The USC Center on Public Diplomacy hosted an open forum on cultural diplomacy Thursday, March 25, 2004. The forum featured Gary Knell, president and C.E.O. of Sesame Street Workshop. Knell discussed the production and impact of Sesame Street television shows all over the world. Sesame Street’s mission is to improve preschool education and to increase awareness of important issues such as racism and AIDS around the globe.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy hosted an open forum on cyber diplomacy and politics on Thursday, March 11. The forum featured J.C. Herz, a Center fellow. Herz is the author of "Joystick Nation: How Video Games Ate our Quarters, Won our Hearts and Rewired our Minds" and is a consultant for clients such as the Defense Department. She argues that video games and the internet can be powerful tools for creating international communities and for shaping foreign politics.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy hosted Henri Rouillé d'Orfeuil, head of the French Federation of NGOs, on February 18, 2004. Rouillé d'Orfeuil spoke about the evolving responsibility of NGOs in diplomacy.