Recipient of the 2010 CPD Prize for Best Student Paper in Public Diplomacy is Announced

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is proud to announce that Melanie Ciolek, MPD '11, is the winner of the 2010 CPD Prize for Best Student Paper in Public Diplomacy. Her paper, entitled "Understanding Social Media’s Contribution to Public Diplomacy" is an examination of the U.S. Department of State's use of Facebook to increase the visibility and impact of President Obama's planned visit to Indonesia.

Selected from a number of excellent nominations made by faculty in the Master of Public Diplomacy (MPD) program at the University of Southern California, Melanie's paper underscores the importance of understanding the PD role of social media. Philip Seib, Director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy remarked, "This excellent paper provides valuable insight into the ways that Facebook and other social media can serve as tools of public diplomacy. Officials at the U.S. State Department would be wise to read this paper and find ways to apply its lessons."

Matt Armstrong, adjunct faculty in the MPD program and Melanie's professor stated that her paper provides "a unique and valuable examination of the utility of social media in public diplomacy. She includes primary research, including the planners and executors of the outreach through social media, and strong analysis of the challenges and advantages of engagement through social media as led by Embassy Jakarta."

To read the full paper, click here.

To read the 2009 CPD Prize for Best Student Paper, click here.

About the CPD Prize for Best Student Paper
Launched in 2009, the annual prize is intended to recognize and publicize an outstanding contribution to the field of public diplomacy by a graduate student in USC's Master of Public Diplomacy Program (MPD).