Dr. William Youmans was appointed director of the Institute for Public Diplomacy and International Affairs, effective January 1, 2022.
Dr. Youmans is an associate professor at the George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs. Broadly interested in questions of transnationalism, power and communication, his primary research interests include global news, law and politics. His other areas of interest include researching terrorism, American international broadcasting, Middle East politics and Arab-American studies.
Dr. Youmans has written a book, Unlikely Audience: Al Jazeera’s Struggle in America (Oxford UP, 2017), about the Qatari news network’s efforts to gain a share of the news market in the United States, 2006-2016. He has been quoted in articles that ran in Salon, Washington Post, Newsweek, Variety and The New York Times, among others. He was a guest on radio and television programs on CBC Radio, WAMU/NPR, Headline News, Al Jazeera English and ARD. He wrote a regular column for the Gulf News, but has also been published in the Washington Post, Middle East Report, and Nieman Journalism Lab.
Yvonne Oh, Program Coordinator
Yvonne manages the Institute and the MA program in Global Communications. She also coordinates between the School of Media and Public Affairs and the Elliott School of International Affairs for programs and events.
Yvonne moved to the US in 2016 from Malaysia, after many years working in Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy Kuala Lumpur. She has been a journalist and has worked in communications development in Southeast Asia. Having earned her MBA from the GW School of Business in May 2023, she intends to be involved in building inclusive, sustainable communities for people to thrive.
