The Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics has invited two faculty members of Columbia Journalism School to teach at their summer journalism fellowship: Sheila Coronel, Toni Stabile Professor of Professional Practice in Investigative Journalism, and Robe Imbriano, Ira A. Lipman Associate Professor of Journalism.
FASPE fellows participate in a two-week study program in professional ethics and ethical leadership to be held this summer in Berlin and Poland. The New York City-based organization annually awards this opportunity to about 15 journalism students and early-career journalists. The group also runs fellowship programs in other fields, including law, medicine and business.
The curriculum draws the “actions and choices of German and international journalists in covering and supporting Nazi policies” as a historical example to help fellows grasp their role and responsibility to identify and confront the ethical issues currently facing journalists and media institutions at large.
“History has so much to teach us about our own times and our own choices,” said Imbriano. “FASPE's approach is unique and remarkable, but in 2024, it may be more urgent and relevant than ever."
Fellows are selected on the basis of their academic background, personal and professional experiences, capacity for leadership and ability to contribute to the program and the alumni community, according to FASPE’s website. Applications are open through January 2, 2024.
Both Columbia faculty members are experienced, award-winning journalists.
Coronel joined the faculty of the Journalism School in 2006, when she was named director of the school’s Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism. In 2011, she received one of Columbia University’s highest honors, the Presidential Teaching Award.
Coronel has written and edited more than a dozen books on the Philippines, freedom of information and investigative journalism. In addition, she has trained journalists around the world and written investigative reporting textbooks for journalists in Southeast Asia and the Balkan region.
In 1989, Coronel and her colleagues founded the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. Under Coronel's leadership, the center became the leading investigative reporting institution in the Philippines and Asia. In 2001, the center’s reporting led to the fall of President Joseph Estrada. In 2003, Coronel won Asia’s premier prize, the Ramon Magsaysay Award.
Imbriano joined the faculty full time in 2023 when he was named the Ira A. Lipman Associate Professor of Journalism and director of the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights. An Emmy Award-winning creator and former member of the part-time faculty, he has spent his career exploring America through its founding principles, the lived experiences of its most vulnerable people, and those who have made great impacts on American society.
Imbriano is the showrunner of the Hulu series, “Killing County,” which he executive produced with Colin Kaepernick. He co-created the Netflix documentary series “Amend: The Fight for America,” hosted by Will Smith and featuring Mahershala Ali, Samuel L. Jackson, Sherrilyn Ifill, Bryan Stevenson and a distinguished group of scholars, participants and actors to tell the story of the 14th Amendment and America’s struggle with equality.
Imbriano also developed and launched “Soul of a Nation,” the very first major broadcast network series about Black life in America. The six-part series, which debuted on ABC in 2021, was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards in its very first season.
