Faith Diplomacy: Religion and Global Publics

On March 25, 2011, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy hosted a conference on Faith Diplomacy which addressed key issues of faith in an increasingly connected world. In addition, the conference aimed to provide a better understanding of the role religion plays in foreign policy.

In a world in which the dissemination and influence of religious beliefs are enhanced by new communications technologies, religion is a factor in most foreign policy issues and was addressed in the various panels. The conference provided a forum for practitioners, scholars and students and will result in a set of papers on faith diplomacy and published as part of the CPD Perspectives on Public Diplomacy series.

For more information about CPD's Faith Diplomacy Initiative, please click here.

CPD hosted a Faith Diplomacy Briefing in Washington, DC on April 11. For more information about this event, please click here.

March 25 Conference Agenda

Welcome
Ernest J. Wilson, III, Dean, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and Philip Seib, Director, USC Center on Public Diplomacy

Keynote: Faith-based Diplomacy: Bridging the Religious Divide
Douglas Johnston, President & Founder, International Center for Religion and Diplomacy

Panel 1: Incorporating Religion into Public Diplomacy

Panelists & Chair:
• Nicholas J. Cull, Director, Master of Public Diplomacy Program, Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, USC (chair)
• Victoria Alvarado, Director, Office of International Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State
• John Carlson, Assistant Professor, School of History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies, and Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University
• Richard Flory, Director of Research, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture and Associate Research Professor, Sociology, USC

Panel 2: Engaging the Global Islamic Community

Panelists & Chair:
• Laurie Brand, Robert Grandford Wright Professor and Professor of International Relations, USC (chair)
• Mohammed el-Nawawy, Knight-Crane Endowed Chair, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Queens University of Charlotte
• Najeeba Syeed-Miller, Assistant Professor of Interreligious Education and Senior Advisor for Muslim Relations, Claremont School of Theology
• Imam Jihad Turk, Director of Religious Affairs, Islamic Center of Southern California

A Conversation with Reza Aslan, Writer, and Varun Soni, Dean, Religious Life, USC

Panel 3: Religious Organizations as Public Diplomats

Panelists & Chair:
• Father James Heft, President and Founding Director, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies and Alton M. Brooks Professor of Religion, USC (chair)
• Janice Kamenir-Reznik,Founding President, Jewish World Watch
• Charles Randall Paul, President, Foundation for Interreligious Diplomacy
• Bob Roberts, Jr., Senior Pastor, Northwood Church

Concluding Remarks
Philip Seib, Director, USC Center on Public Diplomacy

This conference was co-sponsored by the USC Center for International Studies, the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, and Carnegie Corporation of New York.