The Joan Konner Program in the Journalism of Ideas
Joan Konner was a groundbreaking broadcast news producer, documentarian, television executive, and author who served as Dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism from 1988 to 1997. As Dean, Konner brought many innovations to the School, establishing both the part-time Masters of Science and Ph.D. programs, and modernizing the curriculum. This included introducing The Journalism of Ideas, which Konner defined as works that explore the intellectual foundations and significant questions arising from the world of ideas, on any subject, including politics, economics, history, culture, science, law and values.
Established through a bequest from her estate and with generous support from the M & T Weiner Foundation, the Joan Konner Program in the Journalism of Ideas will honor dean Konner’s legacy by providing an annual fellowship and faculty mentorship to support the completion of reporting or academic research projects that depart from traditional journalism beats to focus on ideas and beliefs.
Eligibility
The Fellowship will award $10,000 and is open to graduates of Columbia Journalism School's Master's programs from the past six years (in 2024, this spans the Classes of 2019 to 2024) and Ph.D. students who have completed the coursework portion of the degree program. Works must be intended for publication in a peer-reviewed academic, specialized or general interest outlet. Applicants are encouraged to apply for support of works on any platform.
Funding will be distributed in stages; half upon acceptance of the fellowship, the remainder upon completion of the story or project.
How to Apply
All eligible applicants must complete this online application and must include the following information on the submission form:
- The applicant’s resume and three writing samples that reflect the type of work the applicant proposes to do
- A detailed description of the proposed project
- A description of the intellectual foundations and/or significant questions arising from the world of ideas that they wish to explore
- A budget, up to $10,000, for how the grant funds will be spent, such as travel expenses, living expenses, document acquisition, etc. The budget should also reflect other funding obtained or required for the project.
- A letter of support from a news outlet or other qualifying publication interested in running the story. This does not have to be a promise to publish, but a media outlet should review the proposed work and state that they have interest in the idea before the application is submitted.
Questions? Email Elena Cabral, Assistant Dean of Student and International Programs.
Fellows Past and Present
Dev will be investigating one of the most pressing issues of our modern day. Reporting from Tuvalu, in Polynesia, he will report on the country's bid to survive as a nation-state after it has lost all its territory to the rising Pacific. Before being swallowed whole by the sea, Tuvalu is trying to create a digital clone of itself.
The project involves digitizing records of Tuvalu’s islets, birds and fish species, traditional songs, recipes, language and even the scores of the national volleyball team.More than that, it wants to become a country that has migrated all its core governance and administrative systems online, to enable it to remotely operate as a state and fulfill all its obligations under international and maritime law.
About her project in collaboration with fellow 2022 Joan Konner Fellow, Julia Shipley, "A Blouse in the Desert":
"Our project will center on the growing mountain of clothes in the Atacama Desert in Chile, where bundles of cast off and waste garments come from other poles of the world, to reside permanently in this landscape. We will dive deep into the concept of the death of clothes, and we will explore the larger cultural forces behind it. This work is also an invitation to observe the clothing cycle not only from its vertiginous origin but also from its slow decomposition. We will talk to fashion designers, ecologists, land use experts, upcyclers, phenomenologists and anthropologists in order to discover how one of the world’s biggest repositories of unwanted clothing, a consequence of “fast fashion,” has come to be located here. By exploring the strange destiny and possible rebirth of a million blouses, we will reimagine how future generations will interact with waste and opportunity."
About her project in collaboration with fellow 2022 Joan Konner Fellow, Muriel Alarcón Luco, "A Blouse in the Desert":
"Our project will center on the growing mountain of clothes in the Atacama Desert in Chile, where bundles of cast off and waste garments come from other poles of the world, to reside permanently in this landscape. We will dive deep into the concept of the death of clothes, and we will explore the larger cultural forces behind it. This work is also an invitation to observe the clothing cycle not only from its vertiginous origin but also from its slow decomposition. We will talk to fashion designers, ecologists, land use experts, upcyclers, phenomenologists and anthropologists in order to discover how one of the world’s biggest repositories of unwanted clothing, a consequence of “fast fashion,” has come to be located here. By exploring the strange destiny and possible rebirth of a million blouses, we will reimagine how future generations will interact with waste and opportunity."
About his project: "I will research for human stories to explore what drives humans to fast or not to fast, to shed light on the conflicting cultural, political, and scientific arguments surrounding our food habits. During the fellowship, I will dive deep into the concept of fasting and its role in human life, and I will explore the larger cultural forces at work behind it. I will talk to theologists and historians to discover how different religions and cultures have adopted fasting thought history. I will research why and how some communities across the world still fast today. I will dive into the scientific research behind fasting, and I will interview new practitioners and those who have fasted throughout their lives. By talking about fasting I want to open a small window into our society."
About her project: “I will seek to ‘reframe plants’ to highlight their fundamental role for human life. I will speak with philosophers, historians and scientists to understand the ways in which plants are interconnected to our daily life and to some of the most pressing global issues. I will explore how plants have been ‘framed’ across different belief systems and how that has affected the mainstream narrative about plants in the media.”