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Peter Laufer is the James Wallace Chair Professor in Journalism at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. He is also an award-winning author, broadcaster, documentarian, and journalist. He has studied and taught throughout the world and has sent home reports on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the wars in Central America for NBC Radio, reported for CBS Radio as the Berlin Wall fell, and chased butterflies in Nicaragua for his book The Dangerous World of Butterflies.

An international news correspondent and award-winning author, he has written over 18 books including the 2014 Organic: A Journalist’s Quest to Discover the Truth behind Food Labeling. He reported, wrote, and produced several documentaries as an NBC News correspondent on topics ranging from the crises facing Vietnam War veterans to illiteracy and hunger in America, and he wrote a study of Americans incarcerated overseas that won the George Polk Award. He frequently combines his scholarly and professional work, and he served as editor of the anthology Interviewing: The Oregon Method.

Laufer’s writing now focuses on borders, migration, identity, and animal
rights. He is the co-Director of the University of Oregon-UNESCO Crossings Institute for Intercultural Dialogue and Conflict-Sensitive Reporting, and he is the co-Director of the University of Oregon North American Bureau for the European Journalism Observatory. He is a winner of the University of Oregon Jonathan Marshall Award for Innovative Teaching in Journalism and Communication.

Laufer’s research probes the intersection of borders, migration, and identity.
He also studies the relationships of humans to other animals. His investigative
work includes a study of the veracity of the label “organic” on food products.