The USC Center on Public Diplomacy and ASC School of Journalism were proud to host a forum discussing Iran: New Politics, New Media. This discussion was moderated by Philip Seib, Director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy and featured an illustrious group of panelists.

The year 2009 marks the fourth annual Summer Institute in Public Diplomacy. This innovative two-week training program run by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, is an opportunity for professionals to collaborate and immerse themselves in the increasingly critical study of public diplomacy.

On Tuesday, April 21, 2009, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School and the Norman Lear Center hosted a workshop on Celebrity Diplomacy which explored the intersecting themes of the UN celebrity programs, the "soft power" of Hollywood celebrities, and public diplomacy.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School was proud to host a reception celebrating the launch of PD Magazine, the first student-run magazine devoted exclusively to public diplomacy issues, in Washington, D.C. The reception was held at the USC Washington D.C. Center located at:

USC Washington, D.C. Center
701 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 540
Washington, D.C. 20004
(Metro: Archives - Navy Memorial (Green & Yellow Lines))

On March 10, 2009 The USC Center on Public Diplomacy proudly hosted Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Chairman of Dubai-based Afras Ventures and former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, as part of the Center's Distinguished Speaker Series on the Public Diplomacy of the Emerging Great Powers. Based on his recent book The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone, Dr. Tharoor discussed India's rise to world leadership and how India represents itself to the world through public diplomacy.

The Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars (APDS) and the USC Center on Public Diplomacy were proud to host a reception celebrating the launch of PD Magazine, the world's first magazine focused on public diplomacy issues.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy was proud to host Ernest J. Wilson III, Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication, for a presentation on "Rebooting America's Image in the World." Dean Wilson recently returned from Washington, D.C. where he served on the Presidential Transition Team for President-Elect Barack Obama.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy welcomed contributors to The Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy to USC for a discussion on this major new publication, published in association with the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School.

Guest speakers included:

Nancy Snow - CPD Senior Fellow and Associate Professor of Public Diplomacy - SI Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University

Robert H. Gass - Professor of Human Communication Studies - California State University, Fullerton