Archives: Courses - Page 2 - 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 560D: Communications & Design for the Environment

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- 2025-2026 | Current Quarter | Spring 2026

Open Elective | Meets Law & Ethics Requirement | 5 Credits
Tuesdays 3/31 – 6/2, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | Room on Time Schedule
Registration SLN: 12421

Course Description:

The climate crisis and other environmental problems are not strictly scientific issues, they are also design and communication issues. This course teaches students to look at the environment from the perspectives of communication (for example, which topics are resonant with audiences, whose views get amplified and whose get shut down, which ideas are backed by money and which are people-powered) and design (for example, our public space, our stuff, how we get around, what we wear and the structures we live in.) These perspectives can empower us–no matter our profession, background or political affiliation–to see and respond to the climate and other environmental crises in more creative and impactful ways.

This course is co-taught by faculty in Communication and Design

Meets Law and Ethics Requirement.

This course is a good match if you are:

• Passionate about the environment and social change;

• Interested in understanding the challenges and opportunities faced by environmental groups, journalists and scientists;

• Curious about how design can be applied for environmental impact

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COMMLD 570D: Online Community Data Research

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- 2025-2026 | Current Quarter | Spring 2026

Open Elective | Meets Research Methods Requirement | 5 Credits
Thursdays 4/2 – 6/4, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | Room on Time Schedule
Registration SLN: 12422

Course Description:

Navigating online communities constitutes a large portion of what we experience as “the internet,” and yet understanding these communities is not always a straightforward or easy task. This course will explore the nature of online communities, different ways we can come to learn about them, and how we should think about handling the data we collect (and indeed, whether to collect it at all). Students will gain a basic social scientific foundation for thinking about communities and the affordances of computer mediated communication before surveying several established approaches to collecting and analyzing data produced by and about specific communities, including surveys, web scraping, and social listening/monitoring.

Throughout, we will consider the ethical implications and demands of our work as researchers and professionals, emphasizing such values as respect for persons, prevention of harm, and beneficence. Students will conclude the course by developing group research projects using one or more of the methods we’ve learned together to answer a clearly defined research question and presenting their findings within a professional context.

Meets Research Methods Requirement.

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COMMLD 570E: Community & Engagement

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- 2025-2026 | Current Quarter | Spring 2026

MCCN Elective | 5 Credits
Wednesdays 4/1 – 6/3, 6:00pm – 9:50pm | Room on Time Schedule
Registration SLN: 12423

Course Description

Our lives are defined by the communities we keep. So are organizations. To understand a company, audit the communities that faithfully buy their products. To understand a nonprofit organization, see who comes to their fundraisers or who relies on their services. To understand a public institution, observe their consistent user base. This can more broadly be understood as the culture of an institution: what it communicates by how it communicates.. Leadership—at all levels, across all sectors—involves informed and open engagement informed by that culture with the broader publics you serve. So designing meaningful community engagement that highlights organization culture is a crucial leadership skill.

This course will challenge you to reimagine community engagement practices and develop inventive strategies for bringing together stakeholders, constituents and audiences. You’ll learn time-tested frameworks that strive to build a sense of belonging and purpose, thus deepening alignment between leadership, organizational culture, and the communities they serve.

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COMMLD 570F: Collaboration Strategies for Social Change

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- 2025-2026 | Current Quarter | Spring 2026

Open Elective | 5 Credits
Mondays 3/30 – 6/1, 6:00pm – 8:50pm | Room on Time Schedule
Registration SLN: 12424

Course Description

Social change requires organizations in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to collaborate well. However, organizational leaders face many challenges in doing so. Cross-sector collaboration is a complex communicative process that underlies every aspect of societal change, at multiple levels and across many kinds of difference. In this course, students will employ concepts from several fields to analyze and practice real-world instances of cross-sector collaboration, and develop the communication skills essential for interorganizational interactions that foster social change.

The centerpiece of the course is a 5-week simulation of collaborative decision-making conducted during class sessions. In the simulation, each student has a role in a (mock) multi-sector task force– situated in a fictional mountain town– that negotiates the creation of a wildfire mitigation safety plan. Through the simulation, students will apply knowledge gained from course readings, and develop skills in assessing other stakeholders’ needs and motives, building alliances, communicating constructively through disagreements, and negotiating multilateral agreements for the collective good.

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COMMLD 581: Communications in the Age of AI

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- 2025-2026 | Current Quarter | Spring 2026

Open Elective | 5 Credits
Sundays, 4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/17, 9:00am – 5:00pm | Room on Time Schedule
Registration SLN: 21461

Course Description:

AI is transforming how organizations communicate, and the skill gap is real. The 2025 World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report states that “On average, workers can expect that two-fifths (39%) of their existing skill sets will be transformed or become outdated over the 2025-2030 period.” AI and information processing technologies tops the list as the core drivers of this change.

This intensive class is about getting out in front. We’ll dive into the questions communication leaders are wrestling with right now: When should you use AI for comms and who should be empowered to use it? What are the risks if your team is unprepared, if you are too slow in adapting, or if you use it in inappropriate or ineffective ways? And how do you build policies and strategies that allow AI to accelerate work responsibly and ethically?

Students should come prepared for an intensive experience, with a full quarter’s work conducted over a 6-week time period. Class sessions will be fast-paced, hands-on, and grounded in real-world challenges. You’ll use multiple AI tools in class and for homework, debate outputs and scenarios, discuss best practices for decision-making, and hear from industry experts already implementing AI inside their organizations. The goal is to give you the tools and judgment to help you and your future employer navigate fast-evolving AI with confidence.

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COMMLD 591: Independent Research

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- 2025-2026 | Current Quarter | Spring 2026 | Summer 2026 | Winter 2026

Open Elective | 1-5 Credits
Application Required

Course Description:

Independent Research projects are student-driven, with faculty serving in a loose advisory capacity. This option is for students with a clear project in mind who will only need minimal faculty support to accomplish their end goal. See complete details and application instructions on the Guide to Independent Research page.

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COMMLD 593: Internship

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- 2025-2026 | Current Quarter | Spring 2026 | Summer 2026 | Winter 2026

Open Elective | 1-5 Credits
Application Required

Course Description:

An internship can be a useful way to give students a fundamental understanding of the industry and to accelerate one’s career path. The course aims to enhance students’ career readiness through guided self-reflection, peer dialogue, and employer feedback. Through active participation in online discussions and thoughtful completion of structured assignments, students will reflect on their internships and identify how they relate to their coursework, college experience, personal identity, career readiness, and professional future.

Please note that in order to earn credits for COMMLD 593 an Internship is necessary but not sufficient. Students must also complete additional academic deliverables for their instructor as described above.

Also note that Internships should be directly relevant to the student’s field of study (degree or specialization). Part-time jobs not related to the degree will normally not be approved for internship credit, as the purpose of an internship is to apply what you have been learning in your degree to a real world work experience. See complete details and application instructions on the Guide to Internships page.

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COMMLD 600: MC Research Project

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- 2025-2026 | Current Quarter | Spring 2026 | Summer 2026 | Winter 2026

Open Elective | 5 Credits
Application Required

Course Description:

After completion of a minimum of 50% of Comm Lead course work, students can choose to conduct a scholarly research project. An MC Research Project is roughly the equivalent of a master’s thesis in scope and rigor, and requires the student form a committee of at least two faculty members to evaluate the work, as well as give a public presentation of the final deliverable. See complete details and application instructions on the Guide to MC Research Project page.

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COMMLD 560D: Communications & Design for the Environment

COMMLD 570D: Online Community Data Research

COMMLD 570E: Community & Engagement

COMMLD 570F: Collaboration Strategies for Social Change

COMMLD 581: Communications in the Age of AI

COMMLD 591: Independent Research

COMMLD 593: Internship

COMMLD 600: MC Research Project

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