#GW – The Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication

Looking forward to Fall 2023

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

We are excited about welcoming our students back to the GW campus in a few of weeks. IPDGC and the MA Global Communication program have prepared a slate of activities for the fall semester, and look forward to engaging with everyone at these events. Meanwhile, here is a recap of the events from last academic year.

With the support of the Walter Roberts Endowment, IPDGC organized the Annual Lecture featuring 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.

U.S. Senator James Risch of Idaho was the 2023 Award for Congressional Leadership in Public Diplomacy recipient. IPDGC also announced a grant of $5,000 from the Walter Roberts Endowment to the non-profit organization Global Ties Idaho for a public diplomacy program that serves its community.

IPDGC co-hosted a panel with recipients of the 2023 Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award. We were honored to be able to interview Doris Rios of Costa Rica and Yuliia Paievska of Ukraine about their work and exceptional courage, strength, and leadership to improve the lives of others.

Our Visiting Scholar program welcomed five international scholars, including a Fulbrighter, covering diverse research topics: public diplomacy in Northeast Asia; soft power in museum diplomacy; the role of civil society in international governance; the changing temporality of journalism; and the possibilities of peace journalism in the Ukraine-Russia war.

In our graduate program, 12 students graduated with their MA in Global Communication. The Walter Roberts Endowment awarded two students, Brandon Bell and Sherilyn Harrington, with the Public Diplomacy Studies Award, recognizing their excellent academic work in public diplomacy. We wish all of them the best in their future endeavors!

And we’ll see the rest of you in the new year!

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

The Walter Roberts Endowment and the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication (IPDGC) are proud to announce that Global Communication graduate student Nikki Hinshaw is receiving this year’s award.

Each year, the Walter Roberts Endowment recognizes a GW graduate student who shows exemplary performance in public diplomacy studies and has aspirations for a future career in this field.

*Nikki Hinshaw, MA Global Communication ’22*

Ms. Hinshaw is graduating with a master’s in Global Communication and concentrations in Public Diplomacy and International Education. She developed a love for the field of international education and exchange after studying abroad in Ghana, and interning for exchange programs at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the International Center for Journalists, and the Institute of International Education, amongst others.

Ms. Hinshaw fostered her research interests in virtual exchange, domestic dimensions of public diplomacy, disinformation and media capacity-building, and diversity, equity, and inclusion through her capstone, coursework, and research assistantship in GSHED’s Global Education Lab.

Professor Patricia Kabra who teaches Public Diplomacy and the Communication and Modern Diplomacy seminars at the School of Media and Public Affairs, noted: “Nikki Hinshaw is one of those students who has pursued, at every opportunity, an avenue leading to PD. From work and internships at the Department of State, IIE, the International Center for Journalists to Sister Cities, she has packed in more experience than seems possible over the last few years.”

Again, congratulations to Nikki, and all the best to the 2022 graduating cohort of the MA Global Communication program.

Raise High!

Tag: #GW

Getting ready for the new school year

Congratulations to Nikki Hinshaw – recipient of the 2022 Walter Roberts Public Diplomacy Studies award!