Carlene Hempel has been a professor at the School of Journalism for more than 20 years. She specializes in teaching advanced reporting and writing, long-form narrative, and international reporting. Professor Hempel started her journalism career working for The Middlesex News (now The MetroWest Daily News) in Framingham, Massachusetts, and for The Boston Globe, and then moved to North Carolina, where she worked for MSNBC in the NBC affiliate in Raleigh, and later as a technology and culture reporter for The News & Observer, also in Raleigh.
Professor Hempel is the recipient of a 2023 High Impact Teacher award from the College of Arts, Media, and Design, as well as CAMD’s Excellence in Teaching and Distinguished Service awards. She is also the recipient of a university-wide Excellence in Teaching Award.
Since 2009, she has been leading students on reporting trips to work as part of a traveling press corps. She’s taken groups to Egypt, Syria, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, Spain, Greece, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Panama.
Professor Hempel has a bachelor’s from Clark University, a master’s from University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and a doctorate from Northeastern University. She lives in Concord, Massachusetts, with her husband, Washington Post arts reporter Geoff Edgers, and their two children.
Creative Work
Click below to view a selection of the online magazines Professor Hempel has created with her students’ work abroad:
- Beyond the Canal: A Journey Into Panama: https://beyondthepanamacanal.sites.northeastern.edu
- Portraits of Puerto Rico: https://portraitsofpuertorico.sites.northeastern.edu
- Panama Up Close: At the Continental Crossroads: https://panamaupclose.sites.northeastern.edu
- Cuba, Behind the Blockade: https://behindtheembargo.sites.northeastern.edu
- Northeastern Journalism in Cuba: https://nujournalismincuba2018.wordpress.com
- NU Journalism Abroad – Greece 2017: https://nujournalismingreece2017.wordpress.com
- NU Journalism Abroad – Spain 2015: https://nujournalism2015.wordpress.com
A sampling of student projects advised by Professor Hempel:
- https://meetingthemetaverse.wordpress.com (Winner of the 2023 CAMD Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Scholarly and Creative Achievement.)
- https://www.themememessage.com (Winner of the 2022 CAMD Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Scholarly and Creative Achievement.)
- https://westfromsouth.weebly.com (Winner of the 2021 CAMD Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Scholarly and Creative Achievement.)
- https://kaitlynbudion.wixsite.com/the-era-in-2020
- https://below-the-surface.github.io (Winner of the 2020 CAMD Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Scholarly and Creative Achievement.)
- https://soundcloud.com/stfob (Winner of the 2019 CAMD Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Scholarly and Creative Achievement.)
- https://serranoalejandro16.wixsite.com/convicted/story
- https://rowenalindsay.github.io/Brockton-Power/
- https://rawgit.com/CatherineLindsay/trans-inmate/master/dist/index.html (Winner of the 2018 CAMD Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Scholarly and Creative Achievement.)
- https://kellykasulis.wixsite.com/workinghomeless
Professor Hempel’s impact on students, in their own words:
- https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/02/12/mastrodonato-a-difficult-goodbye-after-15-years-writing-about-boston-sports/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/first-generation-graduate-jonathan-mejia-shares-his-camd-experience/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/student-taraneh-azars-passion-for-journalism/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/riley-robinson-co-op-profile/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/zach-ben-amots-chicagos-wls-tv/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/journalism-student-grows-skillset-at-ensia/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/collyn-stephens-learns-reporting-skills-in-media-advocacy-program/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/kate-coiro/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/owen-pence-sports-correspondent/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/journalism-student-creates-compelling-content-as-video-co-op-for-the-boston-globe/
- https://news.northeastern.edu/2018/02/02/as-patriots-team-reporter-alumna-is-super-bowl-bound/
- https://news.northeastern.edu/2017/03/10/journalism-student-selected-for-new-york-times-global-reporting-experience/
Professor Hempel’s impact on School of Journalism programming:
- https://www.wcvb.com/article/northeastern-university-students-publish-stories-of-their-experiences-in-panama/42816858
- https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/07/13/emerging-journalists-panama-stories/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/camd-students-sweep-at-regional-emmy-awards/
- https://news.northeastern.edu/2021/06/08/trips-abroad-help-yield-collegiate-emmy-awards-for-northeastern-video-journalists/
- https://news.northeastern.edu/2020/12/22/these-northeastern-students-made-sure-that-covid-19-victims-stories-were-told-in-the-boston-globe/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/northeastern-projects-recognized-with-boston-new-england-emmy-awards/
- https://news.northeastern.edu/2019/05/29/northeastern-journalism-students-win-nine-student-emmy-awards-for-stories-on-cuba-metco-and-reinventing-tv-news/
- https://www.wcvb.com/article/northeastern-students-share-their-study-abroad-experience-in-cuba/25338947
- https://news.northeastern.edu/2018/08/09/northeastern-students-fill-the-reporting-gap-in-cuba/
- https://camd.northeastern.edu/news/student-reporting-on-dialogue-represents-cubas-lives-triumphs-heartaches/
- https://news.northeastern.edu/2017/07/11/students-report-from-eye-opening-and-heart-filling-dialogue-in-greece/
Departments
Journalism
Education
- Doctorate degree, Education at Northeastern University in Boston, MA
- Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
- Bachelor’s degree in English, Clark University
Professional Experience
- Technology and Culture Reporter for The News & Observer in Raleigh
- MSNBC in the NBC affiliate
- The Middlesex News
