Department of Communication

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In February, a group of eight Communication students traveled to sunny Los Angeles to explore career paths in communication fields. As a part of the Career Kickstart professional development program, Career Exploration Trips give Communication students the opportunity to expand their networks in Los Angeles, New York City, D.C., and Seattle, and gives them the opportunity to explore careers that may not be obvious. Trips are little to no cost to students, thanks to the Christopher Rauch Meyer Endowed Fund, established by UW alum Paul Meyer in honor of his son. 

UW Department of Communication alum and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, David Horsey, '76, first discovered his love for journalism where so many Daily alumni have: in the orange-painted walls of The Daily’s newsroom in the Communications Building, CMU 132.

Roberto Maestas grew up in a small New Mexico town but became a Seattle legend as a UW student and social-justice leader.

There is a surging fixation on tracing mixed-race celebrities white-Asian heritage and famous Wasians are embracing the label.LeiLani Nishime, professor of communication at the UW, is quoted.

"On Dec. 30, 2024, my mother, Brenda Louise Baker, died. I have known grief most of my life. I was 9 when my uncle died. By high school, death no longer felt shocking. It felt familiar. I decided I wanted to become a pathologist, as if understanding the science of death might quiet the ache it caused," writes KD Hall, affiliate instructor of communication leadership at the UW.

UW Department of Communication Professor LeiLani Nishime shared her expertise on the current cultural discourse around “Wasians” (those of mixed White and Asian descent) for NPR’s It’s been a Minute podcast, “Welcome to ‘The Republic of Wasia.”

When she was working as the social impact and marketing director at Molly Moon’s, UW communication alum Emily Kim, ’08, saw an opportunity: a free pastry education program to help people facing barriers to employment. Thus the Pastry Project, complete with a Pioneer Square storefront, was born. 

UW Magazine’s Aleenah Ansari checks in with Kim about the origins of the Pastry Project, what it means to run a social impact business and how she developed the curriculum for their free pastry education program.

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"The 2026 legislative session is scheduled to end next week in Olympia, but as teaching professors of journalism at the University of Washington, we are thinking about the beginning," write Andrea Otez and Caley Cook, both teaching professors of communication at the UW.

Thuc Nhi Nguyen got her start the UW Daily. Now she's a sports reporter for Los Angeles Times, writing about the Lakers and the Olympics. 

Can a cartoonist be a novelist? Charles Johnson, professor emeritus of English at the UW, thinks so.

Among a slew of noteworthy firsts, the 2025 election nationwide and in Seattle featured a turn to youth young voters backing youthful candidates. Mark Alan Smith, professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

In the College of Arts & Sciences, we are proud to celebrate our first-generation community through a collection of stories! We honor our faculty and staff, and their many contributions to our university community and beyond.

In the College of Arts & Sciences, we are proud to celebrate our first-generation community through a collection of stories! We honor our students and alumni, and their many contributions to our university community and beyond.