James Matthews (Studio 20 '10) on e-commerce in Spain.

AFRICA DISPATCH 2009

While totally immersing themselves in West Africa culture as part of various reporting and writing projects, participants in the Summer 2009 Africa Dispatch uncovered a treasure trove of feature stories along the way. From the elation that soccer conjures, to the frenzied affection for Barack Obama and even elaborate crafting of coffins. Here is a selection of some of those stories along with photographs and some video.

Margaret Wheeler Johnson, (CRC, '09) on the renaissance of manual labor.

Benjamin Peim, on Ladino - a medieval language thriving in Brooklyn..

Karen Yi (Print '10) on immigration policy.

Grad student Carla Usher was the host and interviewer of Stern Professor Joseph Foudy and Executive Director of the Wasserman Center, Trudy Seitfeld on the NYU Tonight broadcast, February 24, 2008.

Charly Wilder (CRC '09) on Moroccan-born entrepreneur Aziz Senni. She also wrote and produced the accompanying video for The International Herald Tribune, December 26, 2008.

Steven Bertoni (BER '08) on Billionaire Sex Scandals.

SHERP students on carbon and the candidates

Magazine Writing student Julie Sobel in culture11.com

Mike Miller (GloJo'09) in Newsweek International on the innocent lives caught up in Mexico's ongoing drug war

"Watchdogs, Lapdogs, and Attack Dogs,"

Reported and written by students in Professor Mark Dery's undergraduate course in press criticism, "Watchdogs, Lapdogs, and Attack Dogs," turns a critical eye on the news media.

Michael Miller (Glojo '09) on escalating violence in Bolivia for Newsweek.

Arcynta Ali Childs (Glojo '08) on the battle over Langston Hughes's House.

Elizabeth McNamara (Mag '08) takes a look at what's on the breakfast table of some famous politicians and the journalists who cover them.

Alison Bowen (Glojo-Latin American Studies '10) covered both the Democratic and Republican national conventions for Women's E-News.

SHERP/Portfolio grad Erica Westley's article on ethics, patient rights, and conflicts of interest in pediatrics appears in Columbia Magazine.

Current Magazine student Elizabeth McNamara rides the bus to D.C. for the Washington Post.

Fueling the future? The hunt for a sustainable biofuel

Magazine/Portfolio student Robynne Boyd's article appears in appears in the Earth Island Journal.

"Canadians Among Us!,"

CRC student Leigh Kamping-Carder's piece about the Canadian "Newest New Yorkers" appears in The New York Observer.

In Far Rockaway, Pretty Beach Meets Housing Bust

Portfolio and Reporting New York student Matt Schwartzfeld tells the story of the Rockaway Peninsula's tortured development history in City Limits.

The Rockaway Peninsula's tortured development history enters its latest chapter, with ill-fated spec buildings disintegrating next to successful new housing development, and a rezoning belatedly attempting to instill order.

"The Meat of the Matter,"

Magazine/Portfolio student Justine Sterling had her chat with a bloodthirsty carnivore in Saveur chosen as an article-of-the-week by the American Society of Magazine Editors.

"Don't Hate the Nader, Hate the Game"

Current CRC student Charly Wilder reviews William Poundstone's latest book. The Brooklyn Rail, April 2008.

"Just Another American Dreamer"

CRC student Vincent Rossmeier reviews and interviews writer David Samuels about his new book, The Runner. The Brooklyn Rail, April 2008.

"Hobsbawm's Empire"

CRC student Leigh Kamping-Carder reviews the latest collection of essays from celebrated historian Eric Hobsbawm. The Brooklyn Rail, April 2008.

"Ballet as a Reality Show," "Diana Vishneva at City Center"

Current CRC student Margaret Fuhrer has two pieces on dance in the April issue of The Brooklyn Rail. In "Ballet as a Reality Show," she writes about a surprisingly well-attended open dress rehearsal held by the New York City Ballet, and in "Diana Vishneva at City Center," she reviews internationally renowned ballerina Diana Vishneva's foray into contemporary dance.

CRC student Vincent Rossmeir talks politics and media coverage with Paul Waldman, co-author of Free Ride: John McCain and the Media. Salon, April 4, 2008.

Current CRC student Leigh Kamping-Carder writes about failing G train activism. The New York Observer, March 21, 2008

CRC graduate student John MacDonald looks at the growing practice of non-Jews hiring mohels to circumcise their baby boys, for The Forward. The story was also discussed on The New York Times' well-known blog Freakonomics.

Undergraduate Sarah Lynch reports on NYU's environmental efforts for CNN's "CNNU".

NYC Mosaic publishes original stories about immigrants — legal and undocumented — and immigrant life in New York City. The online news site is produced by New York University student reporters in the journalism course “Undocumented NY” with Professor Evelyn Hernández. Read it!

Pakistan has been in turmoil for months, and its nascent television news industry has been following each twist and turn of the historical drama. But this weekend, President Musharraff announced he would put Pakistan's democracy on hold, and he is doing his best to put blinders on television news as well. He will have his hands full.

Portfolio student Shahan Mufti in the Columbia Journalism Review.

Thai restaurants are a dime a dozen, but 30 years after Pol Pot, Khmer cuisine is still hard to find in the U.S. Why hasn't it become the next big thing?

Portfolio student Matthew Fishbane investigates the cultural and historical dimensions behind a strange absence.

The fight for the right to be fat, queer, and proud.

Thomas Rogers, a CRC student, covers My Big Fat Queer Prom, a celebration of body size and sexuality, in The Village Voice. Thomas developed the piece in the Portfolio program.

In the June 2007 issue of The Brooklyn Rail, graduate student Brian Childs visits America's last sideshow, the Sideshow by the Seashore in Coney Island.

Graduate student Amy Van Vechten, in the department's Global & Joint Studies Program (Journalism and Contemporary French Studies in her case) reports from her summer beat in Brussels, covering the European Union, European Parliament, European Commission and... well everything EU.

Over the past three decades black culture has grown so conflated with hip-hop culture that for most Americans under the age of 45, hip-hop culture is black culture. Except that it's not.

CRC graduate student Thomas Chatterton Williams on hip-hop's grip on black culture, in the Washington Post.

Graduate student Ali Fadhil recently participated in two panel discussions focused on Iraq: "Assignment Iraq", presented by the Columbia Journalism Review; and "In Their Own Words" a panel of three Iraqis journalists, presented by the Overseas Press Club. Video footage of both events is online.

Fadhil has worked for National Public Radio, Guardian Films and The New Yorker in Iraq and is a Fulbright scholar at New York University. Before arriving in the U.S., he was a physician and translator in Iraq. He is currently working on an Iraq film that will be aired on PBS Frontline next year.

Andrew Hansen, a joint French Studies-Journalism graduate student produces a backgrounder on the French Military in Africa for the Council on Foreign Relations, ranging from its historical origins to current conflicts. The piece was also picked up by The New York Times.

This nation is a maze of cities, neighborhoods and communities rich with stories. Overseen by Professor Yvonne Latty, NYU Journalism's grad students mine the streets and dirt roads in a journalistic exploration of dynamic issues, events, and people.

With 16 huts cobbled together from plywood, discarded closet doors, and cardboard, Umoja is a Liberty City shantytown in the shadow of the biggest construction boom Miami has seen since the 1920s.

Graduate student Laura Rivera reports from Miami in The New York Times.

We found out about my father's culture through his descriptions of the cancha, the sweet smell of chorizo and the blue and yellow that represented his home team. What he didn't speak of was the restless political ambiance and wavering economy. Like most Argentines, he spoke only of what he could always be proud.

Alejandra Serret's story for NYU Livewire was picked up by Worldpress, the former World Press Review.

A government empowered to provide health care can also take it away.

Grad student Conor Friedersdorf writes for the Orange County Register.

Graduate BER student Andy Greenberg reports on the online advertising wars, awash with victims and bigtime winners, in Forbes.com.

"For nearly two months, roughly 75,000 residents of East Harlem have not had a post office. Instead, they have a van."

Graduate student Laura Rivera reports on the "Post Office on Wheels" standing in (sporadically) for the real thing in East Harlem, for The New York Times.

"If our government continues to be dominated by militias, then in just a few months no news will be reported from Iraq at all."

Graduate student Ali Fadhil describes the deteriorating conditions for journalists in Iraq for The New York Times. Fadhil has worked for National Public Radio, Guardian Films and The New Yorker in Iraq and is a Fulbright scholar at New York University.

In-studio guests:
William Long, CAS Dean
Paul Grayson, Director of Counseling Services
Panel of NYU Student Leaders

Featuring: Hold On by Good Charlotte.

NYU Reflects: Community and Loss can be seen in archived format.

(Requires the RealOne video player.)