Menachem Wecker is a freelance writer based in Chicago, who blogs and reports on faith and art topics for the Houston Chronicle, the Jewish Daily Forward, and ChicagoNow. He is the former education reporter at U.S. News & World Report in Washington, D.C.
Credit: freedphoto.com
Wecker holds a master’s degree in art history from George Washington University (where he studied with Prof. Barbara von Barghahn) and a bachelor’s degree in English from Yeshiva University. He also trained at Massachusetts College of Art, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Art Institute of Boston, and has exhibited his drawings, paintings, and photographs at galleries in New York, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.
From 2003 to 2012, Wecker authored more than 250 reviews as part of a Jewish arts column he co-wrote for The Jewish Press, a national publication based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Prior to joining U.S. News, he worked at George Washington University for five years, first as assistant director of public affairs (publications and media) at the Elliott School of International Affairs and then as a writer for the university’s official online daily news service, GW Today. Previously, he was assistant editor of B’nai B’rith Magazine.
His articles and reviews have appeared in the following publications (in part):
Washington Post (On Faith blog), Houston Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Arab American News, Religion News Service, Mormon Artist Magazine, Mormon Times, National Catholic Reporter, Arlington Catholic Herald, The Christian Index, Relevant Magazine, New York Arts Magazine, NY Press, World & I, Forward, Tablet, Nextbook, American Jewish Life Magazine, World Jewish Digest, Jerusalem Post, JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency), NY Jewish Week, Washington Jewish Week, Baltimore Jewish Times, New Voices, My Jewish Learning, altMuslim.com, jbooks.com, DCist.com, interfaithfamily.com, and Jewish Currents.
Wecker is currently working on a book with Brandon Withrow, of Winebrenner Theological Seminary, tentatively called Consider No Evil: Two Faith Traditions and the Problem of Academic Freedom in Religious Higher Education. The book is due out either in late 2013 or early 2014 from Cascade Books (Wipf and Stock Publishers).
He is a member of the National Press Club, the Religion Newswriters Association, and the Society of Professional Journalists.