VICE News journalist Claire Ward is joining the UBC Graduate School of Journalism as this year’s Asper Visiting Professor.
Ward will be teaching in the School’s award-winning International Reporting Program which provides student journalists with experience in the field of international reporting.
The Canadian journalist has filmed, produced and shot documentaries in South Korea, Peru, Russia, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Jamaica, Zambia, Canada and across the United States.
Last year, she produced interactive live streams and short documentaries for VICE News from the riots and protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting death of unarmed teenager Mike Brown.
“I hope to inspire students to blend academic rigour with technical competence, worldly curiosity with empathy, and to do it all with tenacity, hard work and heart,” said Ward.
“I’m especially excited to contribute a Vice News-inspired hands-on education to the International Reporting Program. I’m also grateful for this opportunity to come back to Canada and help usher in a new generation of outstanding young journalists.”
Ward will join UBC Journalism professors Taylor Owen and Kathryn Gretsinger on this year’s International Reporting Program. The course has won numerous awards for past projects, including reports on global illegal logging, access to painkillers and the role of young environmentalists in China.
“Having Claire Ward in the classroom will encourage our journalism students to explore new ways of storytelling that connect with audiences,” said UBC Journalism director and associate professor Alfred Hermida.
Sharing expertise
The visiting professor position is endowed by the Asper Foundation. It enables the journalism school to bring a professional working journalist into the classroom to share their knowledge and expertise.
Last year, the visiting professors were Craig Silverman, now the editor of Buzzfeed Canada, and the Australian radio journalist Michelle Aleksandrovics.
Since joining VICE News in 2014, Ward has filmed several major documentaries, including the Emmy-nominated The Architect—an exclusive interview with Dr. James Mitchell, designer of the CIA’s controversial enhanced interrogation program.
Earlier this year, she recently produced and hosted The Cut That Heals, an intimate report on female genital mutilation which reveals the surgical reversal of the severest form of FGM.
Ward has a Master’s degree in journalism from New York University, where she occasionally teaches master classes in field producing and shooting.
A former writer and editor for Maclean’s magazine, she also occasionally contributes original reporting to vicenews.com.
