Applications Being Accepted for OpEd Project at UC

Who narrates the world? Right now, men dominate our news, from sourcing to opinion writing. When we miss out on minority and women’s voices in our daily consumption of news and information, we miss opportunities to see more perspectives and more potential solutions to pressing world problems.

The Op Ed Project aims to flip statistics like the following, as reported in The Columbia Journalism Review:

• Women wrote just 20 percent of op-eds in mainstream news outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times in 2011.

• Latinos wrote one-half of one percent of op-eds in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

• Blacks wrote an average of five percent of op-eds.

• Asians penned an average of two percent of op-eds.

This December, the University of Cincinnati will expand the expert training offered by The Op Ed Project, who sent representatives to UC's campus to train a class of 20 faculty and staff in December 2013.

Women and underrepresented faculty and staff are encouraged to submit their applications for the 1.5-day training session that will run Dec. 5 and 6, 2014. Application deadline is Monday, Oct. 27. Apply here.

“Making sure diverse voices are heard and recognized in the public sphere is critical to expanding our understanding of the world,” said Provost Beverly Davenport. “We are proud to equip the thought leaders already working on our campus to share their wisdom with broader community audiences, locally, nationally and internationally with the help of The Op Ed Project.”

This is the second year UC is partnering with The Op Ed Project, which provides instructors and authors whose work has been published nationally and internationally in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Huffington Post and many others. The hands-on, interactive training focuses on sharing expertise and opinions about topics that matter—from local politics to international affairs.

“The Op Ed Project is an integral part of our special initiatives to support and empower our faculty and staff, in particular women and minorities,” said Robin Martin, vice provost for special initiatives. “We’re proud to join the ranks for Harvard, Emory, Northwestern and Stanford who also support their leaders with Op Ed Project training.”

The Op-Ed Project at UC is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Office of the President, UC LEAF, Women’s Center, the Department of Journalism, Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, WIN and the Diversity Council. Since last year, UC faculty and staff trained by the Op Ed facilitators have published their pieces locally and nationally.

The Op Ed Project

is a social venture founded to increase the range of voices and quality of ideas we hear in the world.

For more information about The Op Ed Project at UC and to apply, click here.