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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 511: Introduction to User Centered Design

(

Holmberg

)

- 2018-2019 | Autumn 2018

MCDM Elective | Meets Research Methods Core Requirement
Mondays, 10/1-12/10 (no class on 11/12) | 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 230
Registration SLN: 23669

Course Description: 

This course focuses on the fundamentals of user experience (UX) design, focusing on the skills and concepts needed to successfully design products and services for humans (otherwise known as the human-centered design process). 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.

Over the course of the quarter, students will learn the foundations of user experience design, covering the entire cycle from ideation to implementation, and all of the design phases in between. We will cover a wide range of UX skills, including user research, user journeys, sketching, wireframing, principles of information architecture, prototyping, and usability studies. Additionally, we will consider the larger ethical questions raised by designing products in the digital age.

Student Testimonial:

“From class activities to assignments to even the class slides, Dave crafts an optimal user experience for the student. He takes the time to provide useful, in-depth feedback on all assignments which enhances the learning experience considerably. The UX Content Strategy Playbook we created was an incredible way to learn the specifics of UX exercises we studied in class; I’m sure I’ll use it for years to come. The books Dave selected for class will serve as excellent resources down the road as well. This was definitely one of the best classes I’ve taken in the Comm Lead program.”

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COM 597 Crisis Communication Strategies in a Digital World

(

Schwartz

)

- 2017-2018 | Summer

Track Neutral, Meets Law and Ethics Core Requirement
Thursdays, 6/21-8/16, 6:00-9:50pm I PCAR 492
Registration SLN: 14248

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.

Student Testimonial: 

“This course is one of my favorites and Melissa is infectious. The variety of crisis cases that we looked at, presented each week and the readings that were required to be read were mind boggling. Not only did the course teach how to handle crisis, but also taught how to improve presentation skills, public speaking skills and more than anything, how to prevent crisis especially on social media when you have the option of preventing. Overall an amazing program and I have already recommended it to a lot of my classmates who started in Fall.”

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COM 597: Analytics and Insights for Brands: Measuring Marketing Effectiveness

(

Myers

)

- 2017-2018 | Summer

MCDM Elective, Meets Research Requirement
Tuesdays, 6/19-8/14, 6:00-9:50pm | SAV 132
Registration SLN: 10852

Course Description: 

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of digital marketing analytics and driving insights on how to measure the efficacy and ROI of digital media. We will compare and evaluate some of the analytics tools on the market and learn how to perform a social landscape audit, establish KPIs (key performance indicators), set marketing goals, and determine methods for campaign performance tracking. We’ll deep dive into the components that comprise a monthly monitoring report, including managed channel (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) success metrics and KPI tracking, conversation themes, influencer identification, data insights, and listening & monitoring topics. We’ll examine the latest debates, tools, technologies, and social channels and their implications for social media analytics. We will further explore each channel used in digital marketing including paid, owned, and earned.

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COM 597: Intensive Video Storytelling: Conceptualizing, Shooting, and Editing

(

Keller

)

- 2017-2018 | Summer

Track Neutral, 3 Credits
Wednesday-Sunday, 7/25-7/29, 9:00am-5:00pm | SAV 130
Registration SLN: 10853

Course Description:

Media creation is a multi-step effort, with thoughtful decision-making involved throughout the process. How do the choices you make in the telling and delivery of your story affect the reception of your message? This course is aimed at expanding thought about how online media is affecting storytelling. Additionally, students will gain hands-on practice in producing online video stories. The skills-based aspect of this course is designed to familiarize students with the technologies associated with storytelling. Specifically how to refine, shoot, edit, and distribute their online video.

Student Testimonial:

“Five consecutive full days in the classroom may look intimidating, but not to worry, Drew Keller has a knack for effectively breaking up each eight-hour session. Drew takes students through a variety of exercises ranging from lecture and group discussions, to campus excursions to shoot footage, to hands-on video editing sessions. The first half of the course begins with the basics of storytelling through video. Drew makes sure each student has a firm grasp on film equipment use and vocabulary (light, sounds, camera, etc.). The second half is spent alone or in small teams shooting for and editing final projects which are screened the last day of class (Sunday afternoon). When I signed up for this course I cleared my schedule for the five days and devoted my entire attention to what I was learning. I decided to treat the course like a conference or even summer camp. Video editing is one of those tasks that always takes longer than you imagine, so be prepared to live and breathe your final project on days 3 through 5. But by the time you export your final video, you are quite amazed at what you were able to accomplish in such a short time span. Taking this course during the normal 10-week schedule probably allows for more internalization of the material and obviously additional time to learn shooting and video editing skills, however taking the 5-day deep dive proved to be extremely rewarding. This course is great for someone who doesn’t want to devote an entire 5 credits or quarter to video storytelling since it may not be the primary focus of their graduate school studies or career, but wants to get the higher level overview to be able to understand the process of creating a short online film from start to finish.”

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COM 597: Issues in Content Production: Structuring Legal and Business Deals in Creation, Production, and Distribution of Content

(

Baker

)

- 2017-2018 | Summer

Track Neutral, 3 credits
Thursdays, 6/21-8/16, 6:00-8:20pm I SAV 130
Registration SLN: 10851
(add code required to confirm prerequisites)

Course Description: 

This class will explore the various business and legal aspects involved in content production and creation, from acquiring and clearing rights in the content, creating the content consistent with legal obligations, and examining the upside and downside of various distribution methods.  The class will explore both production and distribution of audio, print, video, and interactive media formats.

The class will be evenly split between production issues and distribution issues.  In the first half of the class, we will discuss how to acquire rights to a story, “fair use”, when to use releases, production agreements, talent agreements, product integration, and financing vehicles.  In the second half of the class, we will examine distribution, including option agreements, the characteristics of various distribution and/or publishing arrangements, and how to best leverage your distribution to meet your overall goals.

Students taking this class should have completed COM 558 or COM 560. Prerequisites will be checked before an add code is given.

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COM 597: Leadership Approaches to Diversity Initiatives in Organizations

(

Ross

)

- 2017-2018 | Summer

Track Neutral
Wednesdays, 6/20-8/15, (No class July 4th, makeup class Monday 7/9) 6:00-9:50pm | SAV 130
Registration SLN: 10850

Course Description: 

This course challenges and supports students to develop deeper self-awareness, hone stronger skills for learning across difference, and prepare themselves as organizational change-makers for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

For better or worse, organizational change initiatives impact individuals, groups, organizations, and ultimately societies. Thus, courageous leaders throughout organizations must learn how to improve their relevant knowledge, skills, and awareness iteratively, in order to contribute effectively to genuine change-making. The course is designed to meet students where they are and coach them toward significant growth in self-awareness, skills, and understanding. Students learn collaboratively together in order to explore interconnections among the dimensions of our intersectional identities. Those who complete this course gain confidence in their ability to learn about uncomfortable topics and expand their understanding of the roles of individuals, groups, organizations, and societal structures in making real system change.

Student Testimonial:

This was THE BEST class! It was a complete eye-opener. We discussed some of the issues that are so prevalent in our daily lives but we choose to stay quiet and not discuss. Sarah pushes students to think deeper about our own behaviors towards self as well as others. Most of us found ourselves open up so much that by the end of the class, we were always longing for more discussions. The quarter went by too fast but did leave us with lot of learnings.

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COMMLD 540 B: Distributed and Diverse Teams

(

Chang

)

- 2019-2020 | Spring

Track Neutral
Saturdays/Sunday, 4/18, 4/19, 5/2, 5/30 I 9:00 – 5:00pm I CMU 302

Course Description:

Through this practical and applied course, students will build their leadership and communication effectiveness to work in distributed teams at the global, national, or local levels. With increasing interconnectedness that builds larger and more complex teams and also reduces face/face time of those teams, competencies in distributed leadership are a rapidly evolving must-have set in any professional context but especially in the field of communications. And yet opportunities to sharpen those nuanced skills remain less than optimal. Enrolled students will embark on a full-immersion experience by working in distributed teams using a combination of relevant practical materials and readings, ongoing team and individual assignments, personal self-reflection and improved self-awareness and the planning and execution of a class-wise exercise such as a strategy retreat or other learning event. Topics covered will include project planning, goal setting, managing through direct and indirect influence and communicating with impact over the e-highways. Distributed team technology will anchor the students together as they move through coursework that will help them to stretch, struggle, and succeed. By the end of the course, students will be able to not only recognize their progression but will also be able to more effectively articulate the related competencies using terminology and language relevant for professional pursuits. Please note that this course models distributed team leadership in that students will have a weekly distributed leadership team call and work in addition to the 4 on-site classes; this applied approach to the course offers deeper leadership transformation as well as practical skill development.

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COM 597: Leadership Approaches to Diversity Initiatives in Organizations

(

Ross

)

- 2017-2018 | Winter

Track Neutral
Wednesdays, Jan 3rd-March 7th, 6:00-9:50pm | PCAR 297

Course Description: 

How leaders facilitate an inclusive work culture directly impacts the effectiveness of workplace diversity efforts. Changing workforce demographics and global collaborations create opportunities for greater effectiveness, resilience, and innovation. Without intentional leadership, however, these benefits can be lost. This course examines how common diversity paradigms profoundly shape how organizations approach internal diversity work and why these expectations matter. Students will learn to identify and communicate their own preferred leadership approaches to diversity and inclusion and will practice ways to collaborate with others who may hold very different expectations. In future, whether asked in a corporate job interview or by a journalist profiling a small start-up, students who have taken this class will be better equipped to field questions about these critical aspects of leadership in the 21st Century.

Student Testimonial:

“This was THE BEST class! It was a complete eye-opener. We discussed some of the issues that are so prevalent in our daily lives but we choose to stay quiet and not discuss. Sarah pushes students to think deeper about our own behaviors towards self as well as others. Most of us found ourselves open up so much that by the end of the class, we were always longing for more discussions. The quarter went by too fast but did leave us with lot of learnings.”

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

(

Schiller

)

- 2017-2018 | Spring

Track Neutral, 3 Credits
Saturdays, April 21, May 5, 19, 9-5pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 12416

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.

Student Testimonial:

“This course was one of the most valuable classes I’ve taken while in the program. Carol ensured that the readings and assignments were directly applicable to our own careers and the ideas I brought back to my boss made me look great at work. I wondered if a full-day class about copywriting would be too long, but Carol’s lessons were lively and interesting, and I found that the day moved along very quickly. In short, I found this class to have tremendous value and I highly recommend it.”

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COM 597: Black Mirror: Exploring the Ethical Questions of New Technology

(

Pearce

)

- 2017-2018 | Spring

MCDM Elective, Meets Law and Ethics Core Requirement
Wednesdays, March 28th-May 30th, 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 12423

Course Description:

Emergent technologies always have unintended consequences, which frequently result in unanticipated ethical dilemmas for consumers, businesses, organizations, governments, and society at large. This course provides students opportunities to explore these ethical dilemmas and understand how to mitigate them. Students will learn practical strategies for identifying and managing ethical issues at the intersection of human behavior and technology that can be applied across sectors. Using the British television anthology Black Mirror as an organizational base, this course will provide project-based learning opportunities for students interested in exploring the darker side of new technologies. (Netflix announced this summer that they would pick up Black Mirror for an original third season—a sign of the show’s influence and provocative approach.) Students interested in this course should note that Black Mirror is a speculative fiction future-based show with mature themes related to technology and society. Episodes are fascinating, but also disturbing, as the show features graphic content, often of a violent and sexual nature. Students are advised to take this under consideration before enrolling in the course, but also know that all episodes will be watched together in class as part of a facilitated discussion. This format is a pedagogical tool that transforms the viewing into a shared learning opportunity, in real time. Each Black Mirror episode taps into our unease about technology and will provide fruitful examples of ethical themes—and each episode is a superb platform for ethical debates. Also, please note that due to the design of this course with weekly group work that carries over into the next week, absences will be very difficult to overcome.

Student Testimonial:

“This class was fascinating. I took it because it fulfilled the law and ethics requirement for the Communication Leadership program, and I knew it would be more interesting than a typical law or ethics class and it was fun! Black Mirror is such an interesting series and one that you can talk about endlessly, but how Katie Price approached the content, the themes, and the way technology was involved was really fascinating. I so admired Katie’s teaching style and the discussions she encouraged us to participate in. I loved this class and recommend it to everyone, although I know it won’t be taught every year, consider yourself lucky if you can take it! You will learn so much and really find ways to approach an interesting and thought-proving series with a new light.”

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COM 546: Communication Through Digital Media & Networks

(

Yasin

)

- 2017-2018 | Spring

Required Core Course for MCDM and MCCN
Thursdays, March 29th-May 31st, 6-9:50pm | PCAR 291
Registration SLN: 12404

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 558: Law of Digital Media, Interactive Media, and Content

(

Baker

)

- 2017-2018 | Spring

MCDM Elective, Meets Law & Ethics Core Requirement
Tuesdays, March 27th-May 29th, 6-9:50pm | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 12405

Course Description:

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.

Student Testimonial:

“Law & Policy is usually among the favorites of each cohort, and I completely understand that! Kraig is an incredibly knowledgeable professor who is detail oriented, and cares deeply about getting his students interested in the material. Law seems like a boring subject at first, but he makes sure that the material is tailored to the interests of each class and gives his students the freedom to adapt the course to their passions and learning styles. Also, this course is incredibly relevant to many questions we always have looming over our heads about copyright and content. This subject will continuously be relevant, and Kraig does a great job at making sure you’re confident in that.”

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COM 583: Multimedia Storytelling: Immersive Production Studio

(

Macklin

)

- 2017-2018 | Spring

MCDM Elective
Tuesdays, March 27th-May 29th, 6-9:50pm | CMU 318E
Registration SLN: 12407

Course Description:

Emerging models of interactive and immersive (full & any screen, scrolling and responsive) storytelling are disrupting the ways we can reach and engage with our constituents. This course in Studio Production will have a deep concentration on the production aspects and development tools necessary to create Snow Fall-like immersive web stories. We will be coupling a critical look at these emerging models while working through the technical aspects of story creation and the implementation of web deveopment tools and platforms (HTML 5 & jQuery). This will be a project-based course through which students will acquire the strategy and skills to make informed designs about the development and use of immersive storytelling processes. Previous multimedia production and web development is not necessary, though a willingness to learn and play with the underlying technologies is a must.

Student Testimonial:

“This class blends multimedia storytelling and places it into a digital context. We used different mediums (video, text, photos, maps, and more,) to tell a story. Not only do we get to tell a story, but we also are guided in the technical aspects of video, photography, and web design. There are more practical skills actually used in this class than I can count on my fingers and toes! I really learned the importance of setting a scene. My previous degree is in filmmaking, and it seems like in longer-format storytelling (films, novels, etc) you can take more time building the landscape of a story. However, in digital storytelling, it is essential to get your visual ‘lede’ line – Having a map, photo, or video to set the scene of your story is essential to get your point across succinctly and clearly. Brevity is the soul of wit (and the internet). I really enjoyed that the class had both structure and freedom. We had a well defined storytelling goal to achieve for the class, but Scott opened up the way we told it to as many ways as we wanted to. This gave everyone the ability to choose which digital platforms to use and to perfect. While we all had to create a website, (with certain grade requirements – one video, photos, etc), it was up to us which web platform we used, and how much detail we put into individual aspects of the story. For instance, if a student wanted to really focus on good film, they could do that while selecting an easier web platform to plug their video into. Or, if a student wanted to really focus on building a detailed website, they could do that and be able to add shorter videos. The flexibility to work on your own strengths and interest in storytelling was really great.”

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COM 597: Graphic Storytelling as Communication Platform

(

Salkowitz

)

- 2017-2018 | Spring

MCDM Elective
Saturdays, March 31, April 14, 28, May 12, and June 2, 9-5pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 12419

Course Description:

Understanding how to use words and pictures in combination to tell stories is a core competency for communicators in the digital era. This class will provide you with a solid understanding of the medium of sequential art and visual narrative (aka “comics”) and the practical ability to incorporate visual storytelling into traditional, digital, and transmedia projects in a variety of entertainment, business, education, social and journalistic scenarios. Why comics? Comics and sequential art have gone from the margins of popular culture to the center of a multi-billion dollar global industry and a respected art-form. Many of the most popular movies, television, videogames and transmedia projects are adapted from comics and/or depend heavily on storytelling styles that originated with this unique medium. Issues of digital distribution, adaptation and audience engagement that arise in today’s “comics culture” affect the future of publishing, technology, social media and gaming. Beyond the world of entertainment, the principles of visual narrative are becoming fundamental to all manner of storytelling projects, global initiatives and creative enterprises. This class will explore the history and potential of comics as a storytelling medium in the digital age in both a media studies and business dimension, incorporating both theory and practice. We will look at the anatomy of the medium in all its forms; study how comics are used in entertainment, literary, documentary, journalistic, educational, training and business communications contexts; examine the challenges of bringing comic-based subject matter to other media; explore the business issues associated with the explosion of comics in the wider culture; and create an original digital transmedia project incorporating the visual language of comics.

Student Testimonial:

“For the uninitiated in transmedia, it’s a crash course in visual storytelling and pop culture. For those familiar with transmedia, it offers a series of case studies in what you can do right or wrong in transmedia campaigns. The class definitely emphasizes comics, so while it’s not necessary to have an extensive knowledge of that format, it’s definitely for someone who’s curious about them. I was surprised to learn that a degree of visual abstraction can actually enhance storytelling. Rather than using a more precise visual format, such as photography or accurate illustrations of reality, using caricatures lets a person’s imagination fill in the gaps. I also found the study of the more formal aspects of comics to be very interesting. The all-day Saturday sessions went surprisingly fast. Rob does a great job of mixing up the class between discussion, lecture, guests, and video. Still, it’s not for the faint of heart, so if you’re going to take the class, plan on committing your Saturdays. You don’t want to miss a class.”

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COM 597: Analytics and Insights for Brands: Measuring Marketing Effectiveness

(

Myers

)

- 2017-2018 | Spring

MCDM Elective, Meets Research Methods Core Requirement
Mondays, March 26th-June 4th (no class April 9th instead class will meet June 5th), 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 12415

Course Description: 

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of digital marketing analytics and driving insights on how to measure the efficacy and ROI of digital media. We will compare and evaluate some of the analytics tools on the market and learn how to perform a social landscape audit, establish KPIs (key performance indicators), set marketing goals, and determine methods for campaign performance tracking. We’ll deep dive into the components that comprise a monthly monitoring report, including managed channel (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) success metrics and KPI tracking, conversation themes, influencer identification, data insights, and listening & monitoring topics. We’ll examine the latest debates, tools, technologies, and social channels and their implications for social media analytics. We will further explore each channel used in digital marketing including paid, owned, and earned.

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COM 586: Advanced Content Creation, Curation, and Optimization

(

Weaver

)

- 2017-2018 | Spring

MCDM Elective, Meets Research Methods Core Requirement
Mondays, March 26th-June 4th, 6-9:50pm | CMU 242
Registration SLN: 12408

Course Description:

This course connects how brand storytelling connects to online experiences, merging the technical and editorial disciplines of content design to build foundations that serve cross-channel experience and future technologies. Building advanced skills in content strategy and information architecture, students will learn how to adapt methods and techniques for different contexts, channels, and platforms. This class focuses on the specialized skills and techniques that content designers bring to collaborative digital and user-centered design teams from understanding messaging to organizing information for internal and external facing systems.

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