The Columbia Publishing Course

Pulitzer Hall at Columbia University. Home of the Columbia Publishing Course.
Former name	Radcliffe Publishing Course
Type	Private graduate certification
Established	1947
Parent institution	Columbia University
Director	Shaye Areheart
Students	~100 per year
Location	New York City
Website	journalism.columbia.edu/cpc-ny

The Columbia Publishing Course, formerly known as the Radcliffe Publishing Course, is a six-week graduate-level summer course on book, magazine, and digital publishing at Columbia University.^[1]

Many of the course's graduates have gone on to be editors in the "Big Five" publishing companies. The program is known for its lectures held by industry leaders, many of whom are graduates of the course themselves; and for its two immersive workshop weeks, "Book Week" and "Magazine Week," in which students plan and design their own book imprint and magazine brand, respectively.^[2] Some student work have gone on to become actual books, including the bestselling Lean In: Women, Work and the Will To Lead by Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg. ^[3]

It was established in 1947 at Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Edith Gratia Stedman, as a training course for women looking to get into publishing. It became co-ed in 1949. In 2000, when Radcliffe was integrated into Harvard University, the program was moved to Pulitzer Hall at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City.^[4]

The Columbia Publishing Course has also offered a four-week sister program in September at Exeter College in Oxford, England since 2016.^[5]

Shaye Areheart, a former Doubleday editor, has been director of the Columbia Publishing Course since 2013, having been a lecturer for it since 1988. Areheart took over the course after the death of longtime director Lindy Hess, who was known for launching the careers of many editors.^[6][7][8]

Renowned editor Robert Gottlieb is shown addressing the course in the 2022 documentary Turn Every Page.^[9]

Notable graduates

• Lee Bourdeaux, Ecco Press^[10]
• Christopher Carduff, Wall Street Journal book editor^[11]
• David Davidar, Penguin India^[12]
• Morgan Entrekin, publisher of Grove/Atlantic^[13]
• Steven Florio, president of Conde Nast Publications^[14]
• David M. Granger, editor-in-chief of Esquire^[15][16]
• Jazmine Hughes, New York Times Magazine editor^[17]
• Madeline McIntosh, CEO of Penguin Random House^[18]
• Jim Murphy, author^[19]
• Victor Navasky, publisher and editor of The Nation^[20]
• Jordan Pavlin, editor-in-chief of Knopf^[21]

See also

• Book publishing in New York City
• Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
• Radcliffe College

References