Sesame Street: Public Diplomacy for a New Generation

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy was pleased to host Charlotte Cole, Vice President for International Education, Research and Outreach for Sesame Workshop. Cole discussed how Sesame Street creates media worldwide.

Sesame Street started in the 1960’s and has grown to reach children in over 140 countries– using the magnetic appeal of television to help them improve their lives and live harmoniously with others. Emphasizing local co-production, Sesame Workshop has had notable successes in Kosovo, Palestine, and other places where children must deal with complex political environments.

Dr. Charlotte Frances Cole, Vice President for International Education, Research and Outreach at Sesame Workshop in New York, oversees the research and curriculum development on the Company’s international co-productions including adaptations of the well-known pre-school program, Sesame Street. Working with educators and production teams throughout the world, she has most recently been engaged in projects in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Israel, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, West Bank/Gaza. Prior to joining the Workshop, Dr. Cole worked as a Senior Researcher at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston on a longitudinal study of families of children with acute and chronic illness funded by the National Institutes of Health. She has also served as a consultant to the Harvard Institute for International Development on several child-health projects in Thailand. Dr. Cole received her doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University. Her teaching experience includes positions as instructor at Boston College (Newton, Massachusetts), Lesley College (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (Terre Haute, Indiana). She has worked as a board member for several community-service organizations including the Council on Domestic Abuse in Terre Haute, Indiana (from 1985-1986) and currently serves on the boards of Oxford Academy in Westbrook, Connecticut and NetAid in New York. She also works as the Review and Commentary Editor of the Journal of Children and Media. When she is not looking for lost luggage, she enjoys life with her family in New York City.