Public Speaking goes virtual on Coursera

UW Communication professor Matt McGarrity developed a new virtual reality public speaking experience for his popular Introduction to Public Speaking course on Coursera, the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform. The result of over a year of intense development with Coursera, Meta, and educational VR developer, Sweet Rush, this new feature is designed to help … Read More

Ph.D. student receives Humanities Scholarship for research on Asian women content creators

UW Communication Ph.D. candidate Jenny Lee was recently awarded UW’s prestigious Elizabeth Kerr Macfarlane Humanities Scholarship, a merit-based scholarship that acknowledges her contribution to the field of humanities. Lee’s research examines how Korean female content creators make sense of, negotiate with, and challenge the dominant ways Asian femininity is commodified and consumed in the transnational … Read More

UW Communication student gains valuable experience abroad in ¡SpainWorks! program

The term “study abroad” can sometimes evoke vacation mode, a fun opportunity to earn credits while exploring a different culture. However, for rising senior Skylar Strotz (Communication, Sociology) it also meant completing a challenging yet rewarding communications internship, all in a foreign language. Strotz is among the first students selected for UW’s new ¡SpainWorks! internship … Read More

Scheidel lecturer Dr. Dawna Ballard on how effective organizations communicate slow to go fast

This spring, the Department of Communication welcomed organizational communication scholar Dr. Dawna I. Ballard of the University of Texas, Austin, who delivered the Department’s annual Scheidel Lecture. A departmental tradition for 25 years, the Scheidel Lecture invites scholars conducting cutting edge communication research to share their work with the broader UW Communication community. In her … Read More

CCDE launches Health Equity Action Lab

The Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity (CCDE) this spring launched its Health Equity Action Lab (HEAL), a new initiative that aims to support and showcase community-based research in the arena of health equity and to provide a platform for research that examines the accessibility of health resources. Dr. Carmen Gonzalez, a UW Communication faculty … Read More

Students investigate online communities by contributing to Wikipedia in innovative course

COM 481: Online Communities, taught by PhD candidate Kaylea Champion, offers students a hands-on experience contributing to online communities such as Wikipedia by incorporating research conducted by the Community Data Science Collective (CDSC), a research team that employs empirical research methods to understand and inform the design of collaborative online communities. The course explores computer-mediated … Read More

Alumni of Distinction and Hall of Fame 2022

Every year, the UW Department of Communication honors outstanding alumni who are making a difference in their careers and communities by inducting them into the Department’s Alumni Hall of Fame. We also recognize the exceptional work of recent graduates through the Outstanding Early Career Award, as well as celebrate the invaluable contributions of those who … Read More

Kirsten Foot’s Team Produced a Toolkit for Journalism on Human Trafficking

Dr. Kirsten Foot, the Dart Endowed Professor of Trauma, Journalism, and Communication, has released an open-access Toolkit for Hope-Based and Solutions-Oriented Journalism on Human Trafficking. Dr. Foot co-produced the Toolkit with Deborah Pembrook, Sharan Dhanoa, and Dr. Nicole Dahmen, with contributions from Department members Meg Spratt and Tommy Ferguson, as well as journalists, human trafficking … Read More

UW Communication Alum Receives $1 Million National Science Foundation Award

Alexa Bednarz (UW Communication, 2012) spent seven years working in Global Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation before founding her own social enterprise, Eco-Shelter Inc. Eco-Shelter is increasing access to affordable and sustainable building materials for low-income consumers in emerging markets. Their pilot product, the Eco-Roof Panel, is made from resin-coated bamboo mats … Read More

Note from the Chair

“Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.”  — Laura Ingalls Wilder Dear Friends, I hope you’re enjoying some old-fashioned fresh air and sunshine this spring. I don’t need to tell you that it has been a difficult couple of years, and that many of our shared challenges have yet to … Read More