On Wednesday, February 22, 2023, IPDGC sponsored “Career Chat: Opportunities at State.” Undergraduate and graduate students were invited to join an informational chat about career opportunities at the US State Department. Sharing their experiences will be Christopher Teal and Sean O’Neill, Senior Foreign Service Officers currently teaching at GW. Teal is the IPDGC public diplomacy fellow. Special thanks to Teal and O’Neill for sharing their wisdom and experiences with our students.
IPDGC welcomes Visiting Scholar Seung-Keun Lee of Keimyung University
Dr. Seung-Keun Lee is a professor in the Political Science Department at Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea.
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
At GW, Lee will be conducting research into “Public Diplomacy and Northeast Asian Peace Building”.
Though the Cold War has long ended, there is much effort to curtail tensions in the region. Some potential areas of conflict are: the Korean Peninsula, the China-Taiwan issue, the China-U.S. trade conflict, and territorial issues between Japan-Russia and Japan-China.
Lee will look at how the United States, Japan, China and Russia implement their diplomatic strategies and policies in the region. He notes that public diplomacy in the practice of foreign policies – amid the changes in global diplomatic paradigms – will be an answer to building peace in the region.
IPDGC looks forward to having Lee join our other prestigious Visiting Scholars at IPDGC this spring semester.
IPDGC partners up with PDCA
Programs to support public diplomacy and international relations
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
As part of IPDGC’s collaborations with like-minded organizations, we are proud to announce our partnership with the Public Diplomacy with the First Monday Forums. These talks will be held in-person (or hybrid) at the Lindner Family Commons room in the GW Elliott School for International Affairs every first Monday of the month.
These events fit well with the Institute’s mission goals to support academic excellence in global communication and public diplomacy, as well as provide opportunities for professional development.
The first of the First Monday Forum was held on Feb 6 with a virtual screening of the documentary “A Diplomat of Consequence” The film by Christopher Teal is about Ebenezer Basset, the first American black diplomat. Teal is a Senior Foreign Service officer with the U.S. State Department and currently, also the Public Diplomacy Fellow for IPDGC.
More information on the upcoming First Monday Forums to come.
IPDGC welcomes another Visiting Scholar
Our 3rd Visiting Scholar for the spring semester is Christiane Cromm from Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
As a PhD candidate, Christiane is working on her research into the participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in global economic governance and if their inclusion in organizations such as the World Bank and IMF will contribute to a more accountable, participatory and democratic governance.
As a PhD candidate, Christiane is working on her research into the participation of civil society organizations (CSOs) in global economic governance and if their inclusion in organizations such as the World Bank and IMF will contribute to a more accountable, participatory and democratic governance.
At Humboldt University, she is also a research associate on the project “Participation and inequality ‘beyond the state’ “where she is conducting an explorative study on the opportunities for participation of transnational civil society actors based on the example of institutions of global economic governance.
Christiane holds an MA degree in Political Science with a specialization in International Political Theory from the University of Hamburg.
A new scholar welcomed in the new year
UK academic joins IPDGC this spring semester
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
IPDGC welcomes Visiting Scholar Ben O’Loughlin from the University of London. Ben is a Professor of International Relations at Royal Holloway and the Director of the New Political Communication Unit. His academic expertise is in the field of international political communication.
His research looks at power and influence in international relations, and the role of communication and technology as the conditions through which power and influence operate. Ben has advised policymakers, including as Select Committee advisor on the UK Parliament’s committee on Soft Power, media organizations, and NGOs on how to act strategically in this environment.
In 2019-20 he was officially thinking about Democracy & Disinformation as Thinker in Residence at the Royal Academy, Brussels.
While at GW, Ben will be working on:
(i) climate disinformation and why people do it,
(ii) US-Taiwan-China strategic narratives, and
(iii) staging Iran’s international identity after 20 years of nuclear talks.
You are welcome to contact him if you would like to chat about any of these topics, or your own research area in general: benedict.oloughlin@gwu.edu or @ben_oloughlin
Welcoming the New Year
Happy 2023 to all from IPDGC!
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
We look forward to welcoming our GW students back to campus in less than a couple of weeks. IPDGC will be forging into 2023 with a slate of events and activities for our students, faculty colleagues as well as the interested public.
Meanwhile, we hope that you will join us in recapping the events of Fall 2022.
In August, IPDGC welcomed Christopher Teal, our Public Diplomacy Fellow 2022-2024 as well as two Visiting Scholars – Udane Goikoetxea-Bilbao and Tran Nguyen Khang .
Chris Teal shared his documentary about Amb. Ebenezer Basset, the first US black diplomat. Teal and his fellow Foreign Service colleague, Sean O’Neill also participated in a Career Talk about opportunities for students at the US State Department.
In November, Udane Goikoetxea-Bilbao presented her research on Slow Journalism as she concluded her scholarship with GW.
With the FIFA 2022 World Cup approaching, IPDGC got into the sporting spirit by co-hosting a virtual discussion on sports journalism and human rights.
The Institute also collaborated with the GW Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Forum for a presentation on Raising Standards: Data and AI in Southeast Asia.
Our Annual Lecture for the Walter Roberts Endowment featured Jodie Ginsberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists. Her presentation on “Defending Press Freedom: Protecting Journalists Around the World” was a grim reminder that threats to the media community remained, in a world struggling through a pandemic, global recession, and autocratic regimes
The final event for the semester focused on Africa’s Future: University Partnerships, Business, Tech & Open Diplomacy that followed the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC. This was an opportunity for a multi-university collaboration with the African Centre for the Study of the U.S., University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; Annenberg Center for Communication Leadership and Policy, University of Southern California; Center for African Studies, Howard University; the Public Diplomacy Council of America and also the Institute for African Studies, at the Elliott School of International Affairs.
See you at IPDGC events this semester!
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