media (text, sound, still image, moving image and multimedia combinations). This platform-agnostic, birds-eye view of story is about learning how to reframe/ reconceptualize “information” and “report” as story, how to locate the small story that illuminates the larger issue, and what it takes to produce such work. At its heart, the class is about learning how to conceptualize issues, topics, brands, and ideas as narratives. Students will learn to “think story,” to pinpoint, pitch and gather material for the production of original, compelling and persuasive content.

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COM 597: Visual Communication

(

Faris

)

- 2016-2017 | Winter

MCCN Elective
Tuesday, 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 302

Course Description:

Images have a profound impact on our lives and have shaped our communities – from ancient cave drawings to today’s live broadcast of events around the globe. Today, visuals are our communication method of choice – with less time to spare and more content than ever coming our way, visuals are the most influential tool we can deploy. Visuals reach people at an emotional level motivating us to act on a cause, influencing our decisions, or convincing us to buy one product over another. From video to photography to infographics and data visualization, today’s visual options are seemingly endless. This class will explore the latest research about how the brain processes images, how to adapt a visual story for a multicultural audience, the use of emotions in pictures and video to persuade and motivate, and how to apply that knowledge strategically to communication and community engagement, whether for nonprofits, private or public sector work. Through interactive course work, thoughtful discussion and real world examples, students will walk away with the tools and knowledge for making their marketing and communication projects more visual and effective.

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COM 597: Community and Media: Storytelling and Audience Engagement

(

Banel

)

- 2016-2017 | Winter

MCCN Elective
Thursdays, 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 302

Course Description:

This class is about putting smart, strategic and soulful storytelling to work to rise above the roar of everyday digital media. As professionals honing messages, sharing stories and conducting outreach to 21st century audiences, the ability to craft meaningful narratives that engage audiences and create real connections is more important than ever.  A deep understanding of the transformative power of engagement and connection throughout recent history is critical to mastering the skills necessary to become communications leaders in digital media. “Community and Media: Storytelling and Audience Engagement” is a hands-on, practical course designed to teach students storytelling skills, along with a fundamental strategic underpinning, to help create deep connections between storytellers and audiences.  Along the way, we’ll examine the history and context of 20th century media storytelling, and mine award-winning radio and TV programs for timeless audience engagement techniques and methods that worked in previous eras, but that are still relevant and effective in the digital era. We’ll also learn practical strategies from contemporary media professionals who are constantly navigating profound changes to the technology, economics, architecture and even the social consciousness of the modern media landscape. Through case studies and hands-on exercises with communications professionals, we’ll learn how to create engaging interactions with audiences, and powerful connections with each other and our communities.

Student Testimonial:

“The class was driven by conversational discussion of contemporary news as relative to media history, and as intersections with the readings assigned. Lengthy interviews with local-legend media producers brought venerable views and opinions of contemporary community media outlets–their struggles and successes. The final projects were explorations and research of media effects, students had wide leeway in choosing their content and presentation style.”

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COM 536: Leadership Through Story and Communities: Creativity and the Digital Age

(

Crofts

)

- 2016-2017 | Autumn 2016

Required Core Course for MCDM and MCCN
Saturdays, 9/24, 10/8, 10/22, 11/5, 11/19/16, 9:00am-5:00pm | Puget Sound Plaza 508/509

Course Description:

The Comm Lead core classes are designed to build off one another, with the Fall core class focused on personal narrative and leadership styles, with the Spring core class opening the aperture on narrative to include organizational storytelling and engagement. Both classes are also designed to set expectations and behaviors for a fruitful graduate school experience that encourages students to take accountability for their own learning, to see themselves as creatives, as leaders, and as entrepreneurial thinkers whose evolving expertise serves not just their own professional growth, but the wellbeing of their greater community at large.

This foundational class considers personal leadership development through the two lenses of story and community, with particular attention paid to contemporary research on creativity. In this digital age when the technology of communication is so pervasive and accessible, leadership and creativity go hand in hand to produce strong community engagement. One’s personal narrative influences one’s leadership style, so using cross-sector profiles and guest speakers, we will carefully consider a range of leaders, personal narratives, communication styles, and how they connect meaningfully to customers, colleagues, and constituents. As part of the course, you will be exposed to communication theory and asked to map how your networks sustain and promote your professional and personal growth. In addition, you will have an opportunity to research and produce an original final project that reflects your personal and professional interests, ambitions, and curiosity within the field of communication.

Student Testimonial:  

“This course is about being able to understand that leadership and creativity are main tools in developing authentic, real and strategic messages. The class enhances the understanding of communications patterns in current organizations where storytelling becomes a unique tool to reach audiences when messages are everywhere. I learned in this class that one of the main things to true leadership is about opening ourselves to others in order to connect with them. There needs to be an ability to listen to others and care. Online worlds created by the fast-changing digital media technologies go back to the essence of connection with others. This class is the best personal and professional learning experience I had since I started the program. It gave me the creative room to imagine that everything is possible if you open up to yourself and to others. Leadership is a trait you can develop by using storytelling as a tool but in the end it’s about being able to share who you are with others and connect by listening back. The best storyteller is one who knows how to listen. Anita Verna Crofts, the professor of the course, represents that ideal teacher who is not only academically and professionally experienced, but who also cares for the whole growth of the people around her. Having this class changed my perspective on leadership, creation of communities and storytelling, but most importantly on myself.”

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COM 597: Digital Transformations of Organizations

(

Agarwal and Foot

)

- 2016-2017 | Autumn 2016

Track Neutral, Meets Research Methods Core Requirement
Wednesdays, 9/28/16-12/7/16, 6:00-8:50pm** | CMU 302

**Please note that this class meets only 3 hours a week, but is a 5-credit course. The professors have designed the course to require weekly observations that serve as an equivalent to an hour of class time. The course has a prerequisite: a Memo of Understanding signed by the student and his/her organizational liaison is required to receive an add code for registration in the course. Please read the full course description below for more details.

Course Description:

Watch a video introduction to the course from Dr. Kirsten Foot.

The process of transforming organizations– whether for-profit companies, non-profit organizations, or government agencies– is often complex, even more so when digital information and communication technologies (ICTs) are involved. There are many reasons why technology adoption fails, why people resist the introduction of new tools, and why these tools have unintended consequences and effects. Managing technology change within organizations or being a “change agent” is rewarding yet extremely challenging work. This course prepares students to take on such roles. Using a case study approach, students in this class will learn how to identify potential roadblocks to change and develop analytical lenses for assessing digitally-mediated changes in organizations. Together we will examine several aspects of such changes including innovation cycles, change leadership, technology breakdowns, resistance to ICTs and/or organizational change, and collaboration.

During the second half of autumn quarter, this course will synch up with a “sister course” for professionally-oriented graduate students enrolled in a Communication masters degree program at Shenzhen University, located in China’s leading tech-industry city. We will experiment with real-time discussions between the two classrooms via video conferencing, and students in both locations will exchange some of their fieldwork observations and insights in English (and Mandarin, if desired) in order to develop cross-cultural and international understandings of ICT-mediated organizational change processes.

This course involves weekly assignments based on students’ fieldwork in a local organization, along with reading academic journal articles, organizational reports, case studies, and other types of documents, and writing weekly reports and other analyses. At the end of this course students will be able to identify key strategies for assessing and managing ICT-related organizational change, and analyze change processes in ways that support organizational development.

In order to obtain an add code to register for this course, students will first need to identify a local organization in which they can conduct fieldwork on a weekly basis during the course. The organization should be at least 5 years old, have at least 10 staff, and have undergone– or be undergoing– ICT-related change processes (tips for finding such an organization here). Each week the student will spend an hour at the organization’s headquarters, to interview a staff member and observe staff working with ICTs. The organization can be in any sector, and a UW department or office that meets the criteria above would be fine. Students should consider their schedules, organizations’ business hours, and transportation logistics when selecting an organization. Each student will print and sign this memo of understanding of the fieldwork for this course, and ask a staff member from the organization to confirm his/her consent by signing it. Heather Werckle will provide add codes upon receipt of MOUs signed by both a student and a staff member of an organization that meets the stated criteria.

Course Prerequisites:

  • Basic word processing, Excel, and Power Point skills, and the ability to access Canvas regularly
  • Access to and understanding of how to use Canvas
  • Ability to spend an hour each week during the 10 weeks of the course at the headquarters of a Seattle-based organization that has the characteristics described above
  • A Memo of Understanding signed by the student and his/her organizational liaison is required to receive an add code for registration in the course

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COM 597: Content & Social Strategy for Maximum Business Impact

(

Schiller

)

- 2016-2017 | Autumn 2016

Track Neutral, 3 Credits
Saturdays, 10/1, 10/15, 10/29/16, 9:00am-5:00pm | CMU 126

Course Description:

Many experts think of social media and content strategy in big company terms: getting buy-in from management, developing a process, communicating among teams, defining metrics, etc. All very important, but in an over-saturated digital world how do you create the actual content? Not boring, me-too, formulaic content, but stories that people actually read, share and take action upon? Contrary to what many people think, great content is not built on luck or magic; it’s built using specific, repeatable techniques that you can learn and deploy to drive your business objectives. This class will teach you how to create unforgettable content, how to customize it for each social channel and how to ensure that your social and content strategy support each other for maximum business impact. Through a combination of case studies, readings and hands-on assignments, students will gain a solid understanding of how to create the kind of content that other marketers will wish was their own.

Student Testimonial:

I came into class with little to no formal training on content strategy. It was apparent from the get go that I would be learning multiple useful techniques on how to break down content and better improve said content based on the its ultimate goal. With her years of industry experience and scrappy attitude, Carol was a terrific asset to the class. Regardless of your individual pathway through the program, this is a great class for better understanding the online ecosystem that we all exist in.

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COM 597: Communication Through Culture: Ethnographic Approaches to Understanding and Motivating Organizations and Communities

(

Philipsen

)

- 2016-2017 | Autumn 2016

MCCN Elective, Meets Research Methods Core Requirement
Wednesdays, 9/28/16-12/7/16, 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 126

Course Description:

Each organization and community has its unique “culture.” As technology has both enhanced and disrupted how we traditionally connect to each other, harnessing the culture within these specific social structures is an increasingly valuable strategy in the networked age. If we can discern the cultural foundation of an organization or community, we can interact with, and motivate its members more effectively and efficiently. In this course, you will learn how to determine the heart of a particular, localized culture of an organization (businesses, non-profits, civic entities) or community. Specifically, you will learn how to see the cultural values, rules, and symbols of a culture as vital resources for promoting successful collaboration within and across groups. This is a crucial undertaking for 21st century leaders who seek to inspire and transform through communication.

Student Testimonial: 

“Communicating Through Culture was the most unexpectedly rewarding class I ever took. When the quarter began, I had no idea what to expect, and I was leery of the plentiful, heavily academic readings listed in the syllabus. I ended up enjoying the class so much I was sad when the quarter ended! Lisa took an arguably esoteric subject matter (the ethnography of communication) and not only did she help me to understand it, but she bridged the gap between academia and industry. I came out of the course with a newly positive attitude toward research and a keen interest in knowing more about how people communicate.”

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COM 597: Building Successful Online Communities

(

Hill

)

- 2016-2017 | Autumn 2016

MCCN Elective
Mondays, 10/3/16-12/5/16 , 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 302

Course Description:

Before Wikipedia was created, there were seven very similar attempts to build online collaborative encyclopedias. Before Facebook, there were dozens of very similar social networks. Why did Wikipedia and Facebook take off when so many similar sites struggled? Why do some attempts to build communities online lead to large thriving communities while most struggle to attract even a small group of users?

This class will begin with an introduction to several decades of research on computer-mediated communication and online communities to try and understand the building blocks of successful online communities. With this theoretical background in hand, every student will then apply this new understanding by helping to design, build, and improve a real online community.

Student Testimonial: 

Building Successful Online Communities focuses on the hearts and minds behind the screens. Using elements of social psychology, group dynamics, and more as guideposts, Mako showed us how online platforms can be configured to shape users’ behavior and stimulate growth. The course offered a refreshing mix of theory and pragmatism: the first half was dedicated to learning/practicing concepts (largely through Wikipedia exercises), while the second half allowed us to apply our knowledge as consultants for local organizations. Though class discussion was frequent, introverts shouldn’t worry—Mako’s enthusiasm helped ease conversation along. All CommLead students, regardless of track, should consider taking this course—its lessons on understanding and managing the human element of digital networks are invaluable for today’s communications professionals.

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206.543.6745
4101 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA
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© Copyright 2022 Department of Communication. University of Washington

University of Washington

Department of Communication

© Copyright 2022 Department of Communication. University of Washington