News – Page 8 – The Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication

January 6, 2022April 23, 2024

Happy New Year!

The Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication wishes all the best for 2022!

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

This year we warmly welcome IPDGC’s new director, Dr. William Youmans. Dr. Youmans is an associate professor at the George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. His area of expertise is media law and global communications, Middle Eastern politics and society; social movements, and Arab-American studies. More information on Dr. Youmans can be found here.

Through the hybrid work environment of 2021, IPDGC was able to organize virtual events such as the Walter Roberts Endowment Annual Lecture, present the 2021 Award for Congressional Leadership in Public Diplomacy, and host a Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship program for 15 media professionals from Eastern and Central Europe.

For 2022, IPDGC, with the Walter Roberts Endowment, will continue to support public diplomacy excellence in academia and for career professionals. If you would like to know more about our other activities, please go here.

And you can always support our public diplomacy activities here.

November 22, 2021November 5, 2022

Walter R Roberts Endowment seeks your support

November 2021

Dear Friend,

The Walter Roberts Endowment was established by Dr. Walter R. Roberts and his family to educate students, recognize leadership, and disseminate best practices in public diplomacy.

]Thanks to the generous support of donors like you, the endowment has supported dozens of students interested in public diplomacy and has assisted in funding related activities of the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication (IPDGC) at the George Washington University (GW).

Every year, we host speakers at our annual Walter Robert’s Lectures: Dr. Joseph Nye, Dr. Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution, Ambassador Bruce Wharton (ret.), Ambassador Michael McFaul (ret.) of Stanford University, and many others. This year’s speaker was Ambassador Ted Osius (ret.) who spoke regarding the journey of reconciliation between the U.S. and Vietnam and the importance of “people-to-people” diplomacy. The 2021-22 Walter Roberts Lecture can be viewed here.

The Endowment also funds IPDGC’s Award for Congressional Leadership in Public Diplomacy, which honors members of Congress who have been consistently supportive of public diplomacy throughout their careers. These awards support public diplomacy micro-projects in institutions situated in the member’s state or congressional district. The 2020-2021 recipient was Senator John Boozman of Arkansas in recognition for his support of the Fulbright program. The award ceremony can be viewed here. Past recipients have been Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Congresswoman Nita Lowey (NY-17). The Endowment provided small grants in the recipients’ names to the University of Tennessee Center for Sport, Peace, and Society, the Vermont Council on World Affairs, Battery Dance Company in New York, and Global Ties Arkansas.

We seek your assistance and support in our efforts to provide funded internships for undergraduate and graduate students, and grants to graduate students who could not otherwise afford to study public diplomacy at GW. Over the past 2 years, recognizing the challenge students have faced during the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Endowment funded summer internships in public diplomacy for graduate and undergraduate students.

You can see the full range of our programs by visiting the IPDGC website at ipdgc.gwu.edu.

We hope that you will join us in this worthy endeavor to further the awareness of the importance of public diplomacy. The invitation to contribute to the Endowment begins with a click on the DONATE NOW button that follows this letter.

Sincerely,

Patricia Kabra, PhD

Chair, Walter R. Roberts Endowment

Advisory Committee

Janet Steele, PhD

Director of IPDGC and Professor,

School of Media and Public Affairs

DONATE NOW

November 10, 2021November 5, 2022

“Nothing is Impossible” 2021-22 Walter Roberts Annual Lecture recording

Retired U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius shares stories about the daring diplomacy that brought the U.S. and Vietnam closer together.

The recent Walter Roberts Annual Lecture featured retired U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius speaking on the diplomatic work that helped bring about reconciliation between the U.S. and Vietnam. Amb. Osius served in Vietnam from 2014-2017.

He shares stories from his recent book, “Nothing Is Impossible” and talks about leaders from both countries who put aside past traumas to work on creating a brighter future. Amb. Osius also draws upon his own experiences of working first-hand with various Vietnamese leaders and also traveling the country on bicycle to spotlight the ordinary Vietnamese people who helped bring about their nation’s extraordinary renaissance.

Please enjoy the recording:

October 7, 2021April 23, 2024

2021-22 Walter Roberts Annual Lecture

Nothing is Impossible: The diplomatic journey towards reconciliation

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

The Walter Roberts Lecture will feature Ambassador (retired) Ted Osius who will speak about U.S.- Vietnam relations; how a relationship fraught with tensions following a painful war that cost nearly 60,000 American and over two million Vietnamese lives, was able to reach reconciliation after a 20-year journey of daring diplomacy. Amb. Osius was U.S. ambassador to Vietnam during the Obama administration. His recent book, Nothing Is Impossible, offers a vivid account of the diplomatic work that made this reconciliation possible. He speaks to the leaders who put aside past traumas to work on creating a brighter future for the two countries. Amb. Osius also draws upon his own experiences of working first-hand with various Vietnamese leaders, and also traveling the country on bicycle to spotlight the ordinary Vietnamese people who helped bring about their nation’s extraordinary renaissance.

Dean Alyssa Ayres, dean of the GW Elliott School of International Affairs will deliver introductory remarks.

Dr. Janet Steele (right), director of the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication, will moderate the discussion and Q&A session with Amb. Osius.

A reception will follow.

Please, join us for this free event.

2021-22 Walter Roberts Lecture

Tuesday, October 26
6pm -7:30pm (ET)
City View Room, Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St NW, Washington DC 20052

RSVP to attend in-person

RSVP to attend on Zoom

August 30, 2021April 23, 2024

Welcome Students!

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

The new academic year begins today at the George Washington University.

IPDGC is happy to welcome the new graduate students joining our cohort in the MA program in Global Communications at the Elliott School for International Affairs. We look forward to the fall semester!

June 15, 2021April 23, 2024

Summer support for GW students

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

Six GW students receive Walter Roberts Endowment grants for PD internships

The Walter Roberts Endowment (WRE) and the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication (IPDGC) is pleased to announce that our $15,000 internship grant has been successfully awarded to six GW students to support them in their Public Diplomacy internships over summer 2021.

Walter R. Roberts, former diplomat and foreign policy and public affairs expert

Adeniyi Funsho will be working with IPDGC on the Public Diplomacy Examined (PDx) podcasts and the institute’s online engagement.

Other recipients of the grants are Kevin Cao and Charles Shapiro who will be working at Global Ties US; on the World Expo pavilion, and on membership and development.

Nikki Hinshaw will work for the Public Affairs office at the US Embassy in London.

Evelyn Adams will be with the Alliance for International Exchange, where she gets training on activities that promote the growth and impact of exchange programs.

Sophie Van Gilder will work on developing marketing and communication products for Strategies for International Development (SID). SID helps poor farmers graduate from poverty by helping them build successful farm businesses that increase their income. Their work is centered in communities in Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia.

WRE and IPDGC wish our GW students well as they embark on their public diplomacy experiences this summer.