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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 546 A/B: Professional Long-Form Writing

(

Crofts

)

- 2024-2025 | Winter 2025

Track Neutral | Meets Professional Writing Requirement (3 or 5 credit) or Research Methods Requirement (5 Credit) | 3 or 5 Credits | CMU 126
Sundays 1/12, 1/26, 2/9, 9:00am – 5:00pm | 3-credit section 546A | Registration SLN: 12717
Sundays 1/12, 1/26, 2/9, 2/23, 3/9, 9:00am – 5:00pm | 5-credit section 546B | Registration SLN: 12718

Please note: 546A is 3 credits, and 546B is 5 credits. These courses will run concurrently. Students registered for 546A (3 credits) will attend the first three dates, and students registered for 546B (5 credits) will attend all five dates.

Course Description:

Have you ever read an in-depth piece online that so moved you or shifted your thinking that you immediately sent it on to a friend or colleague? The “long-form” medium offers the writer ample space for synthesis, critique, and personal stories to capture the imagination, change the conversation, and inspire action. With a broad selection of writers, leaders, and cultural commentators as curricular guides, this course invites each student to hone their long-form professional writing skills (>1000 words) and deepen their understanding of the current professional communication long-form landscape.

With scaffolded steps to refine their writing voice and scope, this course serves both students with writing experience, as well as those keen to develop this foundational skill. All students are invited to submit their final piece for inclusion in the Spring 2025 volume of the online journal Mind Shift. In addition, we will consider the evolution of platforms, from colonial-era pamphlets to today’s crowded community of digital newsletters.

Anita teaches invaluable research and writing skills that pushed me to become a more curious thinker. She encourages her students to dive into multifaceted research on your choice of subject and produce a polished long-form piece. As a brand marketing professional, I’ve applied what I learned in Anita’s class by practicing clear written communication and empathetic collaboration. —Amanda Chou, MCCN cohort ‘22 alumni 

3-credit class Meets Professional Writing Requirement.

5-credit class meets either Research Methods or Professional Writing requirement. Class cannot be used to meet both requirements.

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COMMLD 543: Leadership Approaches to Equity Initiatives in Organizations

(

Ross

)

- 2024-2025 | Winter 2025

MCCN Elective | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 1/8 – 3/12, 6:00pm – 8:50pm | DEN 258

Registration SLN: 12716

Course Description:

In this leadership development course students grow intra-personally in order to more effectively communicate and collaborate to change organizational systems and cultural norms toward greater equity, justice, diversity, access, belonging, and inclusion.

The course is designed to meet students where they are and coach for growth in self-awareness, communication skills, and comprehension of equity concepts. Students learn interactively together in order to explore interconnections among dimensions of our intersectional identities and experiences of power, and to expand our collective understanding of how organizations, and the people within them, function within larger societal systems of power.

Dual tracks of learning structure the quarter: shared equity related content learning and independent individually-bespoke topical inquiry. Students transform their understanding of their identities and agency, gain confidence for communicating about often-taboo topics, experience iterative reflection as a social justice practice, and expand their comprehension of the distinct roles of individuals, groups, organizations, and societal structures in making genuine system change.

Sarah’s course was intentional and thought-provoking and provided me with the tools to assess and navigate current and future workplace dynamics. I am now able to critically question and analyze organizational health.–AK Sterling, MCCN cohort ‘19 alumni

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COMMLD 541B: Crisis Communication

(

Hennessey

)

- 2024-2025 | Winter 2025

Track Neutral | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 1/8 – 3/12, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 12715

Course Description

Crisis communications is about much more than “spin.”  Crises will happen – in government, in the corporate sector, in nonprofits and political campaigns.  What will differentiate you as a communicator is your ability to plan for it, navigate it in real time, and learn something from it.  There is opportunity in crisis.  A crisis forces us to look inside ourselves, at our policies, at our practices, and at how we do our business.

Of course, crisis communications has always been tough; social media and the advent of generative AI have just made it tougher.  We will navigate the latest cultural challenges, from “cancel culture” to messaging in our polarized society.  In this course, we will look at before the crisis (including planning), how we respond during the crisis (this includes the critical crisis communications plan) and after (this is where we cover actions one must take afterwards, including how to repair the damage done).  The class is designed to look at crises in various sectors and will include participation from professionals in the field.

Meets Law and Ethics Requirement.

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COMMLD 540B: Human-Centered, AI Augmented Internal Comms

(

Abplanalp

)

- 2024-2025 | Winter 2025

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 1/7 – 3/11, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 12714

Course Description:

This course explores the intersection of internal/ organizational communications and artificial intelligence (AI) with an emphasis on human-centricity and organizational culture. Topics will focus on organizational brand, leadership and voice; automation tools and techniques; pitfalls of artificial intelligence; and considerations for diversity, equity, and inclusion, anti-racism, and accessibility.

Students will examine the impact of AI on internal communications practices and strategies within organizations, including integration of AI technologies in communication development and its implications for leadership and decision-making. Students will also develop strength as human-centered, AI-augmented internal communicators, enhancing workflows and sharpening editorial acumen and critical thinking. Each week, students will engage in case study discussions to analyze real-world scenarios and explore the application of AI in different aspects of internal communications.

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COMMLD 538: Storytelling and Communication for Mission-Driven Organizations

(

Melograna

)

- 2024-2025 | Winter 2025

MCCN Elective | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Thursdays 1/9 – 3/13, 1:00pm – 5:00pm | Online
Registration SLN: 12713

Course Description

Nonprofits, NGOs, campaigns and social enterprises are driven by their desire to make the world a better place. As their storytellers, our job is to make sure their messages reach the right audiences and recruit those audiences to the cause. Keeping in mind that mission-driven organizations will often work on complex issues involving vulnerable populations, our job is to pursue this work within an ethical framework that centers the concerns and desires of the people whom our clients serve. Upon completing the course, students will be able to work with mission-driven organizations as their primary storytellers.

Jordan brings a passion for storytelling for positive change that is infectious. And that enthusiasm is grounded in vast experience that makes him a valuable guide through the complicated ethics of storytelling, with a breadth of practical resources to support powerful, community-based, media production that mission-driven organizations are in need of. Given how deeply he engages with and inspires students, it’s no wonder many of them have gone on to be his professional collaborators.  — Alex Stonehill, Associate Director, MCCN Cohort 19

Meets Law & Ethics Requirement.

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COMMLD 537: Principles of Storytelling for Social Impact

(

Kessler

)

- 2024-2025 | Winter 2025

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Saturdays In Person 1/11, Online 1/25, 2/8, 2/22, In Person 3/8, 9:00am – 5:00pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 12712

Course Description:

Storytelling for Social Impact 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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COMMLD 581A: Communications in the Age of AI

(

Schiller

)

- 2024-2025 | Winter 2025

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Sundays 1/12, 1/26, 2/9, 9:00am – 5:00pm | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 22146

Course Description

This class will teach frameworks for thinking about AI’s impact on communications work across enterprise organizations, and practical applications for integrating it into daily work. Students will learn how to use AI strategically – to increase agility and accelerate work – while protecting key objectives of clarity, authenticity, security, and employee engagement.

Note: This class assumes you have a basic understanding of the kinds of communications that typically occur in a professional organization. If you are totally new to corporate communications and have never worked in a communications environment, you can expect a steep learning curve.

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COMMLD 503A: Practicum: Building Community Through Livestreaming

(

McLean

)

- 2024-2025 | Winter 2025

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Mondays 1/6 – 3/10, 6:00pm – 8:20pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 12701

Course Description:

In this practicum course, students will learn to design live streams that bring people together and create a genuine sense of belonging.

By experimenting with strategies that invite participation and make audiences feel seen and heard, students will develop skills to produce live streams that integrate seamlessly into a broader communications strategy. Throughout the quarter students will have multiple opportunities to work on live stream projects related to their own interests, current job roles, or other areas within the Comm Lead department. With this practice and knowledge, students will work together on a culminating challenge: to produce a live stream for Comm Lead’s annual Connects conference.

By the end, students will have a strong foundation to lead live stream projects in real-world settings, with principles that are relevant for everything from simple webcam setups to large-scale productions with professional crews and equipment.

Note: This is not a video production course. The focus is on content design and project leadership for marketing and communications professionals, using accessible, web-based tools that are easy to adopt in any communications role.

About Communication and Leadership Practicum:
Communication and Leadership Practicum courses can be taken at any time in your Comm Lead Journey. They give you the opportunity to engage in contemporary professional practice by addressing the challenges of real-life organizations. Each section is matched with a client organization or group of client organizations, and focuses on a distinct professional skill or practice that is deemed essential across a variety of professional fields. 

Designed to mirror a professional setting, our Practicum offer you the opportunity to work at a higher level and with greater responsibility than what you might encounter in an internship or in entry-level work. In the span of a quarter, you will enhance highly-desirable professional skills, produce work that you can include in your own professional portfolios, and most importantly, leave with a story–your story – of what you did in this project to create value for your client.

Credit/No Credit Only

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COMMLD 600: MC Research Project

(

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Application Required

Course Description:

After completion of a minimum of 50% of Comm Lead course work, students can choose to conduct a scholarly research project. An MC Research Project is roughly the equivalent of a master’s thesis in scope and rigor, and requires the student form a committee of at least two faculty members to evaluate the work, as well as give a public presentation of the final deliverable. See complete details and application instructions on the Guide to MC Research Project page.

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COMMLD 593: Internship

(

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

Track Neutral | 1-5 Credits
Application Required

Course Description:

An internship can be a useful way to give students a fundamental understanding of the industry and to accelerate one’s career path. Internships should be directly relevant to the student’s field of study (degree or specialization). Part-time jobs not related to the degree will normally not be approved for internship credit, as the purpose of an internship is to apply what you have been learning in your degree to a real world work experience. See complete details and application instructions on the Guide to Internships page.

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COMMLD 591: Independent Research

(

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

Track Neutral | 1-5 Credits
Application Required

Course Description:

Independent Research projects are student-driven, with faculty serving in a loose advisory capacity. This option is for students with a clear project in mind who will only need minimal faculty support to accomplish their end goal. See complete details and application instructions on the Guide to Independent Research page.

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COMMLD 583: Communications for Emerging Web Technologies

(

Tang

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Saturdays 9:00am – 5:00pm, 9/28, 10/12, 10/26, 11/9, 11/23 | Online
Registration SLN: 13081

Course Description

This course examines emerging forms of communication arising from the development of artificial intelligence tools, deep neural networks, web 3 technologies, interactive digital spaces, and online communities connected via social media platforms. We’ll lay out a framework to understand the emerging use cases of web 3 technologies such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, decentralized autonomous organizations, decentralized apps, trustless/permissionless environments, and smart contracts. The course also investigates the use of interactive digital spaces such as massively multiplayer online games by users and the concept of the metaverse to create new standards of communication. We’ll use the evolution of online communities and social media platforms to examine the fundamental ways people communicate online. Last, the course explores the use of AI tools to generate content and its impact on communication standards. We’ll discuss how businesses, organizations, governments and individuals would leverage these emerging technologies to achieve communications goals.

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COMMLD 570A: Building Successful Online Communities

(

Hill

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

MCCN Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/1 – 12/3, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 104
Registration SLN: 13075

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.

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COMMLD 563: Multicultural Marketing: Creating Equitable and Inclusive Communications

(

Park

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

MCCN Elective | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Saturdays 9:00am – 5:00pm, 9/28, 10/12, 10/26, 11/9, 11/23 | Online
Registration SLN: 13074

Course Description

This course will take a close look at the evolution of multicultural marketing, industry best practices and foundational strategies related to multicultural communications. We will explore how agencies and companies have adapted, pivoted and transformed the way brands and organizations engage with diverse audiences. You’ll learn how to build marketing campaigns that are rooted in principles of diversity, equity and inclusion. Additionally, we’ll learn how to craft campaigns that are responsive to the increasingly diverse marketplace and ever-changing marketing landscape.

Meets Law & Ethics Requirement.

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COMMLD 560A: Wellness Narratives

(

Bradshaw

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

Track Neutral | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Mondays 9/30 – 12/2, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | DEN 113
Registration SLN: 13072

Course Description

“Wellness” is one of those buzzwords that hovers over the top of various pop culture and advertising we consume. It’s a concept that permeates much of how we live and work in the world, and can often feel like a given. But what does “Wellness” actually mean? This course will dive deep into wellness and well-being as central concepts to mental, physical, and emotional modes of health in the 21st century. The goal is for communication professionals to better understand how modern “Wellness” campaigns connect all the way back to early 20th century American advertising campaigns, and why this history matters.

Yes, we will talk about GOOP, reflect upon Soul Cycle, and different popular diets like Paleo and Keto. But we will also explore them through a historical, cultural, economic and technological framework that connects the current moment to 20th century cultural anxieties of the physical and mental body, including the focus on losing unwanted weight and detoxifying the body from various ailments. Other wellness topics for the course will include productivity, health, corporate and social responsibility, clutter, burnout, and more.  

The final assignment helps showcase the student’s ability to do preliminary research while taking complex ideas and distilling them into an understandable presentation for an executive audience. We will do weekly reflective journal exercises throughout the quarter that engage with the readings and screenings from the course. Come prepared to engage in discussion, deep dive into wellness research, and hone your writing skills!

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

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COMMLD 544: Professional Short-Form Writing

(

Tomasic

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

Track Neutral | Meets Professional Writing Requirement | 3 Credits
Wednesdays 9/25 – 12/4, 6:00pm – 8:20pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 13069

Course Description

This collaborative hands-on course explores the kind of short-form writing that dominates today’s rapidly evolving professional communications space — the digital space where lines between content and form increasingly blur and where always-on media feeds deliver a mix of advertising, marketing, public relations, human resources, personal brand-building and journalistic reporting and research. It’s a space that presents new writing challenges every day: professional emails, office memos, newsletters, website copy, funding proposals, executive summaries, op-eds, tweets, blurbs, blogs. Much of this material is badly done. Most of it is mediocre. The best of it, though, sings out and demands our attention, demonstrating mastery in the kind of critical thinking and dedicated practice that delivers copy sharply focused and sure in matching voice and material with form and audience. This course is part professional-communications criticism class and part writing workshop. It’s about learning how to identify good writing; it’s about understanding the process that produces good writing; and it’s about practicing that process yourself.

Meets Professional Writing Requirement.

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© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington

© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington