Learn More About the Knight-Wallace Fellowships and Hear from our Alumni.
Are you ready to take the next step in your journalism career with a Knight-Wallace Fellowship? Join our webinar with alumni Delece Smith-Barrow ‘17 and Bernice Yeung ‘16 and learn how the fellowship helped propel their careers. Hear about their application and fellowship experiences, ask them your questions, and discover what a year in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan can do for your life and journalism career.
Noon – 1 p.m. ET | Thursday, December 14. RSVP here to receive the Zoom link.
About the Speakers
Delece Smith-Barrow (2016-2017) is an Education Editor at Politico. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow she examined underrepresented minority faculty recruitment in top universities. With ample resources and time, she conducted extensive research and interviews to shed light on diversity, equity, and inclusion challenges in higher education.
Bernice Yeung (2015-2016) is Managing Editor with the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley School of Journalism. Yeung’s fellowship project explored how journalists can employ social science research methods in their reporting. During her fellowship, she conducted research that informed her award-winning book, “In a Day’s Work,” which investigated the sexual assault of immigrant farmworkers and female janitors.
Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship applications for the 2024-2025 academic year are open.
The deadline for U.S. applicants is February 1, 2024.
The University of Michigan Arts Initiative and the Wallace House Center for Journalists jointly announce the creation of a Knight-Wallace Arts Journalism Fellowship for the 2024-2025 academic year. This specialized fellowship is designed to underscore the importance of arts reporting and criticism in American journalism.
The Knight-Wallace Arts Journalism Fellowship will provide professional development opportunities and engagement with leading scholars, creators and innovators in the arts. The inaugural fellow will be a member of the Knight-Wallace Fellowship, now celebrating its 50th year, and a member of the University of Michigan’s campus-wide Arts Initiative, which seeks to illuminate and expand human connections, inspire collaborative creativity, and build a more just and equitable world through the arts.
The Knight-Wallace Arts Journalism Fellowship emerges as a crucial lifeline for art journalists as arts reporting positions are disappearing nationwide.
“By adding this dedicated Arts Journalism Fellowship, Wallace House affirms the importance of coverage of artists and the work they create to enrich, reflect and challenge society,” said Lynette Clemetson, director of Wallace House. “We hope to foster new ways of approaching and sustaining arts journalism across a range of platforms.”
The Knight-Wallace Arts Journalism Fellow will pursue an ambitious journalism project related to the arts and will have access to university courses, research and art creation across various disciplines, including art history, performance, policy, business, technology and design.
The Fellow will receive an $85,000 living stipend, $5,000 relocation reimbursement, and health insurance coverage for the academic year. They will participate in weekly Wallace House seminars, cohort-based workshops and training, and engagement with leaders and changemakers in journalism and the arts.
Arts Journalism Engagement
“The mission of the Arts Initiative includes energizing and nurturing the arts on campus and in our state,” notes its Interim Executive Director, Mark Clague. “This not only means making art happen, but it means inspiring a robust critical dialogue about creative work and its meanings—its joy, humanity, and challenges to our beliefs and understandings. The new Knight-Wallace Arts Fellow will be a catalyst of such conversations, especially for U-M students, and amplify the impact of the arts for all.”
Now Accepting Applications
Applications for the Knight-Wallace Arts Journalism Fellowship are now open to arts journalists and critics with at least five years of professional experience. Coverage areas may include but are not limited to music, dance, theater and other performing arts, visual arts and museum culture, literature and poetry, film and new media, architecture and design.
The application deadline is February 1, 2024. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. The selected fellow will be expected to relocate to the Ann Arbor area for the 2024-2025 academic year to study on campus at the University of Michigan.
On the application form, applicants for this new fellowship must describe their arts journalism work experience in their personal statement and explain in their journalism project proposal how their fellowship project is related to coverage of the arts.
Wallace House Center for Journalists and the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia at the University of Michigan vehemently condemn the brutal attack on Russian journalist Elena Milashina and lawyer Alexander Nemov on July 4th when she was reporting in Chechnya. Elena spent this last year with us in Ann Arbor and decided to forgo her second year of fellowship and return to Russia because, as she expressed, “there is work to do” there.
As today marks the 100th day of Evan Gershkovich’s wrongful detainment in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, we stand in solidarity with Elena, Evan, and all journalists and scholars whose freedom of speech is curtailed and whose life is threatened for bringing to light vital social and political issues. We hold dear and defend civil liberties and the rule of law, core principles of democratic societies. We wish Elena a full recovery and the ability to continue her work without harm or retribution. We will continue to uphold the vital work of journalists and scholars in uncovering, analyzing, and disseminating facts and truth. And we will continue to support those who spread knowledge about human rights abuses around the world.
Lynette Clemetson, Director, Wallace House Center for Journalists Geneviève Zubrzycki, Director, Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia and Professor of Sociology
Wallace House Center for Journalists is excited to welcome Ashley Bates as its Associate Director.
In this position, Bates will manage the daily operations of Wallace House and the Knight-Wallace Fellowship activities and support Wallace House director Lynette Clemetson in the strategic direction and running of all organizational programs and initiatives. Bates will also be responsible for alumni engagement, outreach activities across the journalism industry, and recruitment for the Knight-Wallace Fellowships, ensuring a diverse range of program participants.
“I am honored to join the Wallace House Center for Journalists team,” said Bates. “I look forward to getting to know this community, working in creative partnership with news organizations and alumni, and offering responsive programming and individualized support to Knight-Wallace Fellows.”
Bates comes to Wallace House with both organizational leadership and journalism experience. She has a demonstrated record of administering complex programs, nurturing alumni communities, leading professional development training, recruiting underrepresented voices, and executing imaginative programming that is tailored to the needs of organizations and their participants. For the past four years, she has served as the Program Manager for the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program, a top-ranked MFA program for fiction authors and poets. Previously, Bates managed graduate student recruitment and career mentorship initiatives for the University of Michigan’s International Institute.
Bates worked as an investigative journalist in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and the United States, producing videos and long-form features for The Nation, Haaretz, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, Tikkun, Jerusalem Post Magazine, GlobalPost, and Columbia Journalism Review.
Fluent in Arabic, she served for eight years as the Program Director and then the Executive Director of an Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and social justice advocacy organization called Hands of Peace.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Amherst College and a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School. Bates will start at Wallace House on May 1.
Welcome remarks by Tabbye Chavous, Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer
In 2013, longtime China correspondent Scott Tong came to the Knight-Wallace Fellowships to research China’s on-again, off-again ties with the global community and how it connected with his own family. The resulting book, “A Village with My Name: A Family History of China’s Opening to the World,” examines nationalism and globalization through the stories of five generations of Tongs.
Now a co-host of “Here and Now,” Tong returns to Wallace House to discuss Beijing’s increasing authoritarianism and international aggression and what it means for its future and that of globalization.
This is an in-person event and will not be live-streamed. A video recording will be available on our website after the event.
An evening with Anna Quindlen in conversation with Anne Curzan
“Write for Your Life” 6 PM | Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022
An in-person event at Rackham Auditorium 915 Washington Street
Free and open to the public
Best-selling author Anna Quindlen says recording our daily lives in an enduring form is more important than ever, urging all of us to pick up a pen and find ourselves. Join Anna Quindlen and Anne Curzan, LSA Dean and English Professor, for an in-person discussion about Quindlen’s book “Write for Your Life,” and learn how anyone can write and why everyone should.
Co-sponsors: College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Department of English Language and Literature Detroit Public Television Literati Bookstore Michigan Radio
Ira Shapiro with Chris Marquette
“The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America” 6 PM ET | Monday, Oct. 24, 2022
An in-person event at Weill Hall, Betty Ford Auditorium, Room 1110 725 S. State Street
Join Ira Shapiro, author and former Hill staffer, and Chris Marquette, Knight-Wallace Fellow and congressional reporter, for a discussion on Shapiro’s new book, “The Betrayal: How Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans Abandoned America,” our current political climate, and the state of democracy in these fractious times.
Hosted by: Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Co-sponsors: Alumni Association of the University of Michigan Democracy & Debate
Special Screening of the feature film “She Said,” and conversation with Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
In October 2017, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey of The New York Times broke the story of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual abuse allegations and ignited the #metoo movement. Meet the reporters behind the groundbreaking expose and watch the feature film, “She Said,” based on their book of the same name. The conversation with Kantor and Twohey will follow the movie screening.
This event will not be live-streamed. Wallace House and its co-sponsors will not receive any proceeds from ticket sales.
Co-sponsors: College of Engineering College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
An MLK Symposium Event with Linda Villarosa
“Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation”
4:30 PM | Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023
An in-person event Annenberg Auditorium, Ford School
Wallace House Presents Linda Villarosa, journalist, educator and writer for The New York Times Magazine, as she examines racial inequities and bias in U.S. medical care and the devastating consequences on the health and well-being of Black Americans.
Wallace House Presents journalist and scholar Jelani Cobb,in conversation with Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes, as part of the continuing series: “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.” Watch Cobb, dean of Columbia Journalism School and staff writer for The New Yorker, as he examines race, historic challenges to democracy, the impact of the media, and how these inform our current moment.
February 24 marks one year since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian-born retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, former Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council examines the current state of the war and its impacts on the Ukrainian people, the implications for global security, and prospects for peace and rebuilding.
Discussion moderated by Geneviève Zubrzycki, professor of sociology and WCEE Director, and John Ciorciari, professor of public policy and director of the Ford School’s Weiser Diplomacy Center.
Featuring a special performance by members of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America.
The event will conclude with a candlelight vigil on the Diag.
This evening is organized by the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia in partnership with the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies; Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures; Ukrainian Club at U-M; Weiser Diplomacy Center; and Wallace House Center for Journalists.
An Evening with CNN Anchor Chris Wallace and Governor Gretchen Whitmer
6 pm | Wednesday, March 8
An in-person event at Rackham Auditorium 915 E Washington Street
This is a free and ticketed event Tickets are required to attend
Wallace House Presents CNN AnchorChris Wallace and Governor Gretchen Whitmer as part of the continuing series: “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.” Join this hour-long special event with Mr. Wallace and Governor Whitmer as they discuss politics, public service, the media, and the state of our democracy, with opening remarks by the University of Michigan PresidentSanta Ono.
As natural disasters become more frequent and devastating, how can newsrooms better prepare for the reporting and operations challenges posed by these emergencies?
Covering Natural Disasters is a one-day symposium developed by current Knight-Wallace Fellow María Arce to bring together journalists, extreme weather experts, and emergency managers in a small group to discuss best practices for covering disasters and solutions to working with limited resources amid the destruction and tragedy of these events.
This symposium is an opportunity for editors, staff reporters, and freelancers to learn, connect and be better prepared to cover the next natural disaster with new skills and trauma-informed practices
The Eisendrath Symposium with Fred de Sam Lazaro of PBS NewsHour
“Under-Told Stories: Keeping International Stories in the News”
Wallace House Presents Fred de Sam Lazaro,executive director of the Under-Told Stories Project and correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, as he takes a critical look at the world’s underreported events and awakens us to understand the daily concerns of faraway people who increasingly affect our lives. A 1989 Michigan Journalism Fellow (later named the Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship), de Sam Lazaro founded Under-Told Stories a journalism project focused on the consequences of poverty and the work of change agents addressing them telling stories about the world’s biggest challenges including climate, food and water, and human rights.
Wallace House Presents Fred de Sam Lazaro, executive director of Under-Told Stories and correspondent for the “PBS NewsHour,” as he takes a critical look at the world’s underreported events and awakens us to understand the daily concerns of faraway people whose lives and challenges intersect with our own. A 1989 Michigan Journalism Fellow (later named the Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship), de Sam Lazaro founded Under-Told Stories in 2006, a journalism project focused on the consequences of poverty and stories about the world’s biggest challenges, including climate, food and water, and human rights. In addition to producing content for news organizations, Under-Told Stories collaborates with educators to engage students on the pressing issues of our time.
The Eisendrath Symposium honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.
About the speaker Fred de Sam Lazaro is the executive director of Under-Told Stories and has served as a “PBS NewsHour” correspondent since 1985. He was also a regular contributor and substitute anchor for PBS’ “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.” Fred also has directed films from India and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the acclaimed documentary series “Wide Angle.”
Fred has reported from 70 countries, focusing on the myriad issues underlying poverty and human suffering, which are underreported in the mainstream U.S. media. He founded the Under-Told Stories Project, now located at the University of St. Thomas, which is building a library of social innovation and entrepreneurship reports designed to use storytelling to enhance students’ understanding of the pressing global issues of our time.
An evening with scholar and journalist Jelani Cobb in conversation with Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Ford School interim dean
“The Half-Life of Freedom: Notes on Race, Media and Democracy”
6 PM | TUESDAY, JAN. 24, 2023
An in-person event at Rackham Auditorium 915 East Washington Street
Did you miss the in-person event or would you like to watch it again? Watch the video recording.
Wallace House Presents journalist and scholar Jelani Cobb,in conversation with Ford School interim dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes, as part of the continuing series: “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.” Watch Cobb, dean of Columbia Journalism School and staff writer for The New Yorker, as he examines race, historic challenges to democracy, the impact of the media, and how these inform our current moment.
About Jelani Cobb
Jelani Cobb is the dean of Columbia Journalism School and a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he writes about race, politics, history and culture. He received a Peabody Award for his 2020 PBS Frontline film “Whose Vote Counts” and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary in 2018. He has also been a political analyst for MSNBC since 2019.
He is the author of “The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress” and “To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic.” He is the editor or co-editor of several volumes, including “The Matter of Black Lives,” a collection of The New Yorker’s writings on race, and “The Essential Kerner Commission Report.” He is the producer or co-producer on a number of documentaries, including “Lincoln’s Dilemma,” “Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union” and “Policing the Police.”
Dr. Cobb was educated at Jamaica High School in Queens, New York; Howard University, where he earned a B.A. in English; and Rutgers University, where he completed his M.A. and doctorate in American history in 2003. He received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation and the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
About Celeste Watkins-Hayes
Celeste Watkins-Hayes is the interim dean of the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and founding director of the school’s Center for Racial Justice. She is also the Jean E. Fairfax Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, professor of sociology and an Anti-Racism Collaborative research and community impact fellow.
She is an internationally recognized scholar and expert widely credited for her research at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and institutions, with a special focus on urban poverty and race, class and gender studies. Dr. Watkins-Hayes has published two books, numerous articles in journals and edited volumes, and pieces in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education and Chicago Magazine. She has been widely quoted in the popular press as a national expert on social inequality, HIV/AIDS and societal safety nets.
Dr. Watkins-Hayes holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from Harvard University and a B.A. from Spelman College, where she graduated summa cum laude.
Research and writing about racial health disparities in the United States often focus on poverty and poor education as primary causes for disparate outcomes. Journalist and educator Linda Villarosa says those gaps don’t account for the fact that Black Americans “live sicker and die quicker” than their White counterparts regardless of income and education. They don’t explain why a Black woman with a college education is more likely to die or almost die in childbirth in the U.S. than a White woman with an eighth-grade education. The under-acknowledged effects of racism, Villarosa argues, have numerous devastating consequences on Black bodies, on the healthcare system, and on the health of our society as a whole.
Join us as we welcome Linda Villarosa in conversation with Lynette Clemetson, director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, with a special welcome by Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Interim Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Founding Director of the Ford School’s Center for Racial Justice.
About the speaker
Linda Villarosais a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine where she covers race, inequality and public health. Her book, “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation” was named one of the best books of 2022 by The Washington Post, Time Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly and NPR. A journalism professor and program director at the City University of New York, she is a former health editor for The New York Times and former executive editor of Essence magazine. Villarosa has written and led coverage for years on the intersection of race, medicine and social justice. Her work has won numerous awards and has prompted national conversations on topics including black infant and maternal mortality; medical myths tied to race; eugenics; and the disparate toll of pandemics on Black communities from HIV/AIDS to Covid-19.
About the moderator
Lynette Clemetson is the Charles R. Eisendrath Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, home of the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists and the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists at the University of Michigan.
Newly appointed Livingston Award judges from left to right: Audie Cornish of CNN, Sally Buzbee of The Washington Post and Sewell Chan of The Texas Tribune.
Audie Cornish, Sally Buzbee and Sewell Chan join the Livingston Awards
Wallace House Center for Journalists and the Livingston Awards panel of national judges welcome Audie Cornish of CNN, Sally Buzbee of The Washington Post and Sewell Chan of The Texas Tribune to the Livingston Awards national judging panel. They will join our regional and national judges in identifying the best reporting and storytelling by journalists under 35.
Cornish is an anchor and correspondent for CNN. She hosts the CNN Audio podcast “The Assignment” and appears on CNN covering national, political and breaking news. Before joining CNN, Cornish was the co-host of NPR’s afternoon news program, “All Things Considered.” She began her journalism career with The Associated Press in Boston in 2001.
Buzbee is the executive editor of The Washington Post. She is the first woman to lead the Post’s newsroom. Under her leadership, the organization has created four managing editor roles and added 41 editor positions. Starting with The Associated Press in 1988 as a reporter in Kansas, she served as the organization’s Middle East regional editor, based in Cairo, Washington bureau chief, and executive editor.
Chan is the editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune. Previously he was the deputy managing editor and editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times. Chan worked at The New York Times as a metro reporter, Washington correspondent, deputy op-ed editor, and international news editor. He began his career as a local reporter at The Washington Post in 2000.
In addition to Cornish, Buzbee and Chan, the national judging panel includes Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer, “Frontline,” PBS; Matt Murray, editor in chief, The Wall Street Journal; Lydia Polgreen, opinion columnist, The New York Times; María Elena Salinas, contributor, ABC News; Bret Stephens, op-ed columnist, The New York Times; and Kara Swisher, executive producer, Code Conference and host of the podcast “Pivot.” The national judges read all final entries and meet to select the Livingston winners in the local, national and international reporting categories and the Richard M. Clurman recipient, an award honoring a senior journalist for on-the-job mentoring.
As we welcome these three new judges, four of our long-serving national judges will move to emeritus status and continue to serve the Livingston Awards in various capacities. These include our longest-serving Livingston Award judge, Ken Auletta, who joined the judging panel in 1982; Clarence Page, who has been with the Livingston Awards since 1993; and John Harris and Anna Quindlen, who became Livingston Awards judges in 2009.
The Livingston Awards regional judges read all qualifying entries and select the finalists in local, national and international reporting categories. Their selections move to the national judges for the final round of judging. The regional judging panel includes Molly Ball, national political correspondent, TIME; Stella Chávez, immigration and demographics reporter, KERA Public Radio (Dallas); Chris Davis, deputy for the Local Investigative Reporting Fellowship, The New York Times; David Greene, host, “In the Moment with David Greene,” Religion of Sports and PRX; Stephen Henderson, executive editor, BridgeDetroit; Shirley Leung, associate editor, The Boston Globe; and Amna Nawaz, co-anchor, “PBS NewsHour.”
This year’s Livingston Award winners will be announced on June 13, 2023, at a ceremony in New York City.
About the Livingston Awards
Livingston Awards honor journalists under the age of 35 for outstanding achievement in local, national and international reporting across all forms of journalism. The awards bolster the work of young reporters, create the next generation of journalism leaders and mentors, and advance civic engagement around powerful storytelling.
This event will not be live-streamed. Wallace House and its co-sponsors will not receive any proceeds from ticket sales.
A special screening and conversation
On October 5, 2017, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey of The New York Times broke the story of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual abuse allegations and changed the world. The publication of their investigation spurred the #MeToo movement, with victims voicing allegations of systemic sexual harassment and abuse by hundreds of powerful men across every walk of life and industry.
Meet the reporters behind the groundbreaking expose and watch the feature film, “She Said,” based on their book of the same name. The conversation with Kantor and Twohey will follow the movie screening.
Carey Mulligan portrays Megan Twohey, and Zoe Kazan portrays Jodi Kantor in the film “She Said,” based on the reporters’ book of the same name.
About Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
Jodi Kantor is a prize-winning investigative reporter and best-selling author whose work has revealed hidden truths about power, gender, technology, politics and culture.
In October 2017, she and Megan Twohey broke the story of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual abuse allegations. Before then, Kantor’s reporting on the havoc caused by automated scheduling systems in Starbucks workers’ lives spurred changes at the company and helped launch a national fair scheduling movement. After she and David Streitfeld investigated publishing practices at Amazon’s corporate headquarters, the company changed its human resources policies, introducing paternity leave and eliminating its employee ranking.
Kantor is also a contributor to “CBS Mornings.”
Megan Twohey is a prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times who has focused much of her attention on the treatment of women and children.
In addition to breaking the story of Harvey Weinstein, she uncovered an underground network where parents gave away adopted children they no longer wanted to strangers they met on the internet. Known as private re-homing, the illicit practice took place with no government oversight and at great risk to children. “The Child Exchange” series prompted states to pass new laws to protect children. Two of the main subjects were sent to prison. Twohey testified before a U.S. Senate committee.
While reporting in Chicago, Twohey exposed how police and prosecutors were shelving DNA evidence collected after sex crimes, robbing victims of the chance for justice. In response to her stories, Illinois passed the first state law mandating the testing of every rape kit.
Twohey is also a contributor to NBC and MSNBC.
In addition to her work on “As the World Turns,” Landon has also appeared on several other NBC shows, including “The Night Shift” and “Chicago Med.” She has proven herself to be a versatile actress who is capable of portraying a wide range of characters, from tough and gritty to vulnerable and emotional.
Overall, Jennifer Landon’s career has been closely tied to NBC, as she has appeared on several of the network’s most popular shows over the years. Her talent and dedication to her craft have made her one of the most respected actresses of her generation, and she continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry.
