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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.

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COMMLD 540: Crisis and Risk Communication in Public Health Contexts

(

Wang

)

- 2021-2022 | Summer

MCCN Elective | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Thursdays 6/24-8/19, 6:00PM – 9:50PM PDT | Online

Course Description:

 More than any other public health crises in recent memory, the COVID-19 pandemic emphasizes the necessity of effective health, risk and crisis communication. With the pandemic reaching all corners of the globe, no population or industry has been untouched, resulting in many swift and powerful narratives about the consequences of COVID-19. Whether in the midst of a global crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic or enduring more localized health impacts, every day public health information is generated and made available to the public about diseases, public policies, new products, and corporate behavior. People are accessing this information in real time by means of traditional news, online media, social media and word of mouth. The public’s near-instant access to this unfiltered information presents significant new risks, particularly surrounding misinformation, drawing conclusions from wrong or impartial information, and disinformation, deliberately spreading falsehoods to further an agenda. Additional risks include reputation damage for organizations and leaders that are not responding effectively to COVID-19, have negative impacts on health or the environment, or ineffective policy outcomes when health-related guidance is misunderstood or ignored. During times of crisis messaging can be lost in the noise, resulting in unintended consequences, rejected messages, or public fear and confusion.

In this course students will learn about risk communication in public health. Risk communication, a field that emerged in the 1980’s, has been used for both strategic and unplanned communications linked to the introduction of new technologies and products, environmental contamination, disease outbreaks, disasters, consumer products, drug and food safety, safety measures and devices, and new breakthroughs. Events linked to terrorism as well as a number of major natural disasters over the past few years have increased attention to this area. While during non-crisis periods, ineffective risk communication can result in low-impact, wasted resources, and other undesirable outcomes. When deployed effectively, risk communication is an invaluable tool for engendering trust, protecting organizational value, and helping the public make informed decisions. Emphasis in the course is on research and professional practices especially in regards to how to communicate with the general public, special populations, and the news media. The purpose of this course is to provide students with a variety of knowledge and skills they need to interpret risk and crisis communication in public health contexts, develop critical and rigorous thinking capabilities, and design productive and effective risk communication messages that improve communication outcomes, reduce public anxiety, increase trust in organizations and leadership, and help key stakeholders make better decisions.

Meets Law & Ethics requirement.

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COMMLD 560 C: Designing Inclusive Workplace Culture

(

Williams

)

- 2021-2022 | Winter 2022

MCCN Elective | 5 Credits
Thursdays 1/6 – 3/10, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | Online
Registration SLN: 22074

Course Description:

Workplace culture is dynamic. It’s not about ping-pong tables and unlimited time off. Inclusive and effective culture is critical to how we design the future of work. How we connect and work together impacts everything from how we feel, to our ability to meet the mission of our work. Communication leaders are uniquely situated to effect positive cultural change, no matter the role or the organization. In this course students will learn the “5 components of Inclusive Culture,” a signature framework developed over 15 years of experience helping organizations, startups, small businesses, and emerging companies build inclusive workplaces. Students will learn and apply this step-by-step methodology to build a culture plan for a company of their choice.

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COMMLD 530B: Ethics of Storytelling

(

Graney-Saucke

)

- 2021-2022 | Spring 2022

Track Neutral | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 6:00PM – 9:50PM, 3/30-6/1 | DEN 111 | Partially In-Person
Registration SLN: 21729

Course Description:

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

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

Instructor: Elliat Graney-Saucke
elliatgs@uw.edu

Elliat Graney-Saucke (she/they) is a white queer femme documentary director/producer, creative sector consultant, industry curator, and educator. While producing media in the US, Germany, Denmark, England, Poland, Serbia, Italy, Spain, Canada, and Israel/Palestine over the span of 20 years, Elliat’s work has focused on marginalized cultural identities. Upon returning from spending the majority of ten years in Berlin, Germany, Elliat served as the first Executive Director of Seattle Documentary Association, organizing industry gatherings involving partnerships with the Wenatchi Tribe and the Washington Film Commission. Seasoned in working with communities and organizational stakeholders internationally, Elliat has produced and curated over 10 culturally specific creative arts festivals and conferences encompassing over 45 nationalities, leading to additional projects like editing the international anthology Innovate Heritage – A Time-Lapse: Contemporary Arts and Heritage in Today’s Society (Springer). Industry and research focus areas include: documentary film industry, storytelling ethics, intangible/tangible and uncomfortable heritage, international diplomacy (UNESCO), creative economy and policy, incarceration, decolonizing the mind, queer/lgbtqai culture and theory, oral history and intergenerational knowledge exchange, and embodied cultural, racial, and geographic equity/justice. Current documentary productions include Boys on the Inside, about three Latinx ‘boys’ who have experienced incarceration in women’s prisons, and Safta, about a holocaust survivor and her close yet complex relationship to her activist granddaughter.

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COMMLD 570: Institutional Imperative, Communication, and Stakeholder Mindset

(

Howard

)

- 2020-2021 | Winter

Track Neutral Elective | 3 Credits
Tuesdays 1/5-3/9 | 6:00pm – 7:50pm | Online

Course Description:

Investor Warren Buffett describes the concept of institutional imperative as “the tendency of executives to mindlessly imitate the behavior of their peers, no matter how foolish it may be to do so.” He added, “I then thought that decent, intelligent and experienced managers would automatically make rational business decisions. But I learned over time that isn’t so. Instead, rationality frequently wilts when the institutional imperative comes into play.”

This unseen force has stifled innovation in businesses while focusing solely on short term financial gains for shareholders only. And covering up for this behavior through dubious communication practices has only complicated things. What role will marketing communication professionals have in expanding companies’ messaging beyond just shareholders going forward? Is change truly afoot, or will there be more of the same?

From the Boeing 737 MAX fiasco to the ever-changing excuses of Facebook to the anti-trust actions against Google, we’ll examine why the communication practices of honesty, trust and admiration will always emerge victorious over institutional imperative. During the quarter we will discuss evolving public and private sector stakeholder communications including, Shareholders, Board Members, and Funders, Communities, Employees, Suppliers, and Customers.”

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COMMLD 570 A: Stakeholder Mindset and Communication

(

Howard

)

- 2021-2022 | Winter 2022

Track Neutral Elective | 3 Credits
Tuesdays 1/4 – 3/8, 6:00PM – 8:20PM | CMU 232 | Hybrid
Registration SLN: 12706

Course Description:

Investor Warren Buffett describes the concept of institutional imperative as “the tendency of executives to mindlessly imitate the behavior of their peers, no matter how foolish it may be to do so.” He added, “I then thought that decent, intelligent and experienced managers would automatically make rational business decisions. But I learned over time that isn’t so. Instead, rationality frequently wilts when the institutional imperative comes into play.”

This unseen force has stifled innovation in businesses while focusing solely on short term financial gains for shareholders only. And covering up for this behavior through dubious communication practices has only complicated things. What role will marketing communication professionals have in expanding companies’ messaging beyond just shareholders going forward? Is change truly afoot, or will there be more of the same?

From the Boeing 737 MAX fiasco to the ever-changing excuses of Facebook to the anti-trust actions against Google, we’ll examine why the communication practices of honesty, trust and admiration will always emerge victorious over institutional imperative. During the quarter we will discuss evolving public and private sector stakeholder communications including, Shareholders, Board Members, and Funders, Communities, Employees, Suppliers, and Customers.”

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COMMLD 560: Multicultural Marketing: Creating Equitable and Inclusive Communications

(

Park

)

- 2020-2021 | Autumn

MCCN Elective
Mondays 10/5-12/7, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | Online

Course Description:

This course will take a close look at the evolution of multicultural marketing. We will explore how agencies and companies have adapted, pivoted and transformed how we engage with diverse audiences. You’ll learn how to build marketing campaigns that is rooted in principles of diversity, equity and inclusion and is responsive to the increasingly diverse marketplace.

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COMMLD 570: Digital Cross-Cultural Storytelling for Leadership and Global Networking

(

Wang

)

- 2020-2021 | Winter

MCCN Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Thursdays 01/07-03/11 | 6:00PM – 9:50PM PST | Online

Course Description

Evolving multinational working relationships provide a rich source of information, products, and business opportunities. With this global interaction, however, comes the challenge of effectively communicating across cultures. But both verbal and nonverbal communication norms differ among the organizationally diverse workforce today, as do the differences between individualistic and collective cultures. This course aims to deepen students’ understanding of the robustness of this new global networking by applying the organizational diversity continuum, a visualization of the many layers of diversity that an organization encounters each day, internally and externally, to examining successful and failed cases in cross-cultural context. The purpose of this course is to introduce Narrative Paradigm Theory (NPT), especially digital storytelling, as one important communication technique in addressing organizational diversity communication challenge as well as building cross-cultural leadership. 

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

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COMMLD 560: Multicultural Marketing: Creative Equitable and Inclusive Communications

(

Park

)

- 2020-2021 | Spring

MCCN Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 4/3, 4/17, 5/1, 5/15, 5/29, 9:00AM PST – 5:00PM PST | Online

Course Description:

This course will take a close look at the evolution of multicultural marketing. We will explore how agencies and companies have adapted, pivoted and transformed how we engage with diverse audiences. You’ll learn how to build marketing campaigns that is rooted in principles of diversity, equity and inclusion and is responsive to the increasingly diverse marketplace.

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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 570 B: Building Brands with Communication & Community

(

Kim

)

- 2021-2022 | Winter 2022

Track Neutral Elective | 3 Credits
Wednesdays 1/5 – 3/9, 6:00PM – 8:20PM PST | CMU 242 | Hybrid
Registration SLN: 22124

Course Description

Community partnerships are not effective if communication and storytelling surrounding them are not strategic. This course will explore how partnerships and collaborations with like-minded brands or orgs, along with the communication strategy around them, grows your audience while furthering your mission. This course looks at how the right partnerships help tell your story while deepening your relationship to your audience, the partner brand and others. This will include looking at both business partnerships (ones that further brand awareness, customer growth and sales) as well as social impact partnerships (ones that further customer loyalty, through things like givebacks, impact programs and public service). Lastly this course will also look at using your mission to create community impact programs and how to build powerful campaigns around them to grow your audience and engagement and create opportunities for others to share your story.

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COMMLD 524: Copywriting Fundamentals for Marketing

(

Schiller

)

- 2022-2023 | Autumn 2022

Track Neutral | Meets Professional Writing Requirement | 3 Credits
Sundays 10/2, 10/16, 10/30 9:00AM – 5:00PM | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 13017

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 570: Digital Cross-Cultural Storytelling for Leadership and Global Networking

(

Wang

)

- 2020-2021 | Autumn

MCCN Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement
Tuesdays 10/6-12/8, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | Online

Course Description:

Evolving multinational working relationships provide a rich source of information, products, and business opportunities. With this global interaction, however, comes the challenge of effectively communicating across cultures. But both verbal and nonverbal communication norms differ among the organizationally diverse workforce today, as do the differences between individualistic and collective cultures. This course aims to deepen students’ understanding of the robustness of this new global networking by applying the organizational diversity continuum, a visualization of the many layers of diversity that an organization encounters each day, internally and externally, to examining successful and failed cases in cross-cultural context. The purpose of this course is to introduce Narrative Paradigm Theory (NPT), especially digital storytelling, as one important communication technique in addressing organizational diversity communication challenge as well as building cross-cultural leadership. 

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COMMLD 573: Listening and Leadership

(

Crofts

)

- 2020-2021 | Winter

Track Neutral Elective | 2 Credits
Wednesdays, 1/6-3/10 | 6:00pm – 7:50pm | Online

Course Description:

This course considers listening skills as a key leadership attribute when it comes to effective communication. The behaviors of a good listener are considered through a range of texts related to leadership, but with additional emphasis on audio programs showcasing the interview format where an interviewer’s ability to listen closely and empathically solicits strong connection and memorable storytelling. Foundations in Audio Story is the production course geared toward audiophiles at Comm Lead, whereas Listening and Leadership is for all Comm Lead students who are keen to hone their ability to listen as a critical career skill.

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COMMLD 570: Building Successful Online Communities

(

Hill

)

- 2020-2021 | Spring

MCCN Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 3/30 – 6/1, 6:00PM – 9:50PM PST | Online

Course Description:

Before Wikipedia was created, there were seven very similar attempts to build online collaborative encyclopedias. Before Facebook, there were dozens of very similar social networks. Why did Wikipedia and Facebook take off when so many similar sites struggled? Why do some attempts to build communities online lead to large thriving communities while most struggle to attract even a small group of users?

This class will begin with an introduction to several decades of research on computer-mediated communication and online communities to try and understand the building blocks of successful online communities. With this theoretical background in hand, every student will then apply this new understanding by helping to design, build, and improve a real online community.

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

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COMMLD 560 C: Wellness Narratives

(

Bradshaw

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Mondays 10/04-12/06, 6:00PM – 9:50PM PDT | DEN 213
Registration SLN: 23405

Course Description

This course dives into wellness and well-being as central concepts to mental, physical, and emotional modes of health in the 21st century.  What does wellness and wellbeing mean as part of our modern lives? We will explore the historical rise of self-help narratives during the turn of the 20th Century through advertising and therapy culture. From there, we will explore the rise of consumerism and health through the television set and formats like Reality TV and the Talk Show to better understand the evolution of wellness into the 21th century. This framing will help us consider health and wellness as part of a complex media ecosystem. That is, 20th century cultural anxieties of the physical and mental body, including the focus on losing unwanted weight and detoxifying the body from various ailments carries into the contemporary moment. Topics for the course will include productivity, health, corporate and social responsibility, clutter, burnout, and more.  The goal of this course is for students to better understand the historical, cultural, economic and technological foundations of wellness specifically in the United States and why this history matters. Students will research and write a White Paper focused on a particular wellness issue. The final assignment helps showcase the student’s ability to do preliminary research while taking complex ideas and distilling them into an understandable paper for an executive audience. We will do weekly reflective journal exercises throughout the quarter that engage with the readings and screenings from the course. Come prepared to engage in discussion, deep dive into wellness research, and hone your writing skills!

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COMMLD 573: Listening and Leadership

(

Crofts

)

- 2021-2022 | Winter 2022

Track Neutral Elective | 2 Credits
Wednesdays 1/5 – 3/9, 6:00PM – 7:50PM | CMU 126 | Hybrid
Registration SLN: 12707

Course Description:

This course considers listening skills as a key leadership attribute when it comes to effective communication. The behaviors of a good listener are considered through a range of texts related to leadership, but with additional emphasis on audio programs showcasing the interview format where an interviewer’s ability to listen closely and empathically solicits strong connection and memorable storytelling. Foundations in Audio Story is the production course geared toward audiophiles at Comm Lead, whereas Listening and Leadership is for all Comm Lead students who are keen to hone their ability to listen as a critical career skill.

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© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington