Twelve American journalists have been appointed to the 60th class of Nieman Fellows. They will be joined by a number of international journalists to be named later this month.

Established in 1938 through a bequest of Agnes Wahl Nieman in memory of her husband, Lucius, founder and publisher of The Milwaukee Journal, the Nieman Fellowships are the oldest midcareer fellowships for journalists in the world. They are awarded to working journalists of particular accomplishment and promise for an academic year of study in any part of the University. To date, over 1,000 American and international journalists have studied at Harvard as Nieman Fellows.

The new Nieman Fellows and their areas of interest are:

Howard Berkes, 43, correspondent based in Salt Lake City, National Public Radio. Will study public policy issues.

Uri Berliner, 40, staff writer, The San Diego Union-Tribune. Will study how the new economic climate affects our working lives. His fellowship is supported by the Louis Stark Fund. The fund, established in 1959 to honor Louis Stark, a pioneer in the field of labor reporting, has supported eight previous fellows.

Christine Chinlund, 45, editor, Focus section, The Boston Globe. Plans to explore "social journalism," the moral thread in current events.

Philip J. Cunningham, 43, freelance writer, based in Tokyo. Will study Asia, political science, and philosophy.

Cara DeVito, 45, video journalist, NBC News, New York. Will study the developmental concerns of adolescents, including moral and ethical issues.

Joe Hallinan, 36, national correspondent, Newhouse News Service, Washington, D.C. Will study the history and ethics of punishment and the evolving use of prison.

Julia Keller, 40, television critic, Columbus Dispatch. Will take courses in history, philosophy, and cultural studies to explore the technology of literacy.

Phillip W.D. Martin, 42, senior producer, The World, WGBH Radio, Boston. Will focus on race, historical anti-Semitism, multi-culturalism, foreign affairs, and education.

Bryan Rich, 32, senior international producer based in Burundi, Common Ground Productions. Will investigate the relationship between ethnic relations in the U.S. and the content of media programming.

Joe Rodriguez, 45, editorial writer, San Jose Mercury News. Will focus on contemporary Mexican literature, film, and popular culture, with an emphasis on the urban novel.

David Turnley, 41, photographic correspondent based in Paris, The Detroit Free Press. Will take classes at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, the Kennedy School of Government, and will study Russian, filmmaking, and drama.

David Welna, 42, Mexico bureau chief, National Public Radio. Will study the relationship between the United States and Mexico, music theory, and creative writing.