Isabell Karras Joins Groundbreaking Program for Journalism Students and Early-Career Journalists

New York, NY — Isabell Karras, a graduate of University of Groningen (Netherlands) and Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland) -  The Erasmus Mundus Master Programme “Euroculture: Society, Politics and Culture in a Global Context” - is one of thirteen journalism students chosen for the 2022 journalism program of the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE).

Now in its twelfth year of operation, FASPE provides a unique historical lens to engage graduate students in professional schools as well as early-stage practitioners in six fields (business, journalism, law, design & technology, medicine, and seminary) in an intensive course of study focused on contemporary ethical issues in their professions.

The FASPE journalism program offers an approach that differs from the usual classroom experience in journalism schools by providing a holistic curriculum that looks beyond the specifics of formal rules to focus on ethical problems faced by individual journalists in the various settings within which they practice. Fellows participate in a two-week program in Germany and Poland, which uses the conduct of journalists in Nazi-occupied Europe as a way to reflect on journalistic ethics today.

Daily seminars are led by specialized faculty who engage fellows in discussions and critical thinking about both the historical and the contemporary. The journalism program is strengthened by the diverse perspectives of its participants and the power of place and context. The experience of the journalism fellows is enhanced by traveling alongside the medical and seminary fellows, who together—in formal and informal settings—consider how ethical constructs and norms in their respective professions align and differ.

“By educating students about the causes of the Holocaust and the power of their chosen professions, FASPE seeks to instill a sense of professional responsibility for the ethical and moral choices that the Fellows will make in their careers and in their professional relationships,” said David Goldman, FASPE’s founder and chairman.

FASPE studies the perpetrators to emphasize the essential role of professionals and to ask how and why professionals abandon their ethical guideposts. The FASPE journalism program examines the role of journalists and the journalism profession in the Nazi state, underscoring the reality that moral codes governing journalists can break down or be distorted with devastating consequences. With this historical background, the journalism fellows are better positioned to confront contemporary issues.

The 2022 fellowship is scheduled to take place in Germany and Poland over the course of two weeks this summer (subject to health considerations). The journalism program will be led by Sheila Coronel, Toni Stabile Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University and Director, Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, and Mark Lukasiewicz, Dean of the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication at Hofstra University.

Isabell Karras is a multimedia journalist with extensive experience in radio reporting. She currently works as radio host and editor for Radio Bremen, a German public service broadcaster. She graduated with an Erasmus Mundus joint master’s degree from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland) in 2021. Her academic career started with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and french (minor subject) at the Technical University of Dortmund (Germany), obtained in 2019. Isabell's interests include the topics of right-wing populism, public discourse on gender, human rights, and social movements.

Karras joins a diverse group of eighty FASPE fellows across all six programs who were chosen through a competitive process that drew applicants from across the US and the world. FASPE covers all program costs, including travel, food, and lodging.

FASPE maintains long-term relationships with its fellows in order to sustain commitment to ethical behavior and to provide a forum for continued dialogue. To date, FASPE has over 650 alumni.