JeeYun Baik Receives CPD Best Student Paper Prize

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is pleased to announce JeeYun (Sophia) Baik, MPD ’15, as the recipient of the 2014 CPD Best Student Paper Prize in Public Diplomacy. “Peng Liyuan: China’s First Lady in Diplomacy” was selected from a number of excellent nominations made by faculty in the Master of Public Diplomacy (MPD) program at USC.

Beginning with the historic meeting between First Ladies Peng Liyuan and Michelle Obama, Baik outlines the roles of First Ladies in China and the United States, noting the differences in how socialist and democratic nations view the spouses of heads of state. She then goes on to detail Ms. Peng’s diplomatic initiatives and state-sponsored visits to foreign nations.

Of the paper, USC Associate Professor of Public Diplomacy Robert Banks notes "it was original, informative, and insightful. In addition, the author asked the right questions and drew sound conclusions."

About JeeYun (Sophia) Baik
JeeYun (Sophia) Baik is a second-year student in the Master of Public Diplomacy program, with a concentration on national branding and cause marketing through new media, focusing on East Asia.  She earned her B.A. in International Relations and minor in Business Administration at Seoul National University in South Korea. Previously, she has worked at UNESCO, the Busan International Film Festival, and the Korean Broadcasting System. Since enrolling at USC, she has been working for the Korean Cultural Center under the Consulate General of South Korea as public relations assistant. During the summer, she also completed her research internship at the Media, Diversity, and Social Change Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School to study inequality issues within Hollywood. She loves travel, film, oil-painting, and horseback riding.

To read the full paper, click here.

To read previous award-winning papers in this collection, 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 first year graduate student in USC's Master of Public Diplomacy Program (MPD).