SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

SIPA Faculty

Claudia Dreifus
International Affairs Building, 13th Floor
Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs
Phone: 212-854-3213
cd2106@columbia.edu

Biography:
Claudia Dreifus, who writes the "Conversation with. . . " feature of the Tuesday science section of the New York Times, is known internationally for her unusual interviews with scientists, policymakers, and international figures. She is the author of Scientific Conversations: Interviews on Science from the New York Times (Times Books 2002) and a book of political and cultural interviews, "Interview" (Seven Stories Press 1999), which is used in journalism programs worldwide. Professor Dreifus, who teaches Magazine Writing With An International Dateline, has filed stories from places as diverse as Central America, Northern Ireland, Burma, South Africa, Chile, and Puerto Rico. In her course, emphasis is placed on developing practical skills with real world applications. Using the diverse possibilities of New York City as a base, students are encouraged to develop the skills they will need to produce magazine articles from international locales.

Her work appears in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Smithsonian, AARP-The Magazine, and Scientific American. Once, long ago and on a planet faraway, she worked as a Playboy interviewer, as well as feature writer for Ms. Magazine. She has also been an interviewer, over the years, for every major New York City newspaper, including Newsday, the New York Post, and the Daily News. For the past thirteen years, she has been associated with the New York Times, first as a contributing writer to the Sunday Magazine and now in the same position in the Tuesday Science Times.