Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies unveiled plans for The Pearl Project, an unique investigative journalism seminar in which faculty and students will search for clues to what really happened when Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered while reporting from Karachi, Pakistan in 2002.

The Pearl Project will take shape as a three-credit seminar led by Barbara Feinman Todd, associate dean of journalism in the School of Continuing Studies' new master of professional studies program, and former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Q. Nomani, who joins Georgetown as a Professor in the Practice of Journalism. Nomani, Pearl's friend and colleague from his days at the Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau, rented the Karachi home where Pearl and his wife Mariane were staying at the time of his disappearance. After participating in the search to find Pearl, Nomani began the preliminary reporting and research for The Pearl Project.

"Sadly, we couldn't save Danny, but journalists are sort of like the Marines. We can't leave the truth behind," Nomani said. "For the five years since Danny was killed, I have wanted to find out the full truth behind Danny's kidnapping and murder. We are truly fortunate that the leaders of Georgetown University believe deeply in bringing academic principles of critical thinking, investigation and social justice to the world."

The project will consist of graduate students from the Master in Professional Studies Journalism Program and undergraduate English majors from Georgetown College. Students enrolled in the seminar will investigate motive and attempt to determine who really killed Pearl. They will also examine the wider relationship between the Muslim world and the press and profile others who have died in the frontlines of journalism.

"The Pearl Project represents the best of what we are striving to do with our new master's programs- bring the real world into the classroom," said Robert Manuel, dean of the School of Continuing Studies. "This is a unique experience in which students will be a part of history as it unfolds – instead of reading about it in a textbook they will actually be participating in a significant chapter of our nation's story. This is sure to be a lasting experience that will inform the choices they make in their own lives."

The project will take place during the fall 2007 semester, and has the support of Pearl's family.

"The Pearl Project was long overdue and the Pearl family is grateful to Asra and Georgetown University for having the courage to take on this project in search of the truth," said Judea Pearl, Daniel Pearl's father and President of the Daniel Pearl Foundation. "We welcome the Pearl Project as a testimony to the dedication, ethics and spirit of inquiry with which Danny lived."

Pearl's widow, Mariane, believes the project is meaningful not only for the family, but for all journalists and citizens as well.

"This investigation is crucial for the sake of truth and independence, two values treasured by my husband and by other courageous journalists who refuse to make compromises – political or otherwise – in their quest to tell the story" Mariane Pearl said.

The Pearl Project is modeled after the Arizona Project, an investigative reporting project into the murder of Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles three decades ago. The Pearl Project will invite the participation of journalists, media organizations, media outlets and sources from around the world. Anyone with information about Daniel Pearl's disappearance and murder are encouraged to contact the project at pearlproject@georgetown.edu or (202) 687-9288.