> Courses > MCDM

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 580: Leadership in Emergent Technologies and Trends

(

Hosein

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Tuesdays 10/05-12/07, 5:30PM – 7:20PM PDT | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 23071

Course Description:

In this course, you’ll gain a solid understanding of emerging technologies in the context of social change. We’ll develop a set of questions and conceptual tools that will help you critically assess technologies in early periods of development and adoption. We’ll also explore strategies that you can use to help companies and organizations better plan for, adapt to and advocate for more equitable solutions.

What You’ll Learn

  • How to critically examine narratives used to explain new technologies and their development
  • The fundamentals of key emergent technologies, including artificial intelligence, smart devices and automation, and their potential human impact
  • How to advocate for technology that solves a problem without amplifying existing inequity

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COMMLD 570 B: Leadership at All Levels

(

Myers

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Wednesdays 09/29-12/08, 6:00PM – 8:20PM PDT | CMU 230
Registration SLN: 13061

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 560 B: Communicating Across Power and Identities

(

Ross

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Tuesdays 10/05-12/07, 6:00PM – 7:50PM PDT | DEM 002
Registration SLN: 13059

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 558: Law and Policy

(

Baker

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

MCDM Track | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/05-12/07, 6:00PM – 9:50PM PDT | CMU 230
Registration SLN: 23205

Course Description:

This course looks at how the law of digital media, interactive media and social media has facilitated the growth of multimedia storytelling, interactivity, and the explosion of collaborative consumption. Understanding when and how one can remix, reuse, republish, and remake content is critical to any organization’s successful advertising, content creation, distribution, and publication. This course will explore the legal issues surrounding free expression, content production and publication, intellectual property (with a special emphasis on copyright and fair use), and advertising. This course is designed both as a stand-alone course to satisfy the law and policy requirement of the program and as a companion to the data security and privacy law course offered in the Fall, which focuses more on data usage, privacy and security, FTC regulatory issues and intellectual property issues around data and analytics.

Meets Law & Ethics Requirement.

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COMMLD 541: Crisis Communication

(

Visneski

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 09/29-12/08, 6:00PM – 9:50PM PDT | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 23175

Course Description:

The 24-hour news cycle, social media, and online reporting fundamentally changed how institutional leaders, executives, celebrities, politicians, and organizations address crises big and small; internal and external; local, national, and international. Effectively managing a crisis means not just employing PR strategies, but developing a comprehensive communications plan that disseminates actionable content and engages all stakeholders with equal focus across multiple and diverse networks. This course will address how the tools of communication influence crisis communication strategies. In addition, it will identify the key issues that must be addressed during an organizational crisis (real or imagined) from a communications perspective. It will examine implementation strategies to engage traditional and social media; digital networks; federal, state and local lawmakers; external and internal stakeholders; and consumers or constituents. As important, it will deconstruct and reinforce the personal ethics and behavior required by professionals in a crisis situation. This class uses current events, interactive discussions, real-time exercises, and engaging guest lectures to provide practical insight about effective techniques and lessons learned.

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COMMLD 540 A: Building Teams and Community

(

Baltus

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Mondays 10/04-12/06, 6:00PM – 8:20PM PDT | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 13057

Course Description:

Building meaningful community around your work begins with your team. This course focuses on cultivating community from the inside out, in a series of concentric and overlapping circles. First it addresses ways to bring people together within the workplace and make sure they feel valued through rewarding opportunities to brainstorm, collaborate and critique. Then it explores what it means to set communication norms within an organization and how those norms affect an organization’s culture and identity. Finally, it provides a methodology for deepening connections with external audiences, conducting credible outreach, building load-bearing bridges and inviting widespread engagement that leads to social impact.

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COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

(

Christensen

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

MCDM Track | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/05-12/07, 6:00PM – 9:50PM PDT | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 23174

Course Description:

This course focuses on the decisions we make when we tell our stories. This course is both theoretical and practical. Students will be afforded the skills to create and distribute video stories. Additionally, students will be expected to display critical thinking around point of view, audience targeting, ROI success criteria, methodology, and production standards.

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COMMLD 525: Brand Values, Creativity, and Innovation

(

Howard

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/05-12/07, 6:00PM – 9:50PM PDT | DEN 112
Registration SLN: 13055

Course Description:

This course will take a close up look at corporate brand values in marketing communications today. Brand values should be timeless and unchanging, but in a constantly fluctuating business environment, is this goal even possible? While high volume video advertising and A/B testing is exploding, paradoxically, messaging of corporate brand values is oftentimes minimized. Marketing today is composed of ever-changing algorithms, transactional communications, and confusing narratives.Should creativity play a bigger role in storytelling in today’s marketplace? Do customers even know what the companies they make purchases from actually stand for values-wise? Does it matter? How can companies still connect emotionally with consumers? Students will ideate a marketing film for a company or nonprofit of their choice. All the while, they’ll be considering deeply how emotion, story, and marketing message function in a project that resonates with the consumer while also reinforcing an organization’s belief system.

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COMMLD 524: Copywriting Fundamentals for Marketing

(

Schiller

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | Meets Professional Writing Requirement | 3 Credits
Sundays 10/03, 10/17, 10/31 9:00AM – 5:00PM PDT | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 23204

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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COMMLD 523: Foundations of Branding: Social Media Communications and Strategy

(

Tang

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

MCDM Track | 5 Credits
Saturdays 10/02, 10/16, 10/30, 11/13, 12/04, 9:00AM – 5:00PM PDT | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 23173

Course Description:

This course examines the fundamental components of communication through social media and the communication methods used by Influencers. We identify the strategies used by social media platforms to maximize their key metrics. And in parallel, we compare the strategies used by influencers to maximize their goals. With the knowledge of Influencer and Social Media Communication you’ll be able to identify areas of opportunity on social media platforms, emerging social trends, and create interesting campaigns.

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COMMLD 511A: Introduction to User Centered Design

(

Gordon

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

MCDM Track | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Mondays 10/04-12/06, 6:00PM – 9:50PM PDT | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 23165

Course Description:

This course focuses on the fundamentals of user experience design, identifying the skills and concepts needed to successfully design products and services for humans. We will learn the principles of design thinking so that students come away from the class with a framework for understanding how to identify real user problems, design solutions for how to solve those problems, and then test those solutions with real people.

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

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COMMLD 510: Leveraging Diverse Perspectives for Product Content Strategy

(

Davies

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Wednesdays 6:00PM – 8:20PM PDT | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 13053

Course Description:

This course will guide students through a variety of techniques and processes to building experiences that are inclusive, and designed to directly serve their intended audience. This includes a lightweight look at understanding and defining your audience, testing for a variety of accessibility challenges, designing for inclusion, and an overview of ways to get feedback from your audience. Students will then be able to leverage these techniques to evaluate experiences to identify opportunities to improve.

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COMMLD 501: Leadership and Communities

(

Yasin

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | Core Requirement | 2 Credits
Thursdays 09/30-12/09, 8:00PM – 9:20PM PDT | SAV 260
Registration SLN: 13052

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 541: Crisis Communication

(

Schwartz

)

- 2021-2022 | Summer

Track Neutral | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 6/23 – 8/18, 5:00PM PDT – 8:50PM PDT | Online

Course Description

The 24-hour news cycle, social media, and online reporting fundamentally changed how institutional leaders, executives, celebrities, politicians, and organizations address crises big and small; internal and external; local, national, and international. Effectively managing a crisis means not just employing PR strategies, but developing a comprehensive communications plan that disseminates actionable content and engages all stakeholders with equal focus across multiple and diverse networks. This course will address how the tools of communication influence crisis communication strategies. In addition, it will identify the key issues that must be addressed during an organizational crisis (real or imagined) from a communications perspective. It will examine implementation strategies to engage traditional and social media; digital networks; federal, state and local lawmakers; external and internal stakeholders; and consumers or constituents. As important, it will deconstruct and reinforce the personal ethics and behavior required by professionals in a crisis situation. This class uses current events, interactive discussions, real-time exercises, and engaging guest lectures to provide practical insight about effective techniques and lessons learned.

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COMMLD 536: Intensive Video Storytelling: Conceptualizing, Shooting, and Editing

(

Keller

)

- 2021-2022 | Summer

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Wednesday – Sunday 6/23 – 6/27, 9:00AM PDT – 5:00PM PDT | Online

Course Description:

This skills-based course explores how engaging online video relies on effective storytelling. It is designed to familiarize you with video tools associated with storytelling: specifically, how to develop, shoot, and edit video.

Storytelling has been part of the human experience since the formation of language. Today, the technology that surrounds the “tell” of a story (the modes and channels of communication) directly shapes a viewer’s experience. This course focuses on the practical decisions you make as you craft a narrative. How do the choices you make in the creation and delivery of your story affect the reception of your message?

Given the compressed five-day timeline of this course, we will emphasize skill building using devices you currently have available. The class will also include practice with the tools that have emerged during the pandemic for remote video production. Remote production will continue to be a part of the fabric of media creation even after the restrictions from the pandemic have been lifted. It is cost-effective and creates the opportunity to eliminate geography as a barrier to access.

*This is an intensive course taking place on five consecutive days, starting Wednesday June 23 – Sunday June 27. 

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COMMLD 535: Foundations of Audio Storytelling

(

Partnow

)

- 2021-2022 | Summer

Track Neutral Elective | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 6/22-8/17, 6:00PM PDT – 9:50PM PDT | Online

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 a 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 — and the new golden age of podcasting that we find ourselves in means that audio storytelling has the potential for broad reach and powerful impact. 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.

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© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington

© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington