Archives: Courses - Page 21 - Communication Leadership

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 530C: Engaging Interviews

(

Dalch

)

- 2022-2023 | Winter 2023

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Wednesdays 1/4 – 3/8, 6:00PM – 7:50PM | CMU 242
Registration SLN: 22223

Course Description:

Being a great interviewer takes a combination of preparation, presence, and curiosity––whether that interview is with a subject for a published piece or a fact-finding mission with a client. In this class you will learn how to prepare without over preparing, create rapport with your interview subject, and cultivate curiosity and presence while in an interview––so that you can get what you need while creating an engaging experience for both subject and listener/viewer.

The art of inquiry will be approached through a coaching lens in which the interviewer is both directive and actively listening/responding to allow for discovery. Students will also learn about different scenarios in which interviewing skills will be useful (eg, client consulting, podcasting, video, etc.) with guest speakers from various industries invited to add their unique perspectives.

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COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

(

Christensen

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/3-12/5, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 13010

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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COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

(

Christensen

)

- 2024-2025 | Winter 2025

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 1/7 – 3/11, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 12711

Course Description

This class is a good match for students who:

• want to work in marketing and a foundational knowledge of how compelling video content is created;

• want to specialize in video content creation long term;

• are prepared for a time-consuming and rigorous learning experience.

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COMMLD 525: Brand Values & Creativity

(

Howard

)

- Current Quarter | 2024-2025 | Spring 2025

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 4/1 – 6/3, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | DEN 258
SLN: 12579

Course Description:

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

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COMMLD 541B: Crisis Communication: Response with Responsibility in the Digital Arena

(

Visneski

)

- 2022-2023 | Autumn 2022

Track Neutral | Meets Law and Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/04-12/06, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | DEN 111
Registration SLN: 23675

Course Description:

Nothing is more dramatic than a crisis. When an organization, company, industry, or individual in the public eye is in a crisis, communication is one of the crucial routes back to normalcy. Oftentimes, organizations find themselves unprepared when a crisis hits and only then think “Oh goodness, we should get a crisis communications plan in place!” Trying to “spin” a bad situation can both be unethical, and ineffective, damaging reputation, and subsequently business.

This course will teach you how to be rapidly responsive, responsible, and to avoid common pitfalls in crisis comms. We will examine how organizations attempt to anticipate and recover from crises, how the broadcast and print media cover different types of crises, how crisis communications fails, and how it succeeds.

Meets Law and Ethics Requirement.

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COMMLD 533: Storytelling for Emergent Platforms

(

Cioffi

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 10/7, 10/21, 11/4, 11/18, 12/2, 9:00AM – 5:00PM |
First Class: Cloud Room Seattle: 1424 11th Ave Ste 400, Seattle, WA 98122
All remaining classes: Startup Hall (2nd Floor Condon Hall)
Registration SLN: 23355

Course Description

Emerging models of interactive and immersive storytelling are disrupting the ways we can 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 virtual and interactive experiences, and the role of trust and truth in platforms – 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.

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COMMLD 544: Professional Short-Form Writing

(

Tomasic

)

- 2022-2023 | Autumn 2022

Track Neutral | Meets Professional Writing Requirement | 3 Credits
Wednesdays 09/28-12/07, 6:00PM – 8:20PM | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 13025

Course Description:

This collaborative hands-on course explores the kind of short-form writing that dominates today’s rapidly evolving professional communications space — the digital space where lines between content and form increasingly blur and where always-on media feeds deliver a mix of advertising, marketing, public relations, human resources, personal brand-building and journalistic reporting and research. It’s a space that presents new writing challenges every day: professional emails, office memos, newsletters, website copy, funding proposals, executive summaries, op-eds, tweets, blurbs, blogs. Much of this material is badly done. Most of it is mediocre. The best of it, though, sings out and demands our attention, demonstrating mastery in the kind of critical thinking and dedicated practice that delivers copy sharply focused and sure in matching voice and material with form and audience. This course is part professional-communications criticism class and part writing workshop. It’s about learning how to identify good writing; it’s about understanding the process that produces good writing; and it’s about practicing that process yourself.

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COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

(

Christensen

)

- 2022-2023 | Winter 2023

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 1/3 – 3/7, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 12782

Course Description:

The landscape of web-distributed video can be broadly divided into two motifs: Entertainment and Information. From YouTube to Facebook, AR to VR, Twitch to Facebook Live, online video is a storytelling revolution.

Storytelling has been part of the human experience since the formation of language. Today, the technology that surrounds the “tell” of a story (the modes and channels of communication) directly shapes the immersive experience felt by the viewer.

This course focuses on the decisions we make when we tell our stories. This course is both theoretical and practical. Students will be afforded the skills to create and distribute video stories. Additionally, students will be expected to display critical thinking around point of view, audience targeting, ROI success criteria, methodology, and production standards. 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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COMMLD 534: Visual Storytelling: From Comics to Transmedia

(

Salkowitz

)

- 2022-2023 | Spring 2023

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 4/1, 4/15, 4/29, 5/13, 6/3, 9:00AM – 5:00PM | CMU 126
SLN: 12560

Course Description

This course 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, video games 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 media studies and business dimension, incorporating both theory and practice.

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COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

(

Christensen

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/1 – 12/3, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 13061

Course Description

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COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

(

Christensen

)

- 2025-2026 | Autumn 2025

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 9/30 – 12/2, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 302

Course Description

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COMMLD 533: Storytelling for Emergent Platforms

(

Cioffi

)

- 2022-2023 | Winter 2023

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 1/14, 1/28, 2/11, 2/25, 3/11, 9:00AM – 5:00PM | Startup Hall (2nd Floor in Condon Hall)
Registration SLN: 12783

Course Description:

Emerging models of interactive and immersive storytelling are disrupting the ways we can 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 a part of the current and future Web 3.0 ecosystem. We will focus our design thinking on audience engagement, UX, built worlds for virtual and interactive experiences, and the role of trust and truth in platforms – 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, development 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 535: Foundations of Audio Storytelling

(

Partnow

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/3-12/5, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | CMU 230
Registration SLN: 13011

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 535: Foundations of Audio Storytelling

(

Perry

)

- 2022-2023 | Winter 2023

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 1/4 – 3/8, 6:00PM – 9:50PM | CMU 302
Registration SLN: 22243

Course Description:

Whether gathered around a radio in a living room or walking plugged in with headphones, the medium of audio storytelling has always offered the opportunity to build a mindset-shifting community around content. This course traces the evolution of audio storytelling from radio to podcasting that links to communities for various purposes: to educate, to entertain, and to inspire action — and the new golden age of podcasting that we find ourselves in means that audio storytelling has the potential for broad reach and powerful impact. Consideration is given to the core characteristics of strong storytelling, observed through an auditory filter. Class materials are twinned with a selection of cross-sector guest speakers who bring their own craft perspective. Students will experiment with designing their own short audio pieces.

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COMMLD 535: Foundations of Audio Storytelling

(

Partnow

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

Track Neutral | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 10/1 – 12/3, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | PCAR 297
Registration SLN: 13063

Course Description

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COMMLD 530C: Engaging Interviews

COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

COMMLD 525: Brand Values & Creativity

COMMLD 541B: Crisis Communication: Response with Responsibility in the Digital Arena

COMMLD 533: Storytelling for Emergent Platforms

COMMLD 544: Professional Short-Form Writing

COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

COMMLD 534: Visual Storytelling: From Comics to Transmedia

COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

COMMLD 531: Foundations of Video Storytelling

COMMLD 533: Storytelling for Emergent Platforms

COMMLD 535: Foundations of Audio Storytelling

COMMLD 532: Advanced Video Storytelling

COMMLD 535: Foundations of Audio Storytelling

COMMLD 535: Foundations of Audio Storytelling

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