Research
Within the Sanford School of Public Policy, two chaired professors and two chaired professors of the practice teach and produce nationally and internationally recognized research in affiliation with the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy.
James T. Hamilton, Charles S. Sydnor Professor of Public Policy; Professor of Economics and Political Science and Director, DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy
Ellen Mickiewicz, James R. Shepley Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Political Science
Philip F. Bennett, Eugene C. Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy
Sarah Cohen, Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy
For more on faculty research by these professors and the Center’s other adjunct and affiliated faculty, visit our pages on current areas of research focus and on individual faculty news and research.
Teaching
Curriculum and the Policy Journalism and Media Studies Certificate Program
The DeWitt Wallace Center offers over 20 undergraduate and graduate courses designed to give students a thorough understanding of the role of the news media in the policymaking process. Through instruction and internships, students learn about the principles and the practice of journalism, while mastering the broader background of studies in public policy, politics, economics, history and other liberal arts. With support from Trinity Arts & Sciences, the Center hosts an undergraduate certificate program for students aspiring to become future journalists, or private and public sector leaders who will interact with the media.
The Media Fellows Program
The Media Fellows Program enables print, broadcast and online journalists and news executives from the U.S. and abroad to come together in an academic environment to study substantive issues, exchange views with other journalists, and examine the role of the news media in a democracy.
Events and Outreach
Jay Rutherfurd Living History Program
The Jay Rutherfurd Living History Program produces interviews with prominent American and world leaders who have been major participants in significant international or domestic events, or movements of social change. To date, the Living History Collection includes video recordings of interviews with or lectures by more than 65 prominent figures.
The Ewing Lecture on Ethics in Journalism
The Ewing Lecture is delivered annually by an invited guest lecturer on media ethics.
Futrell Award for Outstanding Achievement in Communications and Journalism
The Futrell Award is presented annually to a Duke University alumnus for outstanding achievement in the field of communications and journalism.
Melcher Family Award for Excellence in Journalism
The Melcher Award annually recognizes an undergraduate writer at Duke University for the best journalistic piece produced in the previous year.
John Fisher Zeidman Memorial Colloquium on Politics and the Press
The Zeidman Colloquium convenes panels comprising some of the most well-known journalists of our time to discuss the relationship between media and politics, held biannually during election years. The next Zeidman Colloquium will take place in the fall of 2012, coinciding with the U.S. presidential election.
