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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.

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COMMLD 570: Communicating Ideas: Strategies and Theories of Communities and Networks

(

Yasin

)

- 2018-2019 | Autumn 2018

MCCN Elective | Meets Research Methods Core Requirement
Wednesdays, 9/26-12/5 | 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 23672

Course Description:

Thought leaders such as founders of organizations, researchers and journalists produce ideas that help shape critical conversations. This course examines how ideas produced by thought leaders and public intellectuals in different fields are structured, and what makes these ideas resonate–or not resonate–with audiences. What type of communication techniques these thought leaders develop that result in the impact of their ideas in public discussion? In doing so, the course hopes to train the students as thought leaders by introducing students to both practical and analytical skills necessary to become such a figure. Throughout the quarter, each student, at least once, will facilitate a conversation in class about an idea produced by a key thought leader or public intellectual – designing an activity to engage crowds. Each student will also prepare a short public talk on a topic related to the class theme of communities and networks. In addition to preparing the talk, students will prepare written proposal for an article or a book based on their idea and will conduct research on the topic of their presentation.

This quarter we will survey key discussions about communities and networks. Today, both organizations and political actors are thinking deeply about the structure and value of contemporary communities and the power of online and offline networks both locally and globally. In order to determine key texts and ideas about this topic, I distributed a survey to key thought leaders, professionals and scholars in my own network soliciting their recommendations of recent discussions on this topic. The ideas we examine in class will be partly based on these recommendations and will include key books, popular and academic articles and talks on this subject by leading thought leaders and public scholars.

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COMMLD 543: Leadership Approaches to Equity Initiatives in Organizations

(

Ross

)

- 2018-2019 | Winter

MCCN Elective
Tuesdays, 1/8-3/12 | 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 242
Registration SLN: 22055

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 513: Content Marketing

(

Weaver

)

- 2018-2019 | Spring

MCCN Elective
Autumn 2019: Saturdays 10/5, 10/19, 11/2, 11/16, 12/7 | 9:00 – 5:00pm | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 23276

Course Description:

This course focuses on the approach and implementation of marketing programs that encourage community building and engagement. The course starts with how to build a content strategy that supports the organization and its audiences as a foundation for content marketing. Building from strategy, we’ll explore best practices and tactics to create impactful campaigns and adaptable content for a variety of channels and platforms. Class work focuses on building brand storytelling, effective messaging, and models for optimizing and measuring digital marketing.

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COMMLD 510: Content Marketing and Strategy for Communities

(

Weaver

)

- 2019-2020 | Autumn

MCCN Elective
Saturdays, 10/5, 10/19, 11/2, 11/16, 12/7 | 9:00am-5:00pm | CMU 302

Course Description:

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COMMLD 543: Leadership Approaches to Equity Initiatives in Organizations

(

Ross

)

- 2019-2020 | Winter

MCCN Elective
Tuesdays, 1/7-3/10 | 6:00-9:50pm | TBD

Course Description:

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 A: Mastering the Communications & Marketing Mix: Thinking Like a Chief Marketing Officer

(

McCarthy

)

- 2019-2020 | Spring

MCCN Elective
Mondays, 3/30 – 6/5 | 6:00 – 9:50pm | CMU 126

Course Description:

This course will provide necessary background on the many disciplines in the communications and marketing mix, identify areas of convergence and divergence between these disciplines, and learn how to use these tools help an organization achieve its objectives or business goals. The course will teach participants to anticipate the communications needs of a company or organization’s leadership and include a range of assignments that ask students to apply course teachings to real-world scenarios with strategic thinking, brand development, and compelling storytelling.

Student Testimonial:

“Molly did a tremendous job leading this class. She assigned valuable readings — articles that I’ve since bookmarked and expect to reference for years to come. She assigned Harvard Business School case studies that inspired critical thinking and thoughtful discussion in our class. Molly also brought in impressive guest speakers from a range of disciplines within marketing and communications. She struck the perfect balance of analyzing both current trends and timeless marketing strategies. I would rank this class among the top few classes I took over the course of the Comm Lead program.”

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COMMLD 540: Building Teams and Community

(

Baltus

)

- 2020-2021 | Autumn

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Mondays 10/5-12/7, 6:00pm – 8:20pm | Online

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 537: Principles of Storytelling for Organizations, Business, and Movements

(

Kessler

)

- 2020-2021 | Winter

Track Neutral Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 1/9, 1/23, 2/6, 2/20, 3/6 | 9:00am – 5:00pm | Online

Course Description:

Thinking Story 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 537: Principles of Storytelling for Organizations, Business, and Movements

(

Kessler

)

- 2021-2022 | Winter 2022

Track Neutral Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/19, 3/5, 9:00AM – 5:00PM | CMU 126 | Hybrid
Registration SLN: 12700

Course Description:

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COMMLD 510 B: Introduction UX Writing & Content Design

(

Romero

)

- 2024-2025 | Spring 2025

Track Neutral | Meets Professional Writing Requirement | 3 Credits
Tuesdays 4/1 – 6/3, 6:00pm – 8:20pm | CMU 230
SLN: 12572

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.

This class is a good match for students who:

• Are planning to pursue a career in the UX and/or marketing field

• want to gain team-based competencies aligned with industry practice

• want to showcase UX writing flows in their UX portfolio

Meets Professional Writing Requirement.

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COMMLD 510B: Introduction to UX Writing & Content Design

(

)

- 2025-2026 | Current Quarter | Winter 2026

Open Elective | Meets Professional Writing Requirement | 3 Credits
Tuesdays, 1/6 – 3/10, 6:00pm – 8:20pm | Room on Time Schedule
Registration SLN: 22024

Course Description

This class is a good match for students who:

• want to showcase UX writing flows in their UX portfolio

• are planning to pursue a career in the UX and/or marketing field

• want to gain team-based competencies aligned with industry practice

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COMMLD 551: The Law and Ethics of Organizations

(

Tausch Lapora

)

- 2019-2020 | Spring

MCCN Elective, Meets Law and Ethics Core Requirement
Wednesdays, 3/30 – 6/5 | 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 126

Course Description:

All organizations — private, public and non-profit — inevitably encounter legal and ethical challenges when building and engaging with their communities and networks. Leaders must be able to identify, anticipate, and problem solve issues such as how to create and maintain legal and ethical organizations, and how legal relationships are created. They must also grapple with challenges such as to whom legal and ethical duties are owed, and what advocacy strategies to employ when defining deliverables and implementing initiatives. This course considers and juxtaposes the legal and ethical realities of community building through a cross-sector approach. We will survey a wide array of case studies, many with a social justice backdrop, in which law and ethics may overlap, conflict, or contain gaps. We will engage in practical story exercises that maximize understanding of how law and ethics impact how organizations communicate to clients, customers, and constituencies. Throughout the course, you are encouraged to bring in legal and ethical issues from your professional experiences to enrich discussion of course topics.

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COM 597: Leadership and Teams

(

Philipsen

)

- 2017-2018 | Spring

MCCN Elective
Tuesdays, March 27th-May 29th, 6-9:50pm | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 12418

Course Description:

In this highly interactive course you will learn to notice, describe, and assess how formal and informal leaders organize and participate in workplace meetings in ways that enhance group creativity and effective problem solving. The course integrates the classic wisdom on effective leadership in workplace groups with the newest research on virtual teams, computer-assisted group problem solving, and the facilitative potential of leader communications. In the course you will learn and practice a research method and skill—the real-time analysis of leader behavior in work group interactions, and you will learn how this skill will enable you to enhance the creative and problem solving performance of workplace groups in which you participate and t hat you lead. Taking this course can help you develop your personal capacity as a constructive participant in work groups and teams. It can also provide you with research-based understandings of how various leadership communications can facilitate the effectiveness of work groups, as well as equip you to do qualitative real-time analyses of the functioning of work teams of which you are a member, observer, or facilitator. Finally, it will introduce you to methods of analyzing and assessing the role that groups can play in the work of particular networks, communities, or organizations, including the benefits and costs to an organization of work in groups.

Student Testimonial:

“I really found this to be one of the most valuable courses yet that I have taken while in the CommLead program. Dr. Philipsen is a wonderful teacher and has an instruction style that resonates with me. He is a great listener and is deeply engaged in all aspects of in-class discussion. While he is approachable and laid-back, he asks incisive questions and elicits critical thought from all members of the class. The content of the course is especially pertinent for any CommLead students who are in or who anticipate being in positions of leadership in their respective fields. I learned a tremendous amount about different group discussion and creative work processes, and the science that serves as the foundation for those processes. There is so much from this class that is directly and immediately applicable to group interactions in professional settings. This course was fantastic, and I am a better leader because of it.”

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COMMLD 560: Qualitative Research in Communities and Organizations

(

Coutu

)

- 2018-2019 | Winter

MCCN Elective | Meets Research Methods Core Requirement
Wednesdays, 1/9-3/13 | 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 242
Registration SLN: 12631

Course Description:

Each organization and community has its unique “culture.” As technology has both enhanced and disrupted how we traditionally connect to each other, harnessing the culture within these specific social structures is an increasingly valuable strategy in the networked age. If we can discern the cultural foundation of an organization or community, we can interact with, and motivate its members more effectively and efficiently. In this course, you will learn how to determine the heart of a particular, localized culture of an organization (businesses, non-profits, civic entities) or community. Specifically, you will learn how to see the cultural values, rules, and symbols of a culture as vital resources for promoting successful collaboration within and across groups. This is a crucial undertaking for 21st century leaders who seek to inspire and transform through communication. Student Testimonial: “Communicating Through Culture was the most unexpectedly rewarding class I ever took. When the quarter began, I had no idea what to expect, and I was leery of the plentiful, heavily academic readings listed in the syllabus. I ended up enjoying the class so much I was sad when the quarter ended! Lisa took an arguably esoteric subject matter (the ethnography of communication) and not only did she help me to understand it, but she bridged the gap between academia and industry. I came out of the course with a newly positive attitude toward research and a keen interest in knowing more about how people communicate.”

Student Testimonial: “Communicating Through Culture was the most unexpectedly rewarding class I ever took. When the quarter began, I had no idea what to expect, and I was leery of the plentiful, heavily academic readings listed in the syllabus. I ended up enjoying the class so much I was sad when the quarter ended! Lisa took an arguably esoteric subject matter (the ethnography of communication) and not only did she help me to understand it, but she bridged the gap between academia and industry. I came out of the course with a newly positive attitude toward research and a keen interest in knowing more about how people communicate.”

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COMMLD 540: Mastering the Art & Science of Professional Communication

(

McCarthy

)

- 2018-2019 | Spring

MCCN Elective
Mondays, 4/1/19-6/10/19 | 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 242
Registration SLN: 12431

Course Description:

Student Testimonial:

“Molly did a tremendous job leading this class. She assigned valuable readings — articles that I’ve since bookmarked and expect to reference for years to come. She assigned Harvard Business School case studies that inspired critical thinking and thoughtful discussion in our class. Molly also brought in impressive guest speakers from a range of disciplines within marketing and communications. She struck the perfect balance of analyzing both current trends and timeless marketing strategies. I would rank COMMLD 540 among the top few classes I took over the course of the Comm Lead program.”

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COMMLD 530: Storytelling and Communication for Mission-Driven Organizations

(

Melograna

)

- 2019-2020 | Autumn

MCCN Elective | Meets Law and Ethics Core Requirement
Mondays, 9/30-12/2 | 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 126
Note: Due to the holiday the final class will be Monday, December 9.

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.

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COMMLD 570: Communicating Ideas: Strategies and Theories of Communities and Networks

COMMLD 543: Leadership Approaches to Equity Initiatives in Organizations

COMMLD 513: Content Marketing

COMMLD 510: Content Marketing and Strategy for Communities

COMMLD 543: Leadership Approaches to Equity Initiatives in Organizations

COMMLD 540 A: Mastering the Communications & Marketing Mix: Thinking Like a Chief Marketing Officer

COMMLD 540: Building Teams and Community

COMMLD 537: Principles of Storytelling for Organizations, Business, and Movements

COMMLD 537: Principles of Storytelling for Organizations, Business, and Movements

COMMLD 510 B: Introduction UX Writing & Content Design

COMMLD 510B: Introduction to UX Writing & Content Design

COMMLD 551: The Law and Ethics of Organizations

COM 597: Leadership and Teams

COMMLD 560: Qualitative Research in Communities and Organizations

COMMLD 540: Mastering the Art & Science of Professional Communication

COMMLD 530: Storytelling and Communication for Mission-Driven Organizations

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