Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism has selected 28 journalists from the United States and around the world for its 69th class of fellows, including Dexter Filkins, a Baghdad correspondent for the New York Times.

Like several of the other fellows, he will focus his studies the U.S.’s interaction with the Islamic world.

Filkins’ research will examine the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and look at the relationship between the Western and Islamic worlds after September 11th.

Eliza Griswold, another Nieman fellow and a freelance journalist whose byline has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine and The New York Times Magazine, will study the antagonism of Christianity and Islam in nations along the Tenth Parallel.

International fellows researching the Middle East include Finnish editor Patsy Nakell, who will study the early 20th century history of American policy in the region, and Anja Niedringhaus, an Associated Press photographer from Germany, who will study culture, history, and gender issues in the Middle East.

Other fellows will focus on American immigration issues, such as Gina Acosta from The Washington Post, who will study the fiscal results of U.S. immigration policy, and Claudio Sanchez, national education correspondent for National Public Radio, who will investigate why educational policies fail to equip both legal and illegal Mexican immigrant children with the skills needed for success.

Two fellows from Africa will research the intersection of economics and democracy. Tangeni Amupadhi from Namibia will study how to improve economics and business reporting to better inform voters, and Alagi Yorro Jallow from Gambia will study the connection between economic development and democracy as well as politics, human rights, media development and public policy.

The Nieman program was established in 1938. Working journalists are selected each year with a grant to study for a year at Harvard. So far, more than 1,100 journalists from 77 countries have been selected as Nieman Fellows at Harvard.

—Staff writer Katherine M. Gray can be reached at kmgray@fas.harvard.