Linda Kramer Jenning, Academic Director
Linda Kramer Jenning is returning as Academic Director of the journalism workshop for the second summer. She teaches undergraduate journalism at Georgetown College and was the Shapiro Fellow in the School of Media and Public Affairs at The George Washington University in 2006. As a working journalist, she began her career with the Associated Press in New York, San Francisco and Oregon. She worked in television at the CBS affiliate in Portland, Oregon before returning to print journalism as a freelancer for Time magazine and other publications. She later joined People magazine and served as its Deputy Bureau Chief in Washington, DC. Last year she became the Washington editor for Glamour where she focuses on the magazine’s coverage of the 2008 election. This is the fifth presidential race she’s covered.
Prof. Kramer Jenning holds a master’s degree in literary nonfiction from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree from Smith College. She is a director of the Alumnae Association of Smith College and a past board member of the Women and Journalism Symposium. Her honors include Time Inc.’s Henry Luce Award for Outstanding Story for her article on a wounded marine in 2006.
Robert Schlesinger , Capstone Director
Robert Schlesinger will direct the Journalism Workshop capstone project. He has extensive experience in journalism. Currently, Robert Schlesinger is Deputy Assistant Managing Editor, Opinions at US News & World Report, and author of White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters (Simon & Schuster, 2008), a narrative history of modern presidential speechwriting. His work has appeared in such publications as The Washington Monthly, Salon.com, The Weekly Standard, People, Campaigns & Elections, Washington DC Style, DC Magazine, The Washington Examiner, The Boston Globe Magazine, George and the AARP Bulletin.
Currently, Robert Schlesinger is Deputy Assistant Managing Editor, Opinions at US News & World Report, and author of White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters (Simon & Schuster, 2008), a narrative history of modern presidential speechwriting, www.whitehouseghostsbook.com. He also co-teaches a graduate-level class in political journalism at the Boston University Washington Journalism Center. And he blogs at both The Huffington Post and RobertEmmet (www.remmet.com). For three years he covered national security, the environment, energy, education and politics in The Boston Globe's Washington bureau. Previously, he was Chief Congressional Correspondent at Voter.com and Political Editor at The Hill newspaper. He also spent two years at the Center for Public Integrity. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife and their dog.
Joanna Chakerian, Teaching Assistant
Joanna attended Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in journalism at Georgetown. She interned at the Washington Post Express last summer, and now works as an assistant to political analyst A.B. Stoddard. She is interested in a career in political or sports journalism. Among Joanna's favorite things are Grey's Anatomy, the Redskins, and her two dogs, a pug and a yellow lab.
