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.
VIDEO: Public Diplomacy – Its Strategic Imperative and Why It Matters Now More than Ever
On Monday April 3rd at 12 pm, The Honorable Lee Satterfield, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) spoke at April’s First Monday Forum.
First Monday Forums are cosponsored by the Public Diplomacy Council of American, George Washington University’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication and the USC Annenberg Center for Communication Leadership & Policy.
Dean Alyssa Ayres of the Elliott School for International Affairs welcomes Assistant Secretary Satterfield.
It took place in the Lindner Family Commons Room on the 6th floor of the Elliott School of International Affairs at 1957 E Street NW.
Lee Satterfield is Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs (ECA), leading the State Department’s global efforts to
engage individuals through academic, cultural, professional, sports, and
youth exchanges. Previously, Ms. Satterfield was President and Chief
Operating Officer at Meridian International Center, a non-profit center for
diplomacy that strengthens engagement between the United States and the
world. At Meridian she directed daily operations and spearheaded major
strategic initiatives, including the launch of the Center for Diplomatic
Engagement, the Center for Global Leadership, an organization-wide
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce and the expansion of cultural
diplomacy programs.
She previously served in the Obama Administration as Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Prior to
that, Ms. Satterfield was Deputy Chief of Protocol of the United States. In
the Clinton Administration, Ms. Satterfield held several senior positions
including Chief of Staff to Secretary Alexis Herman at the Labor
Department, and Special Assistant to the President and Staff Director for
The White House Office of Public Liaison. A native South Carolinian,
Satterfield graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor
of Arts in Journalism.
Africa’s Future: University Partnerships, Business, Tech & Open Diplomacy
With other university partners, IPDGC co-hosted a half-day event of presentations and discussions following the US-Africa Leaders Summit in DC.
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
As a side event to the Summit, issues discussed were about University Partnerships, Digital Technologies and Democracy, Citizen Diplomacy, and U.S. Business in Africa. The day ended with an open discussion on strategies for university-driven, society-relevant U.S.-Africa initiatives.
Recordings of the event:
1st Session aims to advance US-Africa university partnerships across research, teaching, public engagement, and exchanges. WATCH
2nd Session discusses the role of digital technologies with a focus on their linkages to democracy, human rights, and civil society. WATCH
3rd Session aims to enhance citizen diplomacy as a key pillar of U.S.-Africa’s state and non-state engagements including aspects such as people-to-people engagements, diaspora diplomacy, cultural diplomacy and digital diplomacy. WATCH
Global journalism continues to be under attack
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
At IPDGC’s 2022 Walter R. Roberts Lecture, Jodie Ginsberg president of the Committee to Protect Journalists confirmed that journalists all over the world continue to work under threat of being jailed, harmed, or even killed.
Ginsberg’s presentation was on “Defending Press Freedom: Protecting Journalists Around the World” at the George Washington University.
Ginsberg took on the leadership role in April 2022, after years of experience as a journalist and media advocate. CPJ is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. The organization works to defend the rights of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal.
Elliott School Dean Alyssa Ayres introduced Ginsberg while the Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs, Silvio Waisbord, moderated the discussion.
IPDGC Director William Youmans welcomed all to the event, noting that the lecture is a tribute to Walter R. Roberts for whom “media and the free flow of ideas were central to his career.”
The Walter R. Roberts Endowment seeks to inspire public diplomacy best practices around the world. Its goal is to expand the universe of public diplomacy practitioners through activities which blend theory and practice, enable dialogue among people from different backgrounds and institutions, and increase awareness of the importance of public diplomacy.
GW Today has more on the Lecture.
Raising Standards: Data and Artificial Intelligence in Southeast Asia
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
In a private presentation, Elina Noor, Director of Political-Security Affairs and Deputy Director for the Washington D.C. Office at the Asia Society Policy Institute, talked about the opportunity for Southeast Asia to redefine inclusive development for the region by raising standards for data and ethical AI.
In a report co-authored by Noor, she and her collaborator Mark Bryan Manantan, examined policy frameworks in five countries in the region and their impact on governance and economies. The authors surmised that the region’s digital future begins with proactively shaping a path in its own image. Noor spoke about the report’s recommendations for principles and practices that fuel development while advancing human dignity.
Moderated by Dr. William Youmans, IPDGC Director, the event also was attended by directors of the collaborating organizations, Dr. Gregg Brazinsky, the GW Sigur Center of Asian Studies, and William Wise, The Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia Forum.
The Qatar World Cup, Sports Journalism and Human Rights
Virtual discussion on the “other issues” of reporting on sporting events
By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator
With the FIFA 2022 World Cup kicking off in Qatar on November 20, the conversation was about if, and how, sports journalists covering the men’s world cup in Qatar should report on human rights. According to FIFA, the sport’s governing body, the World Cup in 2018 drew more than 3.5 billion viewers and the championship game was seen live by more than one billion people.
However, countries that host the tournament will draw attention as well – and not all of that is positive. This year’s tournament has raised questions about human rights in Qatar, and “sports washing” in general.
IPDGC collaborated with the Project on Ethics in Political Communication for a virtual discussion on the topic of the World Cup, Sports Journalism and Human Rights. Joining this conversation were international soccer journalist Grant Wahl and Prof. Neha Vora, an anthropologist with Lafayette College.
Moderating the event was Silvio Waisbord, the Director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at the George Washington University.
Brief bios of the speakers:
Grant Wahl is one of the top soccer journalists in the US. His pre-World Cup writing includes the need to pay attention to the human toll of constructing the stadia, hotels and infrastructure the World Cup requires. He has covered World Cups for Sports Illustrated, CBS and Fox Sports. His books include The Beckham Experiment and Masters of Modern Soccer.
Prof. Neha Vora, is an anthropologist at Lafayette College. Her writing includes the books Impossible Citizens: Dubai’s Indian Diaspora; Teach for Arabia: American Universities, Liberalism, and Transnational Qatar; and Beyond Exception: New Interpretations of the Arabian Peninsula (co-authored with Ahmed Kanna and Amelie Le Renard).
