Nick Clooney to teach at AU

Nick Clooney, a writer and television personality who ran for Congress in Northern Kentucky in 2004, has joined the faculty at American University in Washington D.C.

Clooney, who lives in Augusta, an Ohio River town in Bracken County, will teach this fall as American University School of Communication and Newseum Distinguished Journalist in Residence. The appointment is part of a long-term partnership between the school and the Newseum, the news museum in Washington D.C.

“Nick Clooney is a natural fit for AU’s School of Communication,” Larry Kirkman, dean of the school said in a statement. “His professional experiences bridge all three of our academic divisions: journalism, public communication, and film and media arts. Nick’s appointment is an excellent example of how the School of Communication’s longstanding partnership with the Newseum strengthens both of our institutions.”

Clooney, a former Cincinnati Post columnist, will teach opinion writing. In the spring he will teach a course called Films that Changed Us, a new source based on Clooney’s book, “The Movies That Changes Us: Reflections on the Screen.”

The book analyzes the significance of such iconic American films as The Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer, Dr. Strangelove, Stagecoach, The Graduate, Star Wars, and Saving Private Ryan.

Clooney hosted programs on American Movie Classics cable channel from 1994 to 1999. He has also written extensively about politics, film and Hollywood and hails from an entertainment family. His late sister, Rosemary, was a major film and recording star and his son, George, is a Academy Award winning actor and director.

“After a news career that stretches back to the Eisenhower administration, I’m looking forward to joining American University’s School of Communication and the Newseum to work with a new generation of prospective journalists” Clooney said in the statement.

Clooney and his son teamed up on the documentary A Journey to Darfur, which chronicled the genocide and other problems in the war torn African nation. Clooney ran for Congress in 2004, running as a Democrat and losing to Republican incumbent Geoff Davis in the 4th Congressional District race.

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