Winter 2026 Newsletter

Letter from the Chair

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I always enjoy these opportunities to share with you about all the incredible things our faculty, staff, and students are doing here in UW Communication. It’s a privilege to sing the praises of colleagues who are conducting research on issues that matter—like the causes of political polarization, the dynamics of an ever-changing journalism industry, the complexities of communicating about public health and science, navigating the tricky terrain of our seemingly inevitable AI future, and more. I’m inspired by the compelling courses we teach and the brilliant students who take them.

Read the full letter here.

The Alumni Corner

The Voice finalist Lucia Flores-Wiseman is just getting started

Flores-Wiseman and Levine perform “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” during The Voice Live Finale

A top 4 finalist on Season 27 of The Voice, 2023 alumna Lucia Flores-Wiseman is just getting started. Read more about her journey and how her Journalism and Public Interest Communication degree influences her storytelling!

Help us welcome the class of 2026!

We invite you, our wonderful alumni, to help us welcome the Class of 2026 to the UW Department of Communication alumni network. Do you have words of encouragement or wisdom to share with this year’s graduates? Please fill out this form by April 30, 2026 with a short message of congratulations, encouragement, advice, or welcome to the alumni community! Your message will be added to the mock diplomas handed out on stage during our graduation ceremony. Your contribution will make a meaningful impact, and will help make the 2026 Graduation ceremony feel even more special.

UW Communication News

Olympia Program Transforms Students into Frontline Reporters

For more than 50 years, UW Communication has offered students an unparalleled opportunity to step out of the classroom and directly into the fast-paced world of state politics. The State Government Communication Program, affectionately known as the “Olympia Program,” places undergraduates in full-time reporting roles during the state’s winter legislative session.

CommLead Consulting Bridges the Gap Between Classroom and Career

Operating as a student-run agency, CommLead Consulting pairs Communication Leadership graduate students with mission-driven organizations, small businesses, and UW departments that need professional communication support.

Renowned scholar Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson to deliver 2026 Scheidel Lecture

The Department of Communication is delighted to host Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, who will deliver this year’s Scheidel Lecture. Learn more about the lecture and RSVP to join us on April 1st!

Last Chance to Apply

The AI-ready curriculum from the Communication Leadership Master’s Program prepares professionals for future-proof careers. Apply by April 1st (final international deadline).

HOW TO APPLY

Newsbites and Scholarship Spotlight

Eight Communication students and two staff members traveled to Los Angeles in late February on one of UW Communication’s Career Exploration Trips. Students got to meet with communication alumni across the city, to discover what kinds of careers are possible with a degree in Communication. Stay tuned for the full story in our spring newsletter!
Associate Professor Timeka Tounsel and collaborator Dr. Ashleigh Greene Wade (Penn State) launched Lost Credits, a documentary podcast analyzing the portrayal of black girls and women in U.S. popular culture. The podcast is designed to function as a pedagogical tool for educators in critical cultural studies and Black feminist media studies and is edited by UW Communication alum Taylor Richmond.
Assistant Professor Amanda Friz was interviewed for a recent The Daily article, “If you can’t talk about sex, you shouldn’t be having it.”
Professor Leah Ceccarelli co-authored “Introducing Rhetorical Psychology to RSTM and RSTM to Rhetorical Psychology” with Ryan Kang, a UW undergraduate student in psychology.
Communication Leadership hosted Impact Stories, a film series exploring powerful storytelling through new documentaries from four Northwest directors. Each event paired a documentary screening with an in-depth, interactive conversation facilitated by Communication Leadership faculty member Jordan Melograna.
The Center for Journalism, Media, and Democracy (CJMD) hosted In Conversation with Miranda Spivack: Backroom Deals in Our Backyards. Spivack discussed her new book, Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities—and the Local Heroes Fighting Back, in which she shines a light on corruption close to home, uncovering how local governors, mayors, town councils, school boards, police, and prosecutors sometimes fail the very communities they serve.
Assistant Professor Jisoo Kim co-authored “Understanding support for TikTok/Douyin regulation: the role of platform experiences, perceived influence, and algorithmic awareness in China and the United States,” published in Information, Communication & Society.
Last Winter, we told you about Teaching Professor Caley Cook’s collaborative project, Home Fields. Since then, the project has launched, with a new website devoted to telling stories about grassroots soccer in the Puget Sound region through the lens of political, social, cultural, and intersectional perspectives on sport. Home Fields is a project of the Global Sports Lab at the Jackson School of International Studies.
This March, Artist in Residence Anita Verna Crofts, along with her Transylvania University collaborator, Dr. Kremena Todorova, brought their work on life narrative to Adelaide’s Flinders University for a workshop and accompanying multimedia art exhibit titled, “Life Frames.”
Have a piece of news you’d like to share with the COMMunity? Fill out this form for your chance to be featured on our alumni page or in our next newsletter!