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Reporting responsibly and credibly on violence or traumatic events — on street crime and family violence, natural disasters and accidents, war and genocide — is a great challenge. The Dart Center offers several fellowships that educate journalists on core issues of trauma science and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences and challenges in the field. In addition, Dart fellowships equip journalists to approach and interview victims and survivors with greater knowledge, sensitivity, skill and success; understand the complexity of trauma survivors' experiences; tell more insightful, multi-dimensional and nuanced stories about trauma and those impacted directly or indirectly and make better, more ethical news choices when covering traumatic events.
Click here for a list of all past fellows.
The Ochberg Fellowships, our flagship global program, is a unique seminar that brings together journalists from around the world who wish to deepen their knowledge of trauma and improve coverage of violence, conflict and tragedy for a week of seminars and conversations. Since 1999 the Ochberg Fellowships have supported more than 200 journalists from 25 countries. Named in honor of Frank Ochberg, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry at Michigan State University and a pioneering figure in the definition and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, Stockholm Syndrome and other responses to violence and trauma, the Ochberg Fellowship program includes briefings by prominent interdisciplinary experts in the trauma and mental health fields; conversations with journalist colleagues on issues of ethics, craft and other aspects of professional practice; and other opportunities for intellectual engagement and peer learning.
In 2021, the Dart Center launched the Early Childhood Reporting Fellowships. These virtual fellowships support journalists from around the world whose reporting focuses on young children and their caregivers. Each program offers stipends, coaching and mentoring, as well as monthly webinars to build and deepen knowledge on early childhood development and its intersection with the most pressing issues of today. As of 2023, the program's third year, three different fellowships are now offered: one global in scope, one focused on Brazil, and a third aimed at Latin America broadly.
The Asia Pacific Fellowship offers seasoned journalists and their editors from the Asia-Pacific region a special opportunity to deepen their knowledge of emotional trauma and improve coverage of violence, conflict and tragedy. This five-day programme is held in different locations across the Asia Pacific region. It combines briefings, seminars and conversations by leading experts in the trauma and journalism fields with peer-to-peer discussions on the many challenges of covering tragedy and violence.
From 2011-2013 the Dart Center ran an annual fellowship program to provide in-depth training to journalism educators. Fellows came together for four days of seminars on journalism craft, practice and teaching, and then undertook individual projects that aimed to bring these learnings back to their classrooms. The program is currently on hiatus.
The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma is offering a three-day training institute for reporters and editors across Europe to deepen their knowledge of the impact of forced migration and displacement on children. This institute – part of the Dart Center’s “Childhood Forced Migration Journalism Project” – will be held April 4-6, 2025 at the Columbia Global Paris Center.
The Dart Center has announced the participants selected to attend the Best Practices for Reporting on the Environment and Changing Climate workshop in London, a four day programme for journalists and editors specialised in reporting on climate change and the environment. The participants include 14 journalists in all media from eight countries.
The Dart Center Documentary Film Fellowship, designed for senior and mid-career filmmakers who wish to deepen their knowledge of emotional trauma and psychological injury, delve into documentary ethics and craft challenges, and enrich their professional engagement around violence, conflict and tragedy, will be held February 9-15, 2025. The application deadline has passed.