Beginning in the 2026-27 academic year, the seminar will be a 3-credit course taught only in the fall semester by the Sharp Writer-in-Residence. Students from any major who will be in residence on campus in Fall 2026 are eligible to apply to the Sharp Journalism Seminar.
As a part of this 3-credit course, which meets every Monday from 3:30-6:20pm, students are eligible to apply for travel funding for a domestic reporting trip during the semester.
We are no longer accepting applications for the Fall 2026 Sharp Journalism Seminar! For questions about the Sharp Seminar or application process, email [[edmari, Ted Maris-Wolf]].
Participating students learn how to communicate to a broad audience about topics that they have studied and care deeply about.
The course is designed to help students improve their ability to write as citizens for other citizens. Because of the hands-on, collaborative nature of the classwork and advising, this is designed as an in-person seminar. In 2026-27, it will be taught only in the fall semester. Interested students who plan to study abroad during their time at Â鶹Æƽâ°æ should plan accordingly.
We are no longer accepting applications for the Fall 2026 Sharp Journalism Seminar. For questions about the Sharp Seminar or application process, email [[edmari, Ted Maris-Wolf]].
The Sharp Seminar was established with a generous gift from Anne and Barry Sharp.
Previous Years
Sharp Student Work
2024-25
- Artists Reckon With Themes—and Use—of AI in Their Work - Using AI on Campuses: Security Surveillance or Privacy Invasion? - Community Arts: An Unexpected Casualty of Ups and Downs of Oil Sands’ Extraction - Saving Cinema: AI’s Starring Role in Preserving Film Archives - Renewed Focus on Gullah Community Needs As Sacred Sites, Heritage Face Mounting Threats - As They Rally Against Nation's Leader, Slovakians Consider What Type of Government They Want - Displaced From Their Homes, Nagorno-Karabakh Refugees in Armenia Don’t Want To Be Forgotten - Digital Age Ticket Scalping Leaves Fans Out in the Cold - Students, Administrators Navigate Turbulent Climate at University of Michigan - Saving the 'Tree of Life': Hawaii's Fight To Protect the Coconut - New Zealand’s Shifting Attitudes on Firearms Regulation Since Christchurch Mass Shootings
2023-24
- Sacred Space: Utah's Queer Haven - Landscaping and Architecture Choices Hide Community Debate Over Homelessness - "How Do You Stop the Ocean?" Climate Change at Norfolk's Doorsteps - The Migrant Feeling: Sudanese Refugees in Egypt and the Struggles of Displacement - Education Under a Microscope in Montana with Fight Over "Community Choice" Schools - Chinatowns Across the US are Disappearing. In Philadelphia, Locals Fear Theirs is Next - Is America's Stance on Abortion a Clear-Cut Issue? - Landmark Bill Marks Changes for Japan's Child Custody Decisions - Disappeared Migrants in Arizona: Advocates Blame Immigration Policy for Deadly Border Conditions - The Transgender Artists Leading East Coast Punk Underground - Climate Crisis Costs: Caribbean Nations Demand Global Financial System Reforms - Island Community Organizations Fight Food Insecurity
2022-23
- The Irony of President Vladimir Putin's Culture War - A Walk Down Beale Street: Challenges of Revitalizing Historic Black Cultural Centers - Preservation Efforts for Groundbreaking Rosenwald Schools -- Will National Park Status Come? And What Might That Mean for Communities? - Scientists Along the East Coast Face Challenges in Spotted Lanternfly Research - Ghost Gear: Haunting Chesapeake Bay - Re-Examining Asian-American Film: Anna May Wong and the Fight Against Invisibility - Political Coalition Launches Historic Campaign for Asian-American Voter Engagement
2021-22
- Protest at Â鶹Æƽâ°æ's Charter Day Ceremony Marks Apprehension Surrounding Education Reform - Group Aims to Help Tribal Women Heal from Trauma - Growing Anti-Abortion Movement in Spain Inspires New Legislation - Indie Bookstores' COVID Recovery: Leveraging TikTok and Bookshop.org - Search For Facilitator Further Delays Iowa Truth and Reconciliation Commission - Autonomous Feminists Reconcile Chile's Dictatorship - and Ongoing Abuses - The Need for Rehabilitative Justice in Icelandic Prisons
2020-21
- Painting Progress: How Organizations are Supporting Social Justice Public Artists - Despite the Pandemic, Some Romani-Americans are Building Community and Celebrating Their Identity - Dying Abroad: The Fight for Assisted Dying in the UK - How Mauritius Handled COVID-19 and What the United States Could Learn From the Tiny Island Nation - Norfolk's New Energy: The City's Latest Plans Create Problems for Its Longest Residents - Will Algeria Move Toward or Further Away from Transitional Justice? - How the Rise of Social Justice in Athletics is Transforming the Identity of Black Athletes in America - In Alaska Fisheries, COVID-19 May Intensify Gender Inequality - Nonprofit Farms Foster Community and Fight Hunger During COVID-19 - "We are because they were. Because we are, they will be." A Community Fights for Its Identity in a Pandemic - The Tipping Point - Covid-19 Stressors Intensify Substance Use and Addiction in the American Food Service Industry - How COVID Has Disrupted Rehabilitative Prison Arts Programs
2019-20
- A Techie's Cure to Feel Pure: Virginia's Unique Linkage to Caregiving Technology - Is Witchcraft Too Mainstream? - No Dogs Left Behind: The SATO Project in Puerto Rico - An Uphill Battle: University of Puerto Rico Students, Professors Respond to Severe Budget Cuts at Beloved Institution - Three Years on, Center for SafeSport Faces Controversy - Tiny Islands, Big Energy: How Orkney, Scotland Is Fighting Climate Change - Half a Century After Their Deportation, Chagossians Employ Football and Community as Tools of Resistance - Found Family: LGBTQ+ Immigrants Create Community Through Shared Experience - 'Once You're Discovered You Can Never Go Back': The Paradox of Cruise Tourism - Community Fights Construction of Mountain Valley Pipeline
2018-19
William Curtis - Anna Gleason - Rachel Layko - Amy Olejniczak - Megan Pierce - Taro Shirakawa - Jack Sims - Brooke Stephenson -
2017-18
Heather Baier - Lexi Godfrey - Thea Gu - Erika Jaimes - Amelia Lucas - Gabbie Pachon - Noah Petersen - Sarah Shevenock - Talia Wiener -
Merci Best - Alexandra Granato - Thomas Le -Catie Liebeck - Sydney Mahan - Diba Mohtasham - Nathalie Moore - Meagan Phillips - Jeremy Rellosa - Nicole Walsh - Amanda Williams -
2014-15
Hannah Berk- Akshay Deverakonda- Alexis Foxworth- Akela Lacy- Rachel Merriman-Goldring- William Plews-Ogan- Katharine Sucher- Becca Thorpe- Ellen Wexler-
2013-14
Hannah Boes- Daniel Casey- Brian Comiskey- Claire Gillespie- Dana Hayes- Olivia Jebb- Lizzy Pelletier- Meg Schwenzfeier-
2012-13
Aly Brahe- Sarah Caspari- Andrea Filzen- Katie Kennedy- Max Lander- Dana McKelvey- Deborah Van Roy- Allyson Zacharoff-
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We are no longer accepting applications for the Fall 2026 Sharp Journalism Seminar. For questions about the Sharp Seminar or application process, email [[edmari, Ted Maris-Wolf]].