Columbia Publishing Course

{{Short description|Summer course on publishing}}

{{Infobox university

| name = The Columbia Publishing Course

| image = MMDA-Photos - 2019-05-24 - Pilitzer Hall, Columbia University, NYC.jpg

| caption = Pulitzer Hall at Columbia University. Home of the Columbia Publishing Course.

| former_name = Radcliffe Publishing Course

| type = Private graduate certification

| established = 1947

| parent = Columbia University

| director = Shaye Areheart

| students = ~100 per year

| city = New York City

| website = {{URL|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.{{Cite web |last=Nazaryan |first=Alexander |date=2013-07-18 |title=A Teacher of the Publishing World Is Gone |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2013/07/lindy-hess-woman-who-taught-how-publish-books-gone/313152/ |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}

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,{{according to whom|date=December 2023}} 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.{{Cite web |last=Bosman |first=Julie |date=July 17, 2011 |title="E-book Revolution Upends a Publishing Course" |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/nyregion/e-book-revolution-upends-columbia-publishing-course.html |website=New York Times}} 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.{{Cite web |date=2016-09-28 |title=Columbia Publishing Course comes to Oxford |url=https://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-article/columbia-publishing-course-comes-to-oxford |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=Bookbrunch |language=en}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Series 4. Radcliffe Publishing Course, 1944-1995 {{!}} HOLLIS for |url=https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/8/archival_objects/2385467 |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu}}

The Columbia Publishing Course has also offered a four-week sister program in September at Exeter College in Oxford, England since 2016.{{Cite web |date=2016-09-28 |title=Columbia Publishing Course comes to Oxford |url=https://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-article/columbia-publishing-course-comes-to-oxford |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=Bookbrunch |language=en}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Nazaryan |first=Alexander |date=2013-07-18 |title=A Teacher of the Publishing World Is Gone |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2013/07/lindy-hess-woman-who-taught-how-publish-books-gone/313152/ |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Swanson {{!}} |first=Clare |title=Young Editors Remember Hess |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/people/article/58329-young-editors-remember-lindy-hess.html |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Deahl {{!}} |first=Rachel |title=Publishing Still a Draw for New Grads |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20090126/8569-publishing-still-a-draw-for-new-grads.html |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=PublishersWeekly.com |language=en}}

Renowned editor Robert Gottlieb is shown addressing the course in the 2022 documentary Turn Every Page.{{Cite web |title=Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb {{!}} Sony Pictures Classics |url=https://www.sonyclassics.com/film/turneverypage/ |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=sonyclassics.com |language=en-US}}