New York University’s Department of Journalism has appointed 12 new faculty members, including six full-time professors and six Distinguished Writers-in-Residence. Most will teach both graduate and undergraduate classes.
“Unprecedented in the department’s history, this sweeping series of hires includes Pulitzer winners and recipients of the National Book Critics Circle, George Polk, Lannan Literary, MacArthur, and Guggenheim awards,” said Richard Foley, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science. “Exemplars of journalistic excellence, these distinguished writers and reporters bring to NYU a spirit of innovation coupled with a deep knowledge of the art, craft, and profession of journalism.”
The new Distinguished Writers in Residence in the journalism department are: Paul Berman, Power and the Idealists: Or, the Passion of Joschka Fischer, and its Aftermath, a writer on politics and literature whose essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times and the New Republic, where he is a contributing editor; Ted Conover, the author of four books of nonfiction, including Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, an account of his 10 months spent working as a corrections officer at New York’s Sing Sing Prison; Lee Hotz, a science and technology reporter for the Los Angeles Times and a Pulitzer-Prize winner; Steven Johnson, the author of Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life and Everything Bad is Good For You: Why Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter, both bestsellers; James McBride, a writer and composer whose memoir, The Color of Water, was on The New York Times bestseller list for more than two years; and, Lawrence Weschler, a staff writer for The New Yorker since the 1980s and the author of several books, including Vermeer in Bosnia: Cultural Comedies and Political Tragedies.
These Distinguished Writers-in-Residence join Pete Hamill, who was appointed to the position in 2004.
For full bios of the Distinguished Writers in Residence, go to: http://journalism.nyu.edu/announce/2005-dwr.html
The six new members of the full-time faculty are the following: Dan Fagin, a former Newsday environmental reporter who is the associate director of the department’s Science and Environmental Reporting Program; Catherine Manegold, a former New York Times reporter and a seven-time Pulitzer Prize nominee; Mary Quigley, a journalist and author whose recent book, Going Back to Work: A Survival Guide, received national media attention; Charles Seife, a writer for Science magazine with a specialty in physics and mathematics; Steve Twomey, a Pulitzer Prize winner who has worked for The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Washington Post; and, Craig Wolff, a former sports, news, and feature writer for The New York Times.
For full bios of these faculty, go to: http://journalism.nyu.edu/announce/2005-newfulltime.html
Distinguished Writers-in-Residence is a new category of non-tenure track professorships created by NYU’s Faculty of Arts and Science to attract the best intellectual talent to NYU.
“There is a vast pool of intellectual and cultural talent in the New York City area employed outside of academia,” said Foley. “Eminent writers, journalists, and other professionals have expertise that can usefully supplement the research and instruction of the full- time faculty, while also providing links with New York City that would not be otherwise available to our students.”
NYU also named Brooke Kroeger, who has been on the department’s faculty since 1998, chair of the department for a three-year term. A long-time journalist, she is also the author of Passing: When People Can’t Be Who They Are, Fannie: The Talent for Success of Writer Fannie Hurst, and Nellie Bly: Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist.
NYU Journalism is also nearing the culmination of a major effort to rethink and reinvigorate its curriculum in both the graduate and undergraduate divisions, adapting to a rapidly changing media environment. These innovations reflect the convergence of print, broadcast, and digital media that is a fact of life in today’s journalism. They are also designed to enhance NYU’s distinctive approach to journalism education, which emphasizes exemplary professional skills within the context of a rich liberal arts education, fostering a broad intellectual outlook, and a critical perspective on the media’s role in society.