Three distinguished journalists from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting will visit Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) this week as part of an annual initiative to discuss global issues with students. The group will also encourage students to participate in projects and fellowships at the Pulitzer Center that analyze global problems.
This year’s visitors include Ana P. Santos, a fellow at the Pulitzer Center, who reports on HIV/AIDS and reproductive health, gender issues and the inequalities in the Philippines; Allison Shelley, an independent documentary photographer and multimedia journalist, and former staff photographer for the Washington Times; and, Tom Hundley, Pulitzer Center senior editor, who has almost four decades of experience as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune.
“The Pulitzer Center provides significant support to journalists – including NU-Q student journalists – with the goal to improve news coverage on global issues. As this region’s leading journalism and communication school, having global experts engage with our students and provide them with opportunities to utilize their skills in providing accurate and objective reporting is a key component of the NU-Q student experience,” said Everette E. Dennis, dean and CEO at NU-Q.
During their visit, Santos and Shelley will present their work with Filipino immigrants at a community meeting, as well as joining NU-Q journalism classes to showcase their work, discuss trending issues, the evolving role of a journalist, and provide feedback on student-work.
“At NU-Q, we teach our students how to use multimedia to bring the story of the Middle East to the wider world,” said Mary Dedinsky, director of the Journalism and Strategic Communication Program. “The Pulitzer Center visitors serve as role models to our students, and will help them bring nuance to critical issues, specifically those related to the region we are in.”
Previously, Pulitzer Center visits have facilitated opportunities for NU-Q students to secure, 10-week journalism residencies in Washington, and to receive fellowships.
Most recently, Convict of 302, a documentary produced by two NU-Q student granteess, Urooj Kamran Azmi and Shakeeb Asrar, was screened at a consortium sponsored by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in Washington, D.C. The documentary focuses on the death penalty in Pakistan. The students used their grant to travel to Pakistan to interview convicts, human rights leaders, former prisoners, and lawyers familiar with changes made to the death penalty in that country.
