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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 535: Foundations of Audio Storytelling

(

Partnow

)

- 2023-2024 | Spring 2024

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 3/26 – 5/28, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | PCAR 492
Registration SLN: 21556

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 532: Advanced Video Storytelling

(

Christensen

)

- 2023-2024 | Spring 2024

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 4/6, 4/20, 5/4, 5/18, 6/1, 9:00am – 5:00pm | Collective Chemistry – 5201 11th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107
Application Required

Course Description

The world of video production is a mysterious and ambiguous place consisting of freelancers, business owners, and in-house roles. In this course students will learn how to add structure to their client interactions, how to ensure that they’re delivering content that fits their client’s needs, and how to navigate studio-based filming environments. Class will consist of qualitative analysis of how to approach storytelling problems as well as hands-on experiences with advanced camera gear in a professional setting. Students will collaborate in teams throughout the quarter to create one short video for a real-world client.

Students must prove their proficiency in video production to register for this course by meeting the minimum qualifications:

1. Proficient experience in editing video on the following platforms: Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, and/or DaVinci Resolve.

2. Experience in shooting video with either DSLRs or Video Cinema Cameras.

Please fill the form below to the best of your ability. You may be reached out with further clarifications. 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 will go live on Friday, February 9, 2024 at 6:30 AM and can be found here: https://forms.office.com/r/7q5gTRMwGL

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

(

Tang

)

- 2023-2024 | Spring 2024

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 4/6, 4/20, 5/4, 5/18, 6/1, 9:00am – 5:00pm | Online
Registration SLN: 12557

Course Description

Communication on digital platforms and networks will be the forever norm of our society and human experience. In this course, we will learn, practice and investigate the fundamental principles of communication through digital platforms such as social media. We’ll identify strategies used by social media platforms to maximize their key metrics and apply them to business metrics that brands and organizations use to fulfill their objectives and goals. At the end of this course, you’ll be able to identify areas of opportunity on social media platforms to create interesting campaigns, analyze emerging social trends to stay ahead of the curve, and use the tools and best practices of the world’s most powerful brands to engage audiences.

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COMMLD 510A: Introduction to UX Writing and Content Design

(

Romero

)

- 2023-2024 | Spring 2024

Track Neutral | Meets Professional Writing Requirement | 3 Credits
Tuesdays 3/26 – 5/28, 6:00pm – 8:20pm | CMU 230
Registration SLN: 21555

Course Description

User Experience (UX) Writing involves the words used in a website, app, or other digital experience flow. The job of UX Writing is to make sure those words help make that experience simple, conversational, and easy to use. This course will use design thinking to guide you through solving complex UX issues using workshops, real-world examples, emerging AI tools and techniques, and creating your own unique UX writing flows and portfolio.

Meets Professional Writing Requirement.

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COMMLD 503C: Practicum: Content Strategy

(

Weaver

)

- 2023-2024 | Spring 2024

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Mondays 3/25 – 5/20, 6:00pm – 7:50pm | Online
Registration SLN: 12549

Course Description

In this new practicum focusing on UX copywriting for mobile, we’ll explore the world of organizing, writing, and storytelling for small screens and universal audiences. Over the past two years, students have researched and tested new content and architecture for Comm Lead and it’s time to make it live!

Working in teams, we’ll revise and revitalize different sections of the site. We’ll design page tables and templates for copywriters, write and edit pages following rules in accessibility and UX copywriting for mobile, update style and brand guidelines, and use a collaborative workflow where we help each other edit and proofread final copy.

This practicum is for those with experience writing, editing or translating, who want to build more experience writing website copy and generate writing samples their portfolios. There is no visual or UX design element to this class.

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 503B: Practicum: UX Design in Action

(

Gordon

)

- 2023-2024 | Spring 2024

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Mondays 3/25 – 5/20, 6:00pm – 7:50pm | CMU 302
Application Required

Course Description

In this practicum, students will work on a real-world design problem—forming a partnership among design students, instructor, and a client.  Students will work in a team-based context and apply their design-thinking skills to improve a business’ website by reducing user frustrations and helping the business reach its goals.

The final deliverable will be a client presentation highlighting what frustrations were discovered through research and testing, how the design thinking process was applied to maximize user and business needs, and will include a prototype to visually express the proposed solution incorporating the totality of the evaluation.

Credit/No Credit Only.

**Since this class takes foundational concepts to the next level, students who register must have already taken any of the following courses:

COMMLD 510: Introduction to Information Architecture

COMMLD 510: User Interface and Visual Design

COMMLD 511: Introduction to User Centered Design

COMMLD 512: User Research and UX Strategies

COMMLD 513: Content Marketing

COMMLD 515: Advanced User Design: UX Studio

Or have equivalent UX experience. 

Please fill out the form. below 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 will go live on Friday, February 9, 2024 at 6:30 AM here: https://forms.office.com/r/E1AtLCJVXT

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 502: Narratives and Networks

(

Yasin

)

- 2023-2024 | Spring 2024

Track Neutral | Core Requirement | 3 Credits
Thursdays 3/28 – 5/30, 6:00pm – 8:20pm | PCAR 192
Registration SLN: 12546

Course Description

This foundational class uses the lens of social impact to explore the professional practices that make up the Communication Leadership program. Students get to meet leaders from key organizations in our region and learn about their approaches to their practice, as well as the challenges they confront. Throughout the quarter students develop a communication or leadership project in one of the Comm Lead specialization areas, to address a critical issue of our time. The project they develop will go into their portfolio to exhibit their values, creativity, and commitment to positive change and solutions in our world.

Credit/No-Credit only.

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COMMLD 520C: Strategic Marketing Communication: Creating Integrated Solutions for Responsible Impact

(

Keyes, Ramos

)

- 2023-2024 | Winter 2024

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 1/3 – 3/6, 6:00 pm – 9:50 pm | CMU 230
Registration SLN: 22325

Course Description:

How should a government agency respond in a Twitter war? How do you score a review for your new product in an online magazine? What’s the best way for a nonprofit to survive a communication misstep in our current cancel culture? This course is designed to help you obtain the knowledge and skills needed to apply a critical thinking approach to communication opportunities and marketing challenges. From creating mission statements to producing videos, this course will teach participants to anticipate the communication needs of an organization and develop effective solutions. We will use a variety of real-world scenarios, interactive discussions and guest lectures to provide practical insight, relevant theory and memorable learning. By the end of this class, you’ll have the knowledge, tools and techniques to understand the components of a strategic marketing communication plan and how to use it to get the right results and build your portfolio for future academic and professional endeavors.

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COMMLD 540D: Human-Centered, AI-Augmented Internal Communications

(

Abplanalp

)

- 2023-2024 | Winter 2024

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 1/9 – 3/5, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | DEN 213
Registration SLN: 12635

Course Description:

This course explores the intersection of internal 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 560A: Inclusive Design & Product Equity

(

Liu

)

- 2023-2024 | Winter 2024

Track Neutral | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 1/9 – 3/5, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 22247

Course Description:

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of the critical intersection between Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and technology. In an era where technology such as artificial intelligence and machine learning plays an ever-expanding role in shaping our world, we should interrogate who gets to build it, use it, and profit from it. As future technology leaders it is imperative to not only be well versed in DEI but to create necessary solutions that democratize technology rather than allow it to perpetuate systems of inequality.

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COMMLD 533: Storytelling for Emergent Platforms

(

Cioffi

)

- 2023-2024 | Winter 2024

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 1/13, 1/27, 2/10, 2/24, 3/9, 9:00am – 5:00pm | StartUp Hall (2nd Floor Condon Hall)
Registration SLN: 22254

Course Description

Emerging models of interactive and immersive storytelling are disrupting how we reach and engage with audiences. In this course we will examine the unique ways that media and user-generated content can tell one cohesive story across platforms in a distributed way; and how this is a pivotal part of the current and future Web 3.0 ecosystem. We will focus our design thinking on audience engagement, UX, built worlds for interactive experiences, and the role of AI as a tool, an assistant, and a platform– students will learn about best-practice uses of VR/AR, branch narratives, game development and integration of traditional video in mobile UX.  We will be coupling a critical look at these emerging models while working through the technical aspects of story creation and the implementation of media production tools and platforms. 

This will be a project-based course through which students will acquire the strategy and skills to make informed design decisions, develop and use of immersive storytelling processes. Previous media production, web development or game design is not necessary, though a willingness to learn and play with the underlying technologies is a must.

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COMMLD 570A: Stakeholder Mindset and Communication

(

Howard

)

- 2023-2024 | Winter 2024

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Wednesdays 1/3 – 3/6, 6:00pm – 8:20pm | DEN 212
Registration SLN: 12640

Course Description:

In August 2019, the Business Roundtable, a group of 181 CEOs from the largest corporations in the world, created, signed, and distributed  a formal document, “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.” This communication stated that this group was committed to leading their companies for the benefit of all stakeholders — shareholders, communities, employees, suppliers, and customers. 

In this course, we’ll examine this diverse set of stakeholders and take a closer look at how they interact with corporate leaders and each other internally and externally. What role will marketing communication professionals have in making companies’ messaging more stakeholder focused and inclusive going forward? 

From Elon Musk’s Twitter fiasco to the unexpected and unclear work policies at Amazon, we’ll examine why companies which do not support stakeholder theory lose value. And why the ones that do gain it.

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COMMLD 540F: Health Communications

(

Sandine

)

- 2023-2024 | Winter 2024

Track Neutral | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Thursdays 1/4 – 3/7, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 22249

Course Description

“Communicating the data” and “following the science” are inadequate if real people’s needs, behaviors, and values are not well understood and centered in our health policies and messages. In this course, students will deepen their knowledge of health equity, population health, and the determinants that impact health in the systems and environments we live in and rely on. At the same time, we will explore how mis- and dis-information, medical mistrust and hesitancy, and the influences of mass media shape and control narratives that have enormous impact on people’s lives.

This course is designed for students working both in health communications and outside of the health sector. We will explore health communication practices and engagement methods like crisis and risk communications, health literacy and promotion, and strategic communications. Activities and assignments will be designed to help communication leaders build practical skills, such as developing briefings and op-eds, facilitating discussions, and creating crisis comms plans. 

Meets Law & Ethics Requirement.

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COMMLD 540A/B: Professional Longform Writing & Platforms

(

Crofts

)

- 2023-2024 | Winter 2024

Track Neutral | Meets Professional Writing Requirement (3 or 5 credit) or Research Methods Requirement (5 Credit) | 3 or 5 Credits | CMU 126
Sundays 1/7, 1/21, 2/4, 9:00am – 5:00pm | 3-credit section 540A | Registration SLN: 12632
Sundays 1/7, 1/21, 2/4, 2/18, 3/3, 9:00am – 5:00pm | 5-credit section 540B | Registration SLN: 12633

Please note: 540A is 3 credits, and 540B is 5 credits. These courses will run concurrently. Students registered for 540A (3 credits) will attend the first three dates, and students registered for 540B (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. In addition, we will consider the evolution of platforms, from colonial-era pamphlets to today’s crowded community of digital newsletters, hosted by the likes of Substack, Mailchimp, or Ghost.

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 537: Storytelling for Social Impact

(

Kessler

)

- 2023-2024 | Winter 2024

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Saturdays, In-Person 1/6, Online 1/20, 2/3, 2/17, In-Person 3/2, 9:00am – 5:00pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 12631

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 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

(

Christensen

)

- 2023-2024 | Winter 2024

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 1/9 – 3/5, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 12630

Course Description:

Approximately 183 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. Video isn’t the future of marketing, the revolution is already here and how brands leverage that storytelling capability sets them apart from the competition.

Whether you want to create video content as a full time job or you want to have the skill set in your back pocket as you navigate your communications career, this class will provide a strong foundation for maximizing video content in your marketing endeavors.

We will go over basics of how to use cameras but we will also talk about why content is successful and how we can best emulate those formulas. You are expected to exercise the craft of content creation while at the same time critically evaluating and deconstructing content you see in the marketplace.

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© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington

© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington