Wallace House Presents Our 2024-2025 Events

Wallace House Presents our 2024-2025 lineup of live events with Mazin Sidahmed, Bret Stephens, Lydia Polgreen, María Elena Salinas and Stephen Henderson. Please mark your calendars for the events below and join us.

The 37th Annual Hovey Lecture with Mazin Sidahmed of Documented
“Sorting Immigration Facts from Fiction: The Power of Local Reporting Amid National Politics”

Tuesday, September 10, 2024 | 5 PM
Reception following lecture

Wallace House Gardens, 620 Oxford Road
An in-person outdoor event

Join Mazin Sidahmed, 2021 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow and co-founder of the non-profit newsroom Documented, for a discussion on how shifting our journalism focus from national coverage to local news outlets and from “reporting about” to “reporting for and with” immigrant communities can help us discern immigration fact from fiction and improve outcomes for everyone.

This is an in-person event and will not be live-streamed. However, a recording of the lecture will be available on our website following the event.

More information about this event.

2025 Knight-Wallace Fellow Dieu-Nalio Chery

“Contextualize Haiti’s Demising Situation” Photo Project with Dieu-Nalio Chery

Friday, September 13, 2024 | 10:20 AM

Michigan Union Room 2210 2nd Floor
530 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Free and open to the public

Our 2025 Knight-Wallace Fellow, Dieu-Nalio Chery, will present his photojournalistic work showcasing Haiti’s descent at the first annual symposium titled: “Contextualize Haiti’s Demising Situation.” Dieu-Nalio Chery is a freelance photojournalist from Haiti who is now based in Michigan. For over a decade, Chery worked for The Associated Press, documenting the profound beauty, searing pain and upheaval in his homeland.

The symposium will bring together scholars and specialists in Haitian Studies, filmmakers, photographers and community leaders to discuss current issues relevant to Haiti, the Haitian diaspora, and actors involved in development in Haiti.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsors:
College of Literature, Science and the Arts
Office of Academic Mulicultural Initiatives (OAMI)
School of Social Work (Diversity Equity and Inclusion)
Rackham Graduate School
International Institute

A Conversation with NYT Technology Reporter Kashmir Hill

Monday, October 7, 2024 | 4:15 PM

Annenberg Auditorium, Weill Hall
735 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Free and open to the public

Please join us for an engaging conversation with New York Times technology reporter Kashmir Hill and Shobita Parthasarathy, Faculty Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) Program. Our speakers will explore the intersection of technology and privacy, addressing some of today’s most salient issues.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsors:
Gerald R. Ford School

2025 Knight-Wallace Fellow Joseph Sywnkyj

WCEE Exhibition. Verses from a Nation in Transition. Ukraine in Photographs by Joseph Sywenkyj

Tuesday, October 1 – Friday, November 29, 2024
International Institute Gallery, Weiser Hall Room 547 | 500 Church Street

WCEE Distinguished Lecture
Monday, October 21, 2024 | 5:30 PM
Weiser Hall Room 1010 | 500 Church Street

Free and open to the public

Joseph Sywenkyj is the 2024-25 Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia’s Distinguished Fellow, and a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. An award-winning American photographer of Ukrainian descent, Sywenkyj has lived and worked in Ukraine for the last two decades. He is a frequent contributor to publications in Europe and Eurasia and to The Wall Street Journal, and his photographs have been exhibited in galleries and museums, including the United Nations Visitor’s Lobby in New York and the Taras Shevchenko National Museum in Kyiv.

More information about the photo exhibit.
More information about this event.

Hosted by:
Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia

Co-sponsors:
International Institute

One Nation, Divergent Views: A Roundtable Discussion

Wednesday, October 23, 2024 | 6 PM

Rackham Auditorium
915 E Washington St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Free and open to the public

Watch the video recording.

Join Wallace House and the Institute for Social Research for a live conversation driven by journalism and social science in the run-up to the presidential election. Hear special guests Bret Stephens and Lydia Polgreen of The New York Times, María Elena Salinas of ABC News, and Vince Hutchings of U-M Center for Political Studies in conversation with veteran Michigan journalist Stephen Henderson. As part of the University of Michigan’s Year of Democracy, Civic Empowerment, and Global Engagement initiative, this special event will provide insights on critical issues shaping the 2024 election and social science research on the American voting public.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsors:
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Institute for Social Research
U-M’s Year of Democracy, Civic Empowerment and Global Engagement initiative
DPTV

Holger Roonemaa and Inga Springe

Investigative Journalism in the Baltics: Breaking the Kremlin’s Operations in Estonia and Latvia

CREES Noon Lecture
Wednesday, January 15 | Noon to 1:20 PM
555 Weiser Hall

Holger Roonemaa and Inga Springe are two of the foremost investigative journalists covering the ongoing hybrid war between Russia and the Baltic states. Roonemaa, a 2025 Knight-Wallace Fellow from Estonia, and Springe, from Latvia, have spent years uncovering the covert tactics Russia employs to destabilize their countries—efforts that include funding political parties, spreading disinformation, inciting violence, and launching cyber-attacks. Their work has exposed the persistent threat Russia poses to these NATO allies, despite their integration into the European Union and the alliance two decades ago.

More information about this event.

Hosted by:
Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

An MLK Symposium Event

“Where Do We Go From Here? Perspectives on Race, Democracy and Justice”

Wednesday, January 29 | 6:30 PM
Helmut Stern Auditorium, Musuem of Art

Free and open to the public.





As part of the University of Michigan’s MLK Symposium, please join us for a conversation with three prominent scholars of African American political history about possible futures for movements for racial justice and democratic change during the new presidential administration.

Join Jelani Cobb, Dean of Columbia Journalism School, staff writer for The New Yorker and MSNBC political commentator, alongside U-M professors Angela Dillard and Stephen Ward, to discuss the challenges, and opportunities, facing advocates for Martin Luther King’s vision of racial equality and multiracial democracy in the coming years. 

Lynette Clemetson, director of U-M’s Wallace House Center for Journalists, will be the event’s moderator.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsor:
Department of Afroamerican and African Studies
Department of History
Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies

Eisendrath Symposium and WCEE Panel Event

“Press Freedom in Central and Eastern Europe in the Age of Putin”

Thursday, February 13 | 4:30 PM
Rackham Amphitheater

Free and open to the public

With journalists Baktygul Chynybaeva of Kyrgyzstan, Holger Roonemaa of Estonia and Joseph Sywenkyj of Ukraine and the U.S., in conversation with Geneviève Zubrzycki, Director of the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia

As the Kremlin tries to silence independent media through bans, censorship and “foreign agent” labels, this repression has spread to Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where some governments are replicating Putin’s laws and tactics. How can journalists safeguard access to accurate information in the face of these escalating threats?

More information about this event.

The Eisendrath Symposium honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.

Co-Sponsor:
Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia

17 Blocks Premiere Screening and Conversation

Tuesday, March 18 | 6 PM
Michigan Theater

Reserve your free ticket here.

In 1999, filmmaker Davy Rothgart gave nine-year-old Emmanual Sanford-Durant a camera. The boy and his family began filming their daily lives in America’s most dangerous neighborhood — just 17 blocks behind the U.S. Capitol. Together, Davy and the Sanfords kept filming and collaborating for 20 years. This critically acclaimed documentary illuminates a nation’s ongoing crisis through one family’s raw, stirring and deeply personal saga.

Watch the trailer.

More information about this event.

Co-Sponsor:
Center for Racial Justice

Laura Santhanam

Disappearing Federal Data: Implications and Preservation Efforts

Tuesday, April 29 | Noon
Institute for Social Research | Room 143
426 Thompson Street

In-person and Live stream

Join Wallace House Center for Journalists and the Institute for Social Research for an expert panel on disappearing federal data. The panel includes Knight-Wallace Fellow Laura Santhanam, Professor of Communication and Media Josh Pasek, Director, Digital Scholarship and Creative Spaces Justin Schell, Government Information, Law and Political Science Librarian Catherine Morse. Moderated by Associate Professor of Information Libby Hemphill, the panel will discuss the current threat to federal data, societal implications, and preservation efforts.

More information

Hosted by:
Institute for Social Research

The Ann Arbor Premeire of 17 BLOCKS

Wallace House Presents the Ann Arbor premiere of 17 BLOCKS and Q&A with filmmaker Davy Rothbart and members of the Sanford family

6 PM | Tuesday, March 18
Michigan Theater


RESERVE YOUR FREE TICKET ONLINE AT MICHIGAN THEATER

This event will not be live-streamed

A Premiere Screening and Conversation

In 1999, filmmaker Davy Rothbart gave nine-year-old Emmanual Sanford-Durant a camera. The boy and his family began filming their daily lives in America’s most dangerous neighborhood — just 17 blocks behind the U.S. Capitol. Together, Davy and the Sanfords kept filming and collaborating for 20 years. This critically acclaimed documentary illuminates a nation’s ongoing crisis through one family’s raw, stirring and deeply personal saga.

Watch the trailer.

About the filmmaker

A native of Ann Arbor, Davy Rothbart is a 2024-25 Knight-Wallace Fellow, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, bestselling author, journalist, creator of Found Magazine and frequent contributor to public radio’s “This American Life.”

His previous documentary “Medora,” about a resilient high-school basketball team in a dwindling Indiana town, based on The New York Times story by Pulitzer Prize winner John Branch, was executive produced by Steve Buscemi and Stanley Tucci, and premiered at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival.

Rothbart’s work has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, The California Sunday Magazine, GQ and Grantland, while his stories on “This American Life” have amassed more than 30 million listeners. Rothbart is the author of the bestselling essay collection “My Heart Is an Idiot,” and he contributed writing to the Oscar-winning short “The Neighbor’s Window.” He is also the founder of Washington To Washington, an annual hiking adventure for kids from underserved communities.

Co-Sponsor

Center for Racial Justice

The Eisendrath Symposium: Press Freedom in Central and Eastern Europe in the Age of Putin

Wallace House Presents a WCEE Panel and Eisendrath Symposium Event

With Baktygul Chynybaeva, Holger Roonemaa and Joseph Sywenkyj
Moderated by Geneviève Zubrzycki

4:30 PM | Thursday, February 13, 2025
Rackham Amphitheater, Fourth Floor

Reception following the discussion

Free and open to the public.
This is a non-ticketed event.

Press Freedom in Central and Eastern Europe in the Age of Putin

In the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has taken extraordinary steps to try to silence independent media through bans, censorship and repressive labels like “foreign agents.” This crackdown has spread to Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where some governments are mirroring not only Putin’s laws but also his actions — arresting and even killing journalists to suppress free speech. 

How can journalists safeguard access to accurate information and combat disinformation in the face of these escalating threats?

Join our panel of journalists from the region, featuring Knight-Wallace Fellows Baktygul Chynybaeva of Kyrgyzstan and Holger Roonemaa of Estonia, and Joseph Sywenkyj of Ukraine and the U.S., WCEE Distinguished Fellow and Knight-Wallace Fellow. Moderated by Geneviève Zubrzycki, Director of the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia, the group will discuss these critical issues and why their work matters to us all.

The Eisendrath Symposium honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.

About the Speakers

Baktygul Chynybaeva, 2024-25 Knight-Wallace Fellow,  is a journalist from Kyrgyzstan with more than 20 years of experience covering healthcare, environmental and human rights issues. Fluent in five languages, she serves as a correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s central newsroom in Prague. Her investigative reporting on the dire condition of children’s cancer care in Kyrgyzstan inspired significant reforms in the country’s policies. Chynybaeva is also actively involved in organizing training sessions and capacity-building programs for journalists across Central Asian countries.

Holger Roonemaa, 2024-25 Knight-Wallace Fellow, manages the investigative and fact-checking team at the daily news site Delfi Estonia. He is also an editor with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). He has covered money laundering, corruption and evasion of sanctions, and topics related to national security, espionage and propaganda. In recent years, most of his investigations have focused on Russian security threats in Baltic countries. He led and coordinated the “Kremlin Papers” project, a high-profile investigative collaboration that detailed election interference, information manipulation and territorial aggression by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Joseph Sywenkyj, 2024-25 WCEE Distinguished Fellow and Knight-Wallace Fellow, is an American photographer of Ukrainian descent who has lived and worked in Ukraine for approximately 20 years. His photography throughout Ukraine, Eastern Europe and Central Asia has been published regularly in The Wall Street Journal, as well as in The New York Times. His ongoing photographic series, “Wounds,” is an intimate study of Ukrainian activists and soldiers who were severely wounded during the Euromaidan Revolution and Russia’s current war against Ukraine. Sywenkyj has exhibited his photographs in numerous galleries and museums in both the United States and abroad. He was the recipient of two Fulbright scholarships, one as a student and the other as a scholar, and also received a W. Eugene Smith Grant and an Aftermath Project Grant.

About the Moderator

Geneviève Zubrzycki is the Weiser Family Professor of European and Eurasian Studies and the William H. Sewell, Jr. Collegiate Professor of Sociology at U-M. She is the director of WCEE and the Copernicus Center for Polish Studies. She previously served as director of the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies and the Center for European Studies. Her research focuses on nationalism and religion, collective memory, the post-communist transition, and cultural politics in Eastern Europe and North America. Her award-winning books have been translated into Polish and French. In 2021, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Bronisław Malinowski Prize in the Social Sciences from the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA). She serves on the Board of Directors of The Reckoning Project, an NGO investigating war crimes committed against civilian populations in Ukraine; the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America; and the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur la diversité et la démocratie(CRIDAQ) at the Université du Québec à Montréal. 

Co-sponsors:
Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia

This event is produced with support from Knight Foundation.

Webinar for Prospective Fellowship Applicants

Knight-Wallace alumni and webinar presenters (left to right): Candice Choi, Arnessa Garrett, Chantel Jennings, Neda Ulaby, Maria Arce, and Azi Paybarah.

Conversational Webinars for Knight-Wallace Fellowship Applicants

Wallace House Center for Journalists invites all interested Knight-Wallace Fellowship applicants to a webinar conversation on one of the three dates listed below.

Meet our Knight-Wallace alumni and discover how their year in Ann Arbor, access to a world-class university’s resources, and dedicated time to focus on a journalism project broadened their perspectives and advanced their careers. They’ll answer your questions and share insights about the Knight-Wallace Fellowship experience.

Monday, Oct. 21, Noon to 1:15 p.m. ET

  • Candice Choi, editor for The Wall Street Journal
  • Neda Ulaby, cultural correspondent for NPR

Friday, Nov. 15, Noon to 1:15 p.m. ET

  • Arnessa Garrett, editor at The Advocate/ Times-Picayune
  • Maria Arce, journalist and editor specialized in covering natural disasters

Wednesday, Jan. 15, Noon to 1:15 p.m. ET
For U.S. applicants only

  • Chantel Jennings, senior writer for The Athletic
  • Azi Paybarah, national reporter for The Washington Post

More About Our Alumni Presenters

Monday, Oct. 21, noon – 1:15 p.m. ET

Candice Choi  | Class of 2018

Candice Choi is a news editor on the finance team at The Wall Street Journal. She joined the Journal from CNBC, where she was an editor on the company and business news team. Before that, she spent most of her career at the Associated Press, where she served in a variety of roles on the business news and health and science teams. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she researched the social and corporate forces influencing our eating habits.

Neda Ulaby | Class of 2019

Neda Ulaby is a cultural correspondent for NPR, where she has worked in diverse roles for more than 20 years. In 2012, Ulaby also hosted the Emmy-award winning public television series, Arab American Stories. Before coming to NPR, Ulaby was the managing editor of Chicago’s Windy City Times and co-hosted a local radio program. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she studied the cultural history of the veil in world religions.

Friday, Nov. 15, noon – 1:15 p.m. ET

Arnessa Garrett | Class of 2019

Arnessa Garrett is the Opinion Page editor at The Advocate / Times-Picayune. She previously worked as the metro editor at the Dallas Morning News and as senior editor of news at The Daily Advertiser, a community newspaper in her hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she explored how to rebuild trust with local audiences through digital engagement.

Maria Arce | Class of 2023 

Maria Arce is a journalist and editor who specializes in covering natural disasters. Based in Puerto Rico for seven years, she worked as the digital multiplatform director of El Vocero and a correspondent for numerous media outlets, including serving as an editorial coach at Global Press. While working for GFR Media, she led digital coverage of Hurricane María. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she curated emergency response strategies tailored to the needs of small newsrooms. 

Wednesday, Jan. 15, noon – 1:15 p.m. ET
For U.S. applicants only

Chantel Jennings | Class of 2020

Chantel Jennings is The Athletic’s senior writer for women’s basketball. Before joining The Athletic, she worked for almost a decade as a staff writer at ESPN.com, covering Pac-12 and Big Ten football, men’s and women’s college basketball, and NCAA track and field. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, she developed a first-of-its-kind national survey that created a picture of the more than 600 college newsrooms across America. 

Azi Paybarah | Class of 2018

Azi Paybarah is a national reporter for The Washington Post. He previously covered politics for The New York Times and was part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Before that, he reported for The New York Observer, WNYC and Politico New York. As a Knight-Wallace Fellow, he looked at strategies for rebuilding media credibility by reaching beyond natural audiences.

Application Deadlines

Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship applications for the 2025-2026 academic year are now open.
International applications are now closed.
The deadline for U.S. applicants is February 1, 2025.

More About the Knight-Wallace Fellowships

One Nation, Divergent Views: A Pre-Election Roundtable

(left to right) New York Times columnists Bret Stephens and Lydia Polgreen, ABC News’ María Elena Salinas, University of Michigan professor Vincent Hutchings
and WDET’s Stephen Henderson

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2024 | 6 PM

Rackham Auditorium
915 E Washington St
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Watch the video recording.

A Special Election Event

Join Wallace House and the Institute for Social Research for a live conversation driven by journalism and social science in the run-up to the presidential election. Hear special guests Bret Stephens and Lydia Polgreen of The New York Times, María Elena Salinas of ABC News, and Vincent Hutchings of U-M Center for Political Studies in conversation with veteran Michigan journalist Stephen Henderson. As part of the University of Michigan’s Year of Democracy, Civic Empowerment, and Global Engagement initiative, this special event will provide insights on critical issues shaping the 2024 election and social science research on the American voting public.

Drawing on findings from the 75-year-long American National Election Studies, the discussion will explore the dramatic rise of political polarization, the significant decline in public trust in government — which has dropped from 80% in the 1950s to just 20% today — and other key factors influencing voter behavior. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear diverse perspectives on the forces shaping the upcoming election.

About the Speakers

Vincent Hutchings is a professor of political science at the University of Michigan and an expert in public opinion, elections, voting behavior and African American politics. He was one of the principal investigators for the American National Election Studies (ANES) from 2010 to 2017.  The ANES is the premier academic survey of American voting, public opinion, and political participation. The ANES was launched at the University of Michigan during the 1948 presidential election and has collected the highest quality national survey data, with questions dating as far back as the 1950s and 1960s, in every presidential election since then.

Lydia Polgreen is an opinion columnist at The New York Times and a co-host of the “Matter of Opinion” podcast. Previously, she served as managing director of Gimlet, a podcast studio at Spotify, and as editor-in-chief of HuffPost, leading a team of hundreds of journalists publishing 16 editions across the globe in nine languages. Her leadership at HuffPost followed a 15-year career at The New York Times that included roles as associate masthead editor, deputy international editor, South Africa bureau chief, a correspondent for the New Delhi bureau and chief of the West Africa bureau. Before joining The Times, Polgreen was a staff writer for the Orlando Sentinel and the Albany Times Union. She received the 2009 Livingston Award for international reporting for her series, “The Spoils,” an account of how mineral wealth brought misery and exploitation to much of Africa.

María Elena Salinas is a contributor to ABC News. For more than 30 years, she served as co-anchor of Univision Network’s flagship daily newscast, “Noticiero Univision,” and for 18 years she was the co-host and correspondent for the network’s weekly newsmagazine, “Aquí y Ahora.” Called the “Voice of Hispanic America” by The New York Times, Salinas is the most recognized Hispanic female journalist in the United States. Most recently, Salinas served as a contributor for CBS News, where she reported across platforms and on coverage of the 2020 presidential election. She also anchored the award-winning documentary, “Pandemia: Latinos in Crisis,” which looked at how COVID-19 has affected the Latinx community.

Bret Stephens is an opinion columnist for The New York Times, writing about foreign policy, domestic politics and cultural issues. He also has a weekly published conversation on current affairs with his colleague, Gail Collins. Previously, he was the foreign affairs columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a member of the Journal’s editorial board and the deputy editor of the editorial page, responsible for international opinion. Stephens was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his column “Global View,” receiving the honor for “his incisive columns on American foreign policy and domestic politics, often enlivened by a contrarian twist.”

About the moderator

Stephen Henderson hosts the daily radio show “Created Equal” on WDET, Detroit’s public radio station, and is the longtime host of “American Black Journal” and a regular contributor to “One Detroit” on Detroit PBS. Previously, he was the editorial page editor and a columnist for the Detroit Free Press. He has also worked for the Chicago Tribune and the Baltimore Sun and spent four years covering the Supreme Court for Knight Ridder’s Washington Bureau. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and a former editorial page editor of The Michigan Daily, the school’s 125-year-old daily student newspaper.

Co-Sponsors
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Institute for Social Research
U-M’s Year of Democracy, Civic Empowerment and Global Engagement initiative
DPTV

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The 37th Graham Hovey Lecture with Mazin Sidahmed of Documented

“Sorting Immigration Facts from Fiction: The Power of Local Reporting Amid National Politics”

September 10, 2024 | 5 p.m.
Reception following the lecture

Wallace House Gardens
620 Oxford Road, Ann Arbor

Welcome remarks by Valeria Bertacco,
Vice Provost for Engaged Learning, University of Michigan

Watch the video recording.

In a deeply polarizing election year, immigration remains one of the most contentious, sensationalized issues in American politics. Beyond the partisan rallying cries influencing the presidential race, immigration plays out in individual communities where needs, resources and actions often transcend party lines and knee-jerk responses. How journalists cover immigration – and who their coverage ultimately serves – can shape how Americans understand and debate this issue for generations.

Join Mazin Sidahmed, 2021 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow and co-founder of the non-profit newsroom Documented, for a discussion on how shifting our journalism focus from national coverage to local news outlets and from “reporting about” to “reporting for and with” immigrant communities can help us discern immigration fact from fiction and improve outcomes for everyone.

This is an in-person event and will not be live-streamed. However, a recording of the lecture will be available on our website following the event.

About the Speaker

Mazin Sidahmed is the co-founder and co-executive editor of Documented, an independent, non-profit newsroom dedicated to reporting with and for immigrant communities in New York City. He previously worked for the Guardian US in New York during the 2016 US elections, covering various issues, including surveillance and criminal justice, and the rise of hate crimes following the election. Sidahmed left the news desk to join the award-winning Guardian Mobile Innovation Lab, where he helped develop new mobile-specific story formats. He started his career writing for The Daily Star in Beirut, where he reported on the Syrian refugee crisis, weapons transfers to Lebanon and the plight of migrant domestic workers.

As a 2021 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow, Sidahmed reported for Documented on the role of local police in federal immigration enforcement.

About the Graham Hovey Lecture

The annual Graham Hovey Lecture recognizes a Knight-Wallace journalist whose career exemplifies the benefits of a fellowship at the University of Michigan and whose ensuing work is at the forefront of our national conversations. The event is named for the late Graham Hovey, director of the fellowship program from 1980 to 1986 and a distinguished journalist for The New York Times.

Michigan Public is a co-sponsor of this event.

Wallace House Presents An Evening with Kara Swisher and Mary Barra

6 PM | Monday, Mar. 18, 2024

Rackham Auditorium
915 E Washington St

Free and open to the public.

Register for this event.
Registrations are not required but allow us to send you event
updates and reminders.

This is an in-person event. The event will also be livestreamed here.
Seating is on a first-come basis.

Watch the video recording here.

Join us for a special evening with journalist Kara Swisher and CEO of GM, Mary Barra, as part of the continuing series “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.”

Award-winning journalist Kara Swisher has interviewed nearly every consequential innovator and tech entrepreneur working today. Her new memoir, “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story,” is an insider’s tale of success, failure, hubris and optimism. As Detroit gains influence in technology and the EV revolution, Swisher sits down with Mary Barra, chair and CEO of General Motors, to discuss her new book and explore the dynamic interplay of legacy companies, innovation, strategic bets on the future, and tech’s potential to solve problems and not just create them.

Book signing following the event
Swisher’s newly released book, “Burn Book,” will be available for purchase at the event. The author will stay for a short book signing after the program.

About Kara Swisher

Kara Swisher is the host of the podcast “On with Kara Swisher” and cohost of the “Pivot” podcast with Scott Galloway, both distributed by New York Magazine. She was also the co-founder and editor-at-large of Recode, host of the “Recode Decode” podcast, and co-executive producer of the Code Conference. She was a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and host of its “Sway” podcast and has also worked for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Swisher has served as Livingston Awards judge for Wallace House since 2014. “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story” is her third book.

About Mary Barra

Mary Barra is Chair and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors. Prior to becoming CEO, Barra served as GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, and as senior vice president, Global Product Development. In these roles, Barra and her teams were responsible for the design, engineering and quality of GM vehicle launches worldwide.

Co-Sponsors

Gerald R. Ford School
U-M Democracy & Debate
U-M School of Information

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The Eisendrath Symposium brings the Oscar-nominated documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”

Wallace House Presents a free screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary “20 Days In Mariupol,” and a conversation with the filmmakers

WCEE Film and Eisendrath Symposium Event
5:30 PM | Monday, FEB. 5, 2024
Michigan Theater

Free and open to the public.
This is a non-ticketed event.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis

This event will not be live-streamed.

A special screening and conversation

An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion. As the only international reporters who remain in the city, they capture what later become defining images of the war. The documentary shows vivid, harrowing accounts of civilians caught in the siege and a window into what it’s like to report from a conflict zone and the impact of such journalism around the globe.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

The Eisendrath Symposium honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.

About the filmmakers

Mstyslav Chernov is a documentary director and video journalist at The Associated Press and president of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers. Since joining the AP in 2014, he has covered major conflicts, social issues and environmental crises across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Most recently, Chernov documented Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Together with longtime colleague Evgeniy Maloletka, Chernov recorded the siege of Mariupol, showing the world eyewitness accounts of the Russian attacks on the city in the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol.” Chernov’s reporting in Mariupol earned the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary.

Raney Aronson-Rath is the editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE, PBS’ flagship investigative journalism series, and is a leading voice on the future of journalism. Aronson-Rath oversees FRONTLINE’s acclaimed investigative reporting on air and online and directs the series’ editorial vision — executive producing more than 20 in-depth documentaries each year on critical issues facing the country and the world. FRONTLINE has won every major award in broadcast journalism under Aronson-Rath’s leadership. She is a producer of the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol.” For nearly two decades, Aronson-Rath has served as a Livingston Awards judge. A program of Wallace House Center for Journalists, the prize honors reporters under the age of 35 and identifies the next generation of journalism leaders. 

Michelle Mizner is an Emmy-winning documentary producer and film editor on staff at FRONTLINE PBS. Her work for the series has been recognized by the Peabodys, World Press Photo, duPont-Columbia Awards, and SXSW. Select titles as a producer and editor include “Life in Baghdad,”  “Inside Yemen,” with correspondent Martin Smith, and “The Last Call” with director Marcela Gaviria. In addition to films, Mizner has produced several acclaimed interactive documentaries, including “Inheritance,” “The Last Generation,” and “Un(re)solved.” She is the producer and editor of the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” her first feature-length film.

Co-sponsors:
Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia
International Institute
Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies

This event is produced with support from Knight Foundation.

An MLK Symposium Event with journalist and author Rachel Swarns

Slavery and the U.S. Catholic Church: Confronting History and the Case for Reparations


4 PM | THURSDAY, JAN. 18, 2024

Rackham Amphitheatre, 4th floor
915 Washington Street

In-person, free and open to the public
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What is the responsibility of American institutions in reparative justice?

Join New York Times journalist and author Rachel Swarns in conversation with Wallace House director Lynette Clemetson, as she discusses her book “The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold To Build the American Catholic Church,” a story of servitude and slavery spanning nearly two centuries and detailing the beginnings of Georgetown University and the U.S. Catholic Church. Swarns’s journalism started a national conversation about universities with ties to slavery.

“The 272” will be available for purchase at the event. The author will stay for a short book signing after the program.

About the speaker

Rachel Swarns is a journalist, author and associate professor of journalism at New York University, who writes about race and race relations as a contributing writer for The New York Times. Her articles about Georgetown University’s roots in slavery touched off a national conversation about American universities and their ties to this painful period of history. Her book, “The 272,” emerged from her reporting at The Times and focuses on Georgetown and the Catholic Church and their roots in slavery. It was selected as one of the best books of 2023 by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time magazine, The Washington Post, the Chicago Public Library and Kirkus Reviews. “The 272” was also one of 24 books longlisted for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

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.

Co-Sponsors
Center for Racial Justice housed at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Center for Social Solutions
Donia Human Rights Center
Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies

This is a 2023 U-M Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium event.

EXPLORE MORE WALLACE HOUSE EVENTS

Webinar for U.S. Fellowship Applicants

Portrait of Delece Smith-Barrow and Bernice Yeung

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.

More About Knight-Wallace Fellowship