The USC Center on Public Diplomacy welcomed U.S. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes and her deputy Dina Powell, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, at the CPD offices.

The Annenberg School for Communication and the Center on Public Diplomacy were pleased to welcome two new faculty members in public diplomacy to USC, Drs. Nicholas Cull and Eytan Gilboa.

Nicholas Cull has recently accepted a tenured appointment as Professor of Public Diplomacy at USC where he will be directing the newly approved Master's in Public Diplomacy. Eytan Gilboa, based at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, will be a Visiting Professor of Public Diplomacy for the fall 2005 semester and will teach a graduate public diplomacy course entitled "Media Diplomacy."

The Center on Public Diplomacy hosted an end-of-the-year open forum on "Journalism and Democracy: A View from Paris - What role does--and should--journalism play in democratic societies?" Our special guest for the discussion was Geraldine Muhlmann.

The USC Center for Public Diplomacy and the Trojan Debate Society are hosted an Eastern European champion debate team for deliberation and discussion regarding whether current Bush administration efforts at public diplomacy were sufficient for a continued American leadership role in Eastern Europe.

The debate was moderated by the director of the Center for Public Diplomacy, Joshua Fouts, and the director of the Trojan Debate Society, Gordon Stables. Question and answer session followed the debate.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy held a special event in conjunction with the Eisenhower Series College Program, "The Changing Role of the U.S. Military: The Defense Department and U.S. Public Diplomacy." The Center hosted a public diplomacy discussion with senior colonels of the United States armed forces.

Join Annenberg faculty, students and staff for a talk with Dr. Matthew A. Baum on "Dominating the Information Market: Key Challenges for Public Diplomacy in the New Media Age."

Matthew A. Baum is Assistant Professor in the departments of Political Science and Communication Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research and teaching interests are concerned with public opinion, new media, and foreign policy. In particular, he has focused on the ways that media coverage and public opinion can influence the use of military force.

Annenberg professor Jerry Swerling and students held a discussion with Anthony Gooch, European Union Spokesman to the United States. Mr. Gooch discussed challenges of the Public Diplomacy between the European Union and the U.S.

Diane Winston, Annenberg's Knight Chair in Media and Religion, discussed "Kingdom of Heaven," Ridley Scott's forthcoming film on the Crusades.

Panelists confirmed thus far include John Aberth, a Castleton College historian who looks at depictions of the Middle Ages on film; Reuven Firestone, a Hebrew Union College medievalist who studies cross cultural understandings of holy war; and Aymen Khalifa, a cultural consultant who works with filmmakers to address cultural, political, lifestyle and religious issues.