> Courses

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.

COMMLD 517: The Psychology of User Experience

(

Haverly

)

- 2024-2025 | Autumn 2024

MCDM Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 9/25 – 12/4, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | Online
Registration SLN: 13052

Course Description

Designers, product marketers, and entrepreneurs will learn the psychological constrictions of attention, perception, memory, disposition, motivation, and social influence that determine whether or not customers will be receptive to their digital innovations. This will give their innovations an edge on what are increasingly competitive platforms such as apps, bots, in-car apps, augmented reality content). Students will learn…

The psychological processes determining users’ perception of, engagement with, and recommendation of digital innovations

Examples of interfaces before and after simple psychological alignments that vastly enhanced their effectiveness

How to identify, apply theory, and develop consulting or research recommendations based on psychological theory

Application to their own business interests. A deeper understanding of common digital interfaces such as conversion funnels, display advertisements, and mobile notifications.

A broader understanding of the human context of digital ventures, and the ethical differences between alignment and meeting needs vs. exploitation and unsustainable design approaches

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

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COMMLD 515 A: Advanced User Design: UX Studio

(

Levine

)

- 2024-2025 | Spring 2025

MCDM Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 4/2 – 6/4, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 104
SLN: 12575

Course Description

In this class, students will work in small groups to design and prototype innovative user-centered solutions to real-world problems and develop an application. Students will develop their projects from a user experience (UX) design perspective and produce a strong piece for their portfolio.

The course emulates real-life aspects of UX design teams, including in-depth experience with user research, usability testing and iterating on the product with real-life users. By the end of the course, students will construct a map of a product’s full customer journey, develop personas with use cases, design a working prototype, and build a proposal with requirements for the concept.

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

Course Prerequisites: COMMLD 511, 512, or 517.

This intensive course structure includes lecture, small and large group activities, and extended studio time for hands-on work on the projects. Several guest speakers from the UX design field are planned throughout the quarter.

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COMMLD 517: The Psychology of User Experience

(

Haverly

)

- 2025-2026 | Autumn 2025

MCDM Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 9/24 – 12/3, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | Online
Registration SLN: 13012

Course Description

Designers, product marketers, and entrepreneurs will learn the psychological constrictions of attention, perception, memory, disposition, motivation, and social influence that determine whether or not customers will be receptive to their digital innovations. Students will learn how to identify, apply theory, and develop consulting or research recommendations based on psychological theory. They’ll unpack the psychological processes determining users’ perception of, engagement with, and recommendation of digital innovations, and gain a broader understanding of the human context of digital ventures, including the ethical differences between alignment and meeting needs vs. exploitation and unsustainable design approaches. This will give their innovations an edge on what are increasingly competitive platforms such as apps, bots, in-car apps, AI and augmented reality content).

This class is a good match for students who:

• Have little or no previous experience understanding human psychological theory and various applications that impact design for human engagement

• Want to design ethical systems that do not take advantage of the psychological motivations of users

• Are keen on developing their research skills by working on a portfolio piece as their final project

Meets Research Methods Requirement

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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 534: Visual Storytelling: From Comics to Transmedia

(

Salkowitz

)

- 2021-2022 | Spring 2022

MCDM Elective | 5 Credits
Saturdays 4/2, 4/16, 4/30, 5/14, 6/4 9:00AM – 5:00PM | CMU 126 | In Person
Registration SLN: 21479

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 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 511: Introduction to User Centered Design

(

Vanderburg

)

- 2023-2024 | Spring 2024

MCDM Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Mondays 3/25 – 5/20, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | CMU 230
Registration SLN: 12553

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 518: Information Architecture

(

)

- 2025-2026 | Summer 2026

MCDM Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Saturdays 6/27, 7/11, 7/25, 8/8, 8/22, 9:00am – 5:00pm | Online
Registration SLN: 10723

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.

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

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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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© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington

© Copyright 2025 Department of Communication. University of Washington