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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 570B: Leadership at All Levels

(

Myers

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Wednesdays 9/27-12/6, 6:00PM – 8:20PM | DEN 212
Registration SLN: 13023

Course Description

Leadership shows up everywhere, every day–and it is open to us all. Building on the Comm Lead leadership coursework, this course will take the theoretical development of one’s leadership style and bring it into practice with one’s work style. Classes will focus on mini-workshops around the following topics: decision-making processes, presentation skills, practical communications, how-to be a team player (including how-to run a meeting, how-to write an email), and drafting your optimum work experience. Students will complete the class knowing how to address bias and success inhibitors within any organization; develop skills for collaborative and successful leadership at any level; and understand how to empower their workplace for everyone. Guest speakers will share stories from leadership perspectives at different companies and how they approach their own development and empowerment.

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COMMLD 563: Multicultural Marketing: Creating Equitable and Inclusive Communications

(

Park

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

MCCN Elective | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Saturdays 09/30, 10/14, 10/28, 11/18, 12/02, 9:00AM – 5:00PM | Online
Registration SLN: 13021

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.

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COMMLD 560C: Wellness Narratives

(

Bradshaw

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

Track Neutral | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Mondays 10/2-12/4, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | DEN 212
Registration SLN: 13020

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

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

Track Neutral | Meets Professional Writing Requirement | 3 Credits
Wednesdays 9/27-12/6, 6:00PM – 8:20PM | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 13017

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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COMMLD 538: Storytelling and Communications for Mission-Driven Organizations

(

Melograna

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

MCCN Elective | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Thursdays 9/28-12/7, 1:00PM – 5:00PM | Online
Registration SLN: 13012

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.

Meets Law & Ethics Requirement.

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COMMLD 535: Foundations of Audio Storytelling

(

Partnow

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/3-12/5, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | CMU 230
Registration SLN: 13011

Course Description

The podcasting industry has surged in recent years, with podcasts also becoming an increasingly important part of marketing and communication campaigns. Since it is the only medium that audiences can consume while engaged in a multitude of other activities, audio storytelling has a unique advantage to inform, entertain and call to action.

This course will teach you how to use audio to tell a powerful story. You will learn how to create your own short sound-rich, nonfiction audio story driven by characters and scenes. You will move through the process of research, reporting, interviewing, writing, editing, and mixing an audio story, as well as pitching a story for radio or podcast. By the end of the class you will have a working knowledge of the basics of audio storytelling and production. You will feel more confident about how to support visual storytelling with audio, as well as how to work with a larger production team on audio projects.

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COMMLD 520A: Principles of Marketing

(

Meyer

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

Track Neutral Elective | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/3-12/5, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | DEN 112
Registration SLN: 23412

Course Description

This course is designed to provide you with an understanding of foundational marketing concepts and their application within business and non-business organizations. We start with an overview of marketing strategy, including strategic goal setting and planning and assessment of the market environment (company customers, and competitors), and then review fundamental elements of the marketing mix – product, price, placement (distribution) and promotion. We’ll go deeper into marketing communications, including product/service launches, branding, and integrated campaigns. We will explore all this through a dynamic mix of lectures, case studies, guest speakers, videos, in-class discussions, and individual and group projects.

At the end of the course, you will know how to develop a marketing plan, including how to perform market segmentation, targeting, and positioning; implement branding concepts; execute market research tools and techniques; analyze consumer/audience behavior, introduce new products or services, and develop advertising and integrated communications campaigns.

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COMMLD 513: Content Marketing

(

Weaver

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

MCCN Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Saturdays 10/7, 10/21, 11/04, 11/18, 12/09, 9:00AM – 5:00PM | Online
Registration SLN: 13002

Course Description

This course focuses on the approach and implementation of marketing programs that encourage community building and engagement. Content marketing is a special kind of content that you can use to build relationships with audiences, drawing new audiences or rewarding loyal fans. Our focus will be on how to give freely of our knowledge. We will explore a research-backed method for how to make content that educates and supports audiences, that complements advertising, mission-driven, or task-based content.

To do so, we will learn the basics of a content strategy process. Our 6 part data-driven methodology includes working with secondary research: stakeholder goals and audiences. Conducting our own primary research in comparative and content review. Building from research, we’ll explore best practices and tactics for messaging, content planning, and delivering strategy concepts to clients or coworkers. Our final product focuses on building brand storytelling, effective messaging, and planning adaptable content for multichannel (physical or digital) environments. Final materials can be useful for portfolios.

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

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COMMLD 503C: Practicum: Search Engine Optimization

(

Long

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Thursdays 9/28-12/7, 6:00PM – 7:50PM | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 23235

Course Description

In this practicum, students will work on a real-world Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy—forming a partnership among SEO students, instructor, and a client. Students will work in a team-based context and apply their SEO skills to be able to give the client an SEO strategy recommendation for their website to help them improve their keyword rankings in Google.

The final deliverable will be a client presentation highlighting keywords that the client should target based on the use of various analytics tools resourced with help from the instructor. Students will also deliver a sample of a page that has been optimized on the client’s website as an example, with resources the client can use to further optimize their site. By the end of the Practicum, students will have a sample for their portfolio to demonstrate their knowledge of SEO.

About Communication and Leadership Practicum:
Communication and Leadership Practicum courses 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 501: Leadership and Communities

(

Yasin

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

Track Neutral | Core Requirement | 2 Credits
Thursdays 9/28-12/7, 6:00PM – 8:20PM | PCAR 192
Registration SLN: 12995

Course Description

This foundational class considers leadership development through the two lenses of story and community. Sustained community engagement in the service of a more equitable and just world requires strong leadership models. Personal history and cultural context influence leadership styles, so using cross-sector profiles and guest speakers, we will carefully consider a range of leaders, their life stories, communication styles, and how they connect meaningfully to customers, colleagues, and constituents.

Credit/No Credit only

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COMMLD 503: Practicum: Content Strategy for Chatbots Intensive

(

Joslyn

)

- 2022-2023 | Summer 2023

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Monday – Friday 7/31 – 8/4, 9:00AM – 5:00PM | Online
Application Required – See Description

Course Description

This practicum intensive will offer students the chance to experience what it’s like to plan, build, test, and complete a real-life chatbot for an on-campus client, all in the form of a week “sprint.”

Students will be organized into pods to complete key milestones of the work.  Some students will work on project management, some in content design, product design, and UX research. A project brief and key milestones will be provided to start the class, but everything from picking out the chatbot product, working with stakeholders, creating the experience, conducting research, and providing a completed chatbot experience will be students’ responsibility to own. Class will be held 9-5pm for a week, with most of the time working in teams to create key deliverables. Your faculty mentor will be available to offer feedback on milestone progress, while the client will be engaged during key touchpoints to offer feedback on deliverables. 

**Since this class takes foundational concepts to the next level, students who register must have either already taken COMMLD 510: Introduction to Information Architecture, one of our intro courses (511 or 512), or Content Marketing (513) or have equivalent UX experience. Please fill out this form to the best of your ability. The form will open at 6:30AM PST on Monday, April 10, 2023. If your form is approved, you will receive an add code to register for the course. (Note: applications will be time stamped, and qualified applicants will be added to remaining class spots on an equitable basis determined by time of application and remaining time in the program. The application can be found here: https://forms.office.com/r/FVtR4LKj3j

About 503 Communication and Leadership Practicum

Communication and Leadership Practicum courses give students an opportunity to engage with and understand the uses of course concepts in contemporary professional practice by addressing the challenges of real-life organizations.

Each section of the Comm Lead Practicum focuses on a distinct professional skill or practice that is deemed essential across a variety of professional fields. Students can choose their section based on their interests and needs. Each section is matched with a client organization or group of client organizations who are interested in partnering with Communication Leadership students.

In the span of a quarter, students analyze the issues faced by the client organization(s), collaborate and brainstorm collectively in small teams, and with the support of their faculty mentor create a deliverable for the client organization(s) that relates to the specific practice. Students may also create creative samples as part of the project. In doing so, students can develop and enhance skills, build foundations of practice, and produce work that they can include in their own professional portfolios.

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COMMLD 530: Ethics of Storytelling

(

Graney-Saucke

)

- 2022-2023 | Summer 2023

Track Neutral | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
A Term: Tuesdays/Thursdays 6/20 – 7/18, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 14192

Course Description

Ethics plays a critical role in how we tell stories. What values are behind the story? Who is telling the story, and for whom? What is the intended outcome, and what could the potential impact be? What are the ethics around new media technology like deep fake as we continue to take stories at face value?

Ethics and subjective bias in storytelling can also be complex, and thus they require our attention and reflection in responsible and responsive creative communications. This course will address various storytelling mediums and scenarios where ethics in storytelling are actively at play. Students will engage in critical discourse and assignments to assess values that impact ethical decisions personally and professionally. Assigned media and reading material as well as student sourced case studies will be used in order to ensure diverse and current content. As a conclusion to the class, students will create a final video, audio, web or UX project that engages an ethical challenge.

Meets Law & Ethics requirement.

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COMMLD 504: Capstone

(

MacLaren

)

- 2022-2023 | Spring 2023

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Thursdays 3/30 – 6/1, 5:00PM – 6:50PM | PCAR 297
Registration SLN: 12550

Course Description:

The COMMLD504 Capstone class offers MCCL students the chance to demonstrate their learning and build a portfolio through an in-depth, independent project done under the guidance of faculty and staff advisors. It’s also a chance to impact the world and help address the needs of real-life organizations.

In this class, students will  finish and refine their capstone project, curate and design elements for their portfolio, reflect on work throughout their Comm Lead journey, and refine their  professional self-narrative. Students will think, reflect, respond, and provide/receive feedback throughout the course as they refine their presentation and professional narrative for a particular audience.

(Note–this class is only available to MCCL students in the last quarter of their Comm Lead journey.)

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COMMLD 503C: Practicum in Content Strategy

(

Weaver

)

- 2022-2023 | Spring 2023

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Mondays 3/27 – 6/5, 5:00PM – 6:50PM | Online
SLN: 12547

Course Description

In this practicum, students will assess content from a real world client using content audits and comparative reviews to make recommendations for a renaming, rebranding, and renewed website. Students will use templates to analyze and assess content against standards. We will look for ways to improve the website through content removal or renewal based on our user experience goals, audience preferences, and user tasks as well as best practices. Your assessments and recommendations will help the client reimagine content topics and connections and prepare for a new information architecture. By the end of this practicum students will develop a list of recommendations for the client for content improvement. 

**Since this class takes foundational concepts to the next level, students who register must have either already taken COMMLD 510: Introduction to Information Architecture, one of our intro courses (511 or 512), or Content Marketing (513) or have equivalent UX experience. Please fill out this form to the best of your ability. If your form is approved, you will receive an add code to register for the course. (Note: applications will be time stamped, and qualified applicants will be added to remaining class spots on an equitable basis determined by time of application and remaining time in the program. The application can be found here: https://forms.office.com/r/670K19LaFP

Note: students currently waitlisted for COMMLD 503B have priority for this course.

About Communication and Leadership Practicum:

Communication and Leadership Practicum courses 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. Students can choose their section based on their interests and needs.

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 560A: Communicating Across Power and Identities

(

Ross

)

- 2022-2023 | Spring 2023

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Mondays 3/27-6/05, 6:00PM – 7:50PM | DEN 212
SLN: 21584

Course Description:

This course provides a primer on concepts of identity, power, privilege, and systems of oppression. Through reflective writing and facilitated discussions of curated readings students explore how their personal and professional identities impact their effectiveness in communicating across interpersonal difference. Designed to welcome those who may have previously avoided discussing uncomfortable topics, this introductory course empowers students with modes of inquiry that enable their essential self-examination and self-preparation for any future equity-related organizational collaborations.

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COMMLD 503E: Consulting Practicum: Leveraging Social Listening Research to Mitigate Misinformation

(

Chang

)

- 2022-2023 | Spring 2023

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Wednesdays 3/29 – 5/31 6:00PM – 7:50PM PST | Online
SLN: 12549

Course Description

One of the most urgent issues facing our society today is the growing impact of misinformation. In an effort to better plan for, engage with and proactively mitigate the negative impact of misinformation, stakeholders are increasingly using social listening research tools to have effective mitigation approaches in place. 

In this practicum, students will navigate this uncharted area by using a social listening research tool called Pulsar to map and identify critical trends and topics most relevant to creating effective misinformation mitigation approaches. Students will then draft a framework of practical approaches for client consideration and incorporation into organizational policy. By the end of this practicum, students will have gained competencies in the area of social listening/research, strengthened leadership skills and consulting engagement. 

The learning challenge: This practicum is for students who are ready to grow as leaders–leaders who recognize that wrestling with real-world problems calls for moving through ambiguity. Just like in real-world work contexts, this course will not include heavy text-based teaching or pre-designed road maps of ‘here is what to do every step of the way’. Instead, there will be steady and strong coaching and support from an instructor with a specialized expertise in navigating ambiguity and leading through influence. You can expect to be uncomfortable most of the time in this practicum, and that will be a mark of success and growth. Every student will create a tangible skill-based experience to use in their career development, professional networking and portfolio. In other words, there will be a direct answer to the question of “tell me about a time when you developed a communications strategy for a client.”

Credit/No Credit only.

About 503 Communication and Leadership Practicum

Communication and Leadership Practicum courses 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. Students can choose their section based on their interests and needs.

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.

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© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington

© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington