The Trustees of Columbia University approved Daniel Alarcón's promotion to Associate Professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2023.
“We are honored to have Daniel join the ranks of our tenured faculty,” said Jelani Cobb, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism. “Daniel has provided immense value to the CJS community for almost a decade, and we’re thrilled to continue to be the foundation for his continued contributions to journalism.”
Tenure is a distinction that recognizes scholarly excellence, demonstrated capacity for imaginative, original work, and great promise for continued contributions at the leading edge of the disciplines.
Alarcón joined the faculty in 2014 after a two-year Investigative Reporting Fellowship at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. At CJS, he teaches "Telling True Stories in Sound," a course that prepares students to tell complex narratives using strong characters and applying techniques from long-form audio journalism and nonfiction storytelling.
Alarcón began working as a journalist in 2004, first in print for Latin American outlets such as Etiqueta Negra, and later for American and European publications including Harper’s, the New York Times Magazine, El País, and Granta, where he was named a Contributing Editor in 2010.
He is also the co-founder of Radio Ambulante, a groundbreaking Spanish language podcast, the first of its kind covering Latin America with long-form narrative radio journalism.Under his leadership, Radio Ambulante has reported stories from all over the region, and partnered with outlets like Public Radio International and BBC Mundo to reach audiences across the US and worldwide.
For his work, Alarcón has received a multitude of honors, among them having been named a Fulbright Fellow, MacArthur Fellow, and Guggenheim Fellow. He is also the recipient of the Maria Moors Cabot Prize, a Lannan Literary Prize, and a National Magazine Award.
His books include War by Candlelight and Lost City Radio, named a 2007 Best Novel of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post. His most recent novel, At Night We Walk in Circles, was a finalist for the 2014 PEN/Faulkner Award.
Alarcón graduated from Columbia University in 1999 with a BA in Anthropology; he earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa in 2004.
