Being hounded by reporters is nothing new for Harvard professors.

But as the war in Iraq progresses into its second week, major media outlets are turning to Harvard experts for analysis with increasing frequency.

Foreign policy experts at the University are descending from the ivory tower in record numbers to weigh in on one of the largest news stories in a generation.

With the unprecedented amount of war coverage, many Harvard professors have sounded off on television news programs and on the front pages of the nation’s top newspapers.

Many look to the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), which boasts four former senior members of the Department of Defense, two former army generals, a former associate secretary general of the UN, and countless other leading public intellectuals among its faculty.

“We have a good number of people whose expertise is directly in this area...so it’s not surprising that television and newspapers have been calling them,” said KSG Dean Joseph S. Nye. “Whenever you have a crisis like this, the media turn to places they can get good responsible commentary and criticism, and we’re one of those places.”

Professor of History Cemal Kafadar cautioned against professors seeking media attention at the expense of their students.

“I think our priorities are to our students and our communities,” he said. Public visibility “might make it possible for one to lose one’s perspective.”

But Institute of Politics Director Dan Glickman said KSG professors have an obligation to share their insights on the war, adding that such public engagement adds, rather than detracts, from their teaching.

“When you have this kind of experience, you are almost required to share your thoughts and views,” he said. “It’s part of the teaching process.”

The media’s unprecedented focus on the story has created this insurgent demand for academics, according to Alex S. Jones, director of the KSG’s Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy.

“This is the most intensely covered news story in my memory,” said Jones, who noted that he has received dozens of calls from reporters since the war began. “You can’t find anything else on cable news.”

And networks such as CNN and MSNBC that provide 24-hour war coverage have more airtime to fill with expert analysis.

“There seems to be more actual programming since the last war,” said University spokesperson Joe Wrinn.

Various Harvard schools have made lists of experts available to the press, he said, adding that faculty interviews are self-perpetuating.