Patricia Auferheide, Jax Deluca Named Fall 2025 Shorenstein Center Fellows

"The Shorenstein Center announced today the Fall 2025 cohort of Documentary Film Fellows, who will be working closely with the Documentary Film in the Public Interest (DFPI) initiative. Through the Fellows' projects, the Shorenstein Center will engage in examinations of public impact and media policy. Shorenstein Center Director Nancy Gibbs said in a press release, "We are eager to welcome these exceptional leaders into our research community. Prof. Aufderheide's groundbreaking work on ethical practice, and Jax DeLuca's on the civic power of documentary, could not be more timely at this critical moment for the field.""

"Patricia Aufderheide is University Professor of Communication Studies in the School of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C. She founded the School's Center for Media & Social Impact, where she continues as Senior Research Fellow."

"She is also affiliate faculty in the School of International Service and the History department at American University, and a member of the Film and Media Arts division in the School of Communication. Her books include Kartemquin Films: Documentaries on the Frontlines of Democracy (University of California), Reclaiming Fair Use: How to Put Balance Back in Copyright (University of Chicago), with Peter Jaszi; Documentary: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford), The Daily Planet (University of Minnesota Press), and Communications Policy in the Public Interest (Guilford Press)."

The Shorenstein Center named a Fall 2025 cohort of Documentary Film Fellows to work with the Documentary Film in the Public Interest (DFPI) initiative. The Fellows will conduct research examining public impact and media policy and will be engaged through the end of the year, with results released in the following months. Shirley Abraham will continue a yearlong fellowship and will be joined by Patricia Aufderheide and Jax Deluca. Patricia Aufderheide serves as University Professor of Communication Studies at American University, founded the Center for Media & Social Impact, and remains a Senior Research Fellow. She has held Fulbright Research Fellowships in Brazil (1994–95), Australia (2017), and South Korea (2024) and is a John Simon Guggenheim fellow (1994).

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