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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 510: Decision Science and Content Strategy

(

Kabiri

)

- 2020-2021 | Winter

Track Neutral Elective | 5 Credits
Thursdays 1/7-3/11 | 6:00pm – 9:50pm | Online

Course Description:

This course introduces students to content strategy through the lens of Decision Science. Successful content requires solid decision-making by the professionals who create it. But it also relies on a firm understanding of audience decision-making, so that communications can effectively sway audience decisions. This course will explore the audience half of this equation. Students will be introduced to behavioral and social science principles that apply to decision-making, including heuristics, game theoretic models, network effects, institutional constraints, and cultural and social norms. The course will also include a market research component, to teach students how to uncover drivers of decision-making among their target audience. Finally, the course will pull it all together, guiding students as they apply these learnings in the creation of a content strategy proposal.

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COMMLD 503A: Practicum in Consumer Insights

(

Kabiri

)

- 2020-2021 | Spring

Track Neutral Elective | 2 Credits
Thursdays 4/1 – 6/3, 5:30PM – 7:20PM PST (Note: instructor and class will determine meeting dates with project needs) | Online

Course Description:

To be effective in their marketing strategies, organizations need to know who their target audiences actually are – what they think, feel, and do, and how they ultimately make decisions. Without this insight, organizations “make up” who their target audiences or consumers are, and by doing so they miss the mark by making ill-informed strategic decisions. They design the wrong products, create the wrong messaging, write the wrong sales plays. Consumer insights is one of the primary ways businesses ensure that product design and messaging align closely with the needs, wants, and dreams of their consumers.. There’s a right way and a wrong way to do consumer insights. This class will teach you the right way. Through this practicum, students will work in teams of consultants for an organizational client to understand what consumer insights are missing in the organization, what insights are needed to drive the right decision-making, and how to find those insights. Students will conduct interviews with the organization’s stakeholders to uncover what’s already known (and what isn’t known). They will conduct secondary research to learn as much as possible about their consumer target. Finally, they will identify remaining gaps in information and prepare a “request for proposal” (RFP), which is intended to be sent to consumer insights agencies to request consumer research. The final deliverable will be the RFP, which will include a summary of what is already known about consumers. Students will present this RFP to the client.

About 503 Communication and Leadership Practicum

Communication and Leadership Practicum was designed as a complement to COMMLD 502, intended to help shape the beginning of the Communication Leadership journey. The course gives students an early 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.

he 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.

Structure of Class

Class will convene online during the time indicated by section for a minimum of 5 classes led by a faculty mentor. This may occur every other week, or at different intervals that serve the needs of the project. On dates that the faculty mentor is not in attendance, students will have that time together to work with their teams.

During the times that faculty mentors are in attendance, students will report out on the current status of their projects, hear from experts about best practices, receive feedback, and provide feedback to one another. At the end of the quarter, students will present their project deliverables to the client organization, faculty, and their peers.

In addition to the final presentation, students will plan to meet with the client organizations mid-way through to report out on the current status of their projects and receive important feedback on their developing ideas and processes. Depending on client availability for these two meetings, time may need to be rescheduled from the regular class meeting time, with consideration of faculty mentor and student schedules.

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COMMLD 503 A: Communication and Leadership Practicum: Data Insights for Social Impact

(

Wilson

)

- 2021-2022 | Autumn 2021

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Mondays 10/04-12/06, 6:00PM – 8:20PM PDT | DEN 111
Registration SLN: 23402

Course Description

The COVID-19 pandemic amplifies the importance of clear and consistent communications. Human behavior is a complex phenomenon, influenced by factors at the individual, household, community and societal levels. Social and behavior change communication (SBCC) is used to spark positive normative and social change by addressing myths and misconceptions and maintaining public trust across all four levels. In this practicum, students will work in teams, supported by a faculty mentor, to develop and present a brief that highlights key factors to communicating with impact based on an analysis of data from a personal protective equipment (PPE) social media campaign. The brief (a useful tool to drive advocacy for health-related issues) will provide clear direction on what can be adapted to achieve results by optimizing the use of existing platforms (e.g., Facebook ads), to ensure high coverage of reliable COVID-19 information and services. Students will apply policy advocacy strategies, recognizing that supportive environments are the foundation for individual behavior change.

About 503 Communication and Leadership Practicum

Communication and Leadership Practicum courses give students an early opportunity to engage with and understand the uses of course concepts in contemporary professional practice by addressing the challenges of real-life organizations. The course gives students an early opportunity to engage with and understand the uses of course concepts in contemporary professional practice by addressing the challenges of real-life organizations.

Structure of Class

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COMMLD 511: Introduction to User Centered Design

(

Joslyn

)

- 2021-2022 | Winter 2022

MCDM Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Mondays 1/3 – 3/7, 6:00PM – 9:50PM, + Saturday 2/12, 9:00AM – 5:00PM | CMU 232 | Hybrid
Registration SLN: 22125

Course Description:

This course focuses on the fundamentals of user experience design, identifying the skills and concepts needed to successfully design products and services for humans. 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.

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

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COMMLD 510: Introduction to Information Architecture

(

Weaver

)

- 2021-2022 | Summer 2022

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays, 7/9, 7/16, 7/30, 8/6, 9:00AM – 5:00PM | Online
Registration SLN: 14391

Course Description:

Information Architecture (IA) helps users understand where they are, what they’ve found, what’s around, and what to expect when they are visiting a website or application. When you have large amounts of information to display, IA can help you create groups, sorting, labels and provide navigation to help people browse your content.This class sets up the basics for organizing content through architecture. We’ll learn about the theory and techniques that help us provide clear paths through content. Through best practices articles, real world examples, and student projects, we’ll explore the foundations and potential of Information Architecture.Students will take on their own mini-project and present their IA discoveries at the end of the session.

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COMMLD 503A: Practicum: UX Design in Action

(

Gordon

)

- 2022-2023 | Autumn 2022

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Mondays 10/03-12/05, 6:00PM – 8:20PM | Online
Registration SLN: 13010 (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 either already taken one of our intro courses (511 or 512) or Psychology of UX (517) or have equivalent UX experience. Please fill out the application when it is available 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 is available here and will begin accepting responses on Tuesday, June 21, at 12:00pm PDT (noon).

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 503A: Practicum: Creating Video Content with Real World Clients

(

Christensen

)

- 2022-2023 | Spring 2023

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Tuesdays 3/28 – 5/30, 6:00PM – 7:50PM | CMU 302
Application Required – See Description

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 about how to best set up their team for success by adding structure to their client interactions, tapping into their team’s talents, and how to ensure that they’re delivering content that fits their client’s needs. Students will collaborate in teams throughout the quarter to create one short video for a real-world client.

Credit/No Credit Only

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.

*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 this form to the best of your ability. It will be available on February 10, 2023 at 6:30AM PST. You may be reached out with further clarifications. If your form is approved, you will receive an add code to register for the course.

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COMMLD 503C: Practicum: Search Engine Optimization

(

Long

)

- 2023-2024 | Autumn 2023

Track Neutral | 2 Credits
Thursdays 9/28-12/7, 6:00PM – 7:50PM | CMU 126
Registration SLN: 23235

Course Description

In this practicum, students will work on a real-world Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy—forming a partnership among SEO students, instructor, and a client. Students will work in a team-based context and apply their SEO skills to be able to give the client an SEO strategy recommendation for their website to help them improve their keyword rankings in Google.

The final deliverable will be a client presentation highlighting keywords that the client should target based on the use of various analytics tools resourced with help from the instructor. Students will also deliver a sample of a page that has been optimized on the client’s website as an example, with resources the client can use to further optimize their site. By the end of the Practicum, students will have a sample for their portfolio to demonstrate their knowledge of SEO.

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.

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 503 B: Practicum: UX Design in Action

(

Gordon

)

- Current Quarter | 2024-2025 | Spring 2025

Track Neutral | 3 Credits
Mondays 3/31 – 6/2, 6:00pm – 8:20pm | 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.

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 Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at 6:30 AM here: https://forms.office.com/r/EiHbFVvacj

Here are the questions on the form to help you prepare before it goes live:

Full Name
UW Email

Have you taken (or are currently taking) COMMLD 510: Intro to Info 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, or COMMLD 515: Advanced UX Studio?

(If you have not taken the courses above) You have stated that you have not taken the pre-requisites for this course. You may still be qualified if you have previous experience. Please describe your UX experience.

About 503 Communication and Leadership Practicum

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COM 597: Content & Social Strategy for Maximum Business Impact

(

Schiller

)

- 2016-2017 | Autumn 2016

Track Neutral, 3 Credits
Saturdays, 10/1, 10/15, 10/29/16, 9:00am-5:00pm | CMU 126

Course Description:

Many experts think of social media and content strategy in big company terms: getting buy-in from management, developing a process, communicating among teams, defining metrics, etc. All very important, but in an over-saturated digital world how do you create the actual content? Not boring, me-too, formulaic content, but stories that people actually read, share and take action upon? Contrary to what many people think, great content is not built on luck or magic; it’s built using specific, repeatable techniques that you can learn and deploy to drive your business objectives. This class will teach you how to create unforgettable content, how to customize it for each social channel and how to ensure that your social and content strategy support each other for maximum business impact. Through a combination of case studies, readings and hands-on assignments, students will gain a solid understanding of how to create the kind of content that other marketers will wish was their own.

Student Testimonial:

I came into class with little to no formal training on content strategy. It was apparent from the get go that I would be learning multiple useful techniques on how to break down content and better improve said content based on the its ultimate goal. With her years of industry experience and scrappy attitude, Carol was a terrific asset to the class. Regardless of your individual pathway through the program, this is a great class for better understanding the online ecosystem that we all exist in.

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COM 597: Introduction to Project Management: Principles & Best Practices

(

Franco

)

- 2016-2017 | Winter

Track Neutral Elective, 3 Credits
Saturdays, 1/28, 2/11, 2/25, 9-5pm | CMU 126

Course Description:

The legacies of communication leaders are built upon the successful management of projects. Whether you are involved in a small web project, a social media campaign or a long-term multi-platform initiative, strong project management can be the difference between merely completing a project and taking your team’s work to the next level. Effective project management requires discipline from all project team members; thus, this course is intended for anyone – not just aspiring project managers. In this course, students will be introduced to project management fundamentals and best practices. We will cover various tools and methods for planning and controlling scope, schedule, budget, quality, communication, risk and more. During the class, we will discuss and examine common practices used for interactive and digital communication projects that students will be able to immediately apply to their work elsewhere. By the end of this course, students will understand how to compose effective project management plans. There may be some opportunities for working in groups but most assignments will not be group work.

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

(

Schiller

)

- 2016-2017 | Spring

Track Neutral, 3 Credits
Saturday, April 22, May 6, 20, 9-5pm | CMU 242

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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COM 597: Crisis Communication Strategies in a Digital World

(

Schwartz

)

- 2016-2017 | Summer 2017

Track Neutral, Meets Law & Ethics Requirement
Mondays, 6/26-8/14, 6:00-9:50pm | MGH 074
Please note this class will begin the second week of the quarter on June 26 and will add a class on Tuesday, June 27, 6:00-9:50pm in CMU 126.

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.

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COM 597: Communication for Advocacy

(

Tausch Lapora

)

- 2017-2018 | Winter

Track Neutral, Meets Law & Ethics Core Requirement
Thursdays, Jan 4th-March 8th, 6:00-9:50pm | CMU 302

Course Description:

Today’s leaders are confronted with an increasingly rich landscape of possibilities to spark and create change. Parallel to this challenge, decision-makers and influential bodies are bombarded with waves of messaging. This course will introduce you to communication techniques for advocacy. Our approach in this class will be focused on”integrated advocacy,” which is a strategy of communicating through multiple channels one’s advocacy efforts – like the marriage equality movement, net neutrality efforts by Google, Facebook and Netflix, and the passage of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. You will develop part of an integrated advocacy campaign working for a client in this class. Real-life challenges and advocacy needs of our clients will allow us to use integrated advocacy model in an applied sense. We will build stories around goals and solutions. We will come up with advocacy tactics and create an advocacy campaign that will ignite change. This is a hands-on course. The course will help you develop immersive storytelling skills, and practice community organizing. You will learn persuasive communication and engagement methods, and how to pack a punch with a campaign aimed at making change. Guest speakers and mentors with experience spearheading campaigns will serve as guides throughout the quarter. The course will culminate with a short advocacy pitch session.

Student Testimonial:

“I enrolled in Brenda Tausch-Lapora’s Integrated Advocacy class feeling like I had a ton of skills but without a clear purpose for applying them to make change. I knew I wanted to do something that matters. This class gave me a practical and actionable framework for translating my skills into doing good things in this world. Your typical marketing campaign usually follow the rules of what has worked in the past, what sells, and who’s the first to do it. By contrast, integrated advocacy challenges you to figure out the core of the message you’re trying to share and the vision for what you want to change. You have to build a consciousness of action which involves a lot of components such as content strategy, policy change, partnership building, and a drive to make the change worthwhile for the communities involved. Integrated advocacy allows you to challenge conventions and question the nature of the message you’re are trying to put out there. Bottom line: you’re asking your community to believe it. Brenda’s class pushed me to create a project utilizing VR to change the perception of Fire Services in Washington State—a project which is gaining traction and may turn into a national model for EMS public outreach campaigns.”

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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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COMMLD 510: Decision Science and Content Strategy

COMMLD 503A: Practicum in Consumer Insights

COMMLD 503 A: Communication and Leadership Practicum: Data Insights for Social Impact

COMMLD 511: Introduction to User Centered Design

COMMLD 510: Introduction to Information Architecture

COMMLD 503A: Practicum: UX Design in Action

COMMLD 503A: Practicum: Creating Video Content with Real World Clients

COMMLD 503C: Practicum: Search Engine Optimization

COMMLD 503 B: Practicum: UX Design in Action

COM 597: Content & Social Strategy for Maximum Business Impact

COM 597: Introduction to Project Management: Principles & Best Practices

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

COM 597: Crisis Communication Strategies in a Digital World

COM 597: Communication for Advocacy

COMMLD 540 B: Distributed and Diverse Teams

COM 597: Leadership Approaches to Diversity Initiatives in Organizations

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