#publicdiplomacy – Page 10 – The Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication

March 25, 2021April 23, 2024

Walter Roberts Endowment announces grants for summer internships and the Public Diplomacy Student Award

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

The Walter Roberts Endowment (WRE) is happy to announce that the submissions period is open for the WRE summer internship grants and the Walter Roberts Public Diplomacy Studies for 2^nd-year graduate students at the Elliott School of International Affairs.

WRE Summer Internship grants

The Endowment and the Institute for Public Diplomacy will continue to support undergraduate and graduate students at the George Washington University with internship grants totaling $15,000 or support opportunities to undertake internships in public diplomacy programs during summer 2021.

There will be five (5) grants of up to $3,000 which will be awarded to students for work on IPDGC projects, to support unfunded internships or similar opportunities in public diplomacy (as determined by the WRE).

More information on the grant, eligibility, and application details are available: Walter Roberts Summer Internship Grant 2021

The deadline for submission for the Internship Grant is SATURDAY, MAY 1 by 11:59 pm EST

Walter Roberts Public Diplomacy Studies Award

Since 2011, the Endowment has awarded the Walter Roberts Public Diplomacy Studies Award to a graduating student from the Master’s programs at the GW Elliott School of International Affairs, for academic excellence and professional aspirations in public diplomacy. The Award is recognized at the Commencement ceremony of the Elliott School and offers a $1000 prize to the successful student.

All applicants must be enrolled as full-time second-year students in graduate programs at the Elliott School of International Affairs and have taken a class in public diplomacy.

The deadline for submission for the Student Award is FRIDAY, APRIL 16 by 11:59 pm EST

Materials for Application

Applicants for the Internship Grant OR Student Award need to provide:

A resume
A 500-word essay on your goals for pursuing further studies or careers based on your PD courses.
ADDITIONAL INFO the Summer Internship grant – please include information of the internship that you have: letter of acceptance, description of duties, duration of internship.
A short email/ letter of support from a GWU professor sent directly to ipdgc@gwu.edu (Subject: NAME OF STUDENT: “PD Studies Award 2021” or “Summer Internship grant”) The deadline for this email follows the deadline for the support being applied.

Applications for both award or grant need to be submitted to ipdgc@gwu.edu with the subject line “PD Studies Award 2021” or “Summer Internship grant 2021”.

For any questions: please contact IPDGC ipdgc@gwu.edu

March 24, 2021April 23, 2024

Video of the 2021 Congressional Award presentation

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

IPDGC and the Walter Roberts Endowment are pleased to be able to share the video of the recent event for the 2021 Congressional Award for Leadership in Public Diplomacy. Sen John Boozman (R-Ar) was recognized for his strong support for the Fulbright Program.

At the same event, Global Ties Arkansas received a $5000 grant from the Walter Roberts Endowment to support a competition to bring select International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumni back to Arkansas for follow-up projects with American mentors.

The video of the event:

March 22, 2021November 5, 2022

2021 Walter Roberts Annual Lecture

Virtual Panel with public diplomacy leaders

The 2021 Walter Roberts Annual Lecture virtual panel will feature Richard A. Stengel, former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (2014-2016), Amanda Bennett, former director of the Voice of America (2016-2020), and Professor Nicholas Cull, historian, and professor at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy in California.

The discussion will be moderated by David Ensor, GW’s Director of the Project for Media and National Security. Ensor is also a former VOA director

Since 2011, the Walter Roberts Endowment has hosted an annual lecture inviting prominent and distinguished speakers on foreign policy, American politics, and the world at large. The WRE Annual Lecture is held at the George Washington University and is free and open to the general public. The lectures provide the opportunity for the diverse audience of students, faculty, public diplomacy practitioners, and other members of the public, to hear different perspectives on issues relating or influencing public diplomacy and U.S. foreign policy.

Please join us for this free, public event.

March 8, 2021November 5, 2022

Support the Walter Roberts Endowment

Raising awareness and inspiring public diplomacy practices around the world

March 8, 2021

Dear Friend,

The Walter Roberts Endowment was established 14 years ago with generous contributions from Dr. Roberts and the Roberts 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 assisted in funding activities of the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication (IPDGC) at the George Washington University (GWU). This past year, recognizing the challenge students have faced during the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Endowment funded summer internships for graduate and undergraduate students related to public diplomacy. We also are proud to have hosted…. As the speaker for our annual Walter Robert’s Lecture. Past speakers have included Joseph Nye, Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institution, Ambassador Bruce Wharton (ret.), Ambassador Michael McFaul (ret.) of Stanford University, and many others.

The Endowment has also made possible awards to students in the School of Media and Public Affairs and the Elliott School of International Affairs. You can read more about the student awards here.

The Endowment 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. This year’s recipient is Senator Boozman of Arkansas for his support of the Fulbright program. Past recipients have been Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Congresswoman Nita Lowey (New York). The Endowment also awarded 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 (NYC), and Global Ties Arkansas.

Finally, we seek your assistance and support in our effort to increase the size of the Endowment to allow us to provide funded internships for undergraduate and graduate students, and grants to graduate students who could not otherwise afford to study public diplomacy at GWU.

We encourage you to join with the Roberts family in continuing to support the vital public diplomacy outreach work that the Endowment underwrites. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Dr. Patricia Kabra

Chair

Walter Roberts Endowment Advisory Committee

DONATE to the Walter Roberts Endowment

March 5, 2021April 23, 2024

In PDx: Vermont meets the world

Promoting global awareness and understanding

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

In 1952, Vermont native Warren Austin, a former U.S. Senator and the first U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, founded the Vermont Council on World Affairs (VCWA) to promote awareness and understanding for world affairs through education and engagement.

For almost 70 years, VCWA has managed to welcome visitors from 75 countries and through these programs have contributed over $1 million in economic impact to Vermont’s economy.

In conversation with VCWA’s Executive Director, Patricia Preston (on left), PDx interviewer and SMPA graduate student Victoria Makanjuola learns more about how these public diplomacy programs build Vermont’s global reputation and enhances US interests by building relationships with leaders and communities overseas.

VCWA was also the recipient of a grant given to honor Sen. Patrick Leahy, the 2019 recipient of the IPDGC Walter Roberts Award for Congressional Leadership in Public Diplomacy. The grant of $5000 was used for a “reverse-exchange” program to Tanzania. Here are some of Patricia’s photos and recollections from that memorable program: 2019 Changemakers Summit in Dar Es Salaam.

To find out more about the Vermont Council of World Affairs and its programs, go to https://www.vcwa.org/

Enjoy the latest PDx podcast with Patricia Preston and the Vermont Council on World Affairs: Connecting the World to Vermont

February 16, 2021April 23, 2024

The Global Pandemic and its effect on the Press Freedoms in Southeast Asia

Virtual webinar with regional experts

By Yvonne Oh, IPDGC Program Coordinator

IPDGC will host a virtual webinar on the Global Pandemic and Press Freedom in Southeast Asia on Tuesday, February 23 from 5:30pm-6:30pm.

As the regional governments struggle to contain the spread of COVID-19 and its variants, some of the more authoritarian regimes are imposing stricter restrictions to stop misinformation and have also taken this opportunity to rein in the media in their countries. Our panel will share their views and experiences of what has been happening in the region.

The panel will have Dr. James Gomez, Executive Director of Asia Center, Thailand; Gayathry Venkiteswaran, Assistant Professor with University of Nottingham, Malaysia; and Adrian Ayalin, Senior Journalist with ABS-CBN News in the Philippines.

From left: James Gomez, Gayathry Venkiteswaran and Adrian Ayalin

The event will be moderated by Dr. Janet Steele, Director of IPDGC. There will be a short Q&A session following the presentations.

A Zoom link to the event will be sent following registration.