Andrew F. Cooper Joins CPD as 2009 Canada-U.S. Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Public Diplomacy

LOS ANGELES -- January 8, 2009. Professor Andrew F. Cooper will join the USC Center on Public Diplomacy as its 2009 Canada-U.S. Fulbright Visiting Research Chair. Dr. Cooper is associate director and distinguished fellow at The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and professor of political science at the University of Waterloo.

As a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair, Dr. Cooper will inter alia continue with his research on the public diplomacy strategies of a number of countries: from the very large and powerful ones to the very small and weak. He will also continue to develop ideas that challenge our notion of who does diplomacy and why.

"The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is delighted to host Dr. Cooper, a distinguished scholar whose theoretical and practical expertise in niche diplomacy will undoubtedly enrich the Center’s work," said Geoffrey Wiseman, Director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. "We are thrilled to have him in residence and look forward to exploring together the interface between diplomatic practice and global governance."

"The Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Public Diplomacy is an invaluable resource for the Master's degree," said Nicholas Cull, director of the USC Master of Public Diplomacy program. "We are delighted to be able to welcome Professor Cooper - one of Canada's foremost scholars of diplomacy - to that position. His scholarship will illuminate an increasingly visible element of international relations: the role of celebrities." Cooper will teach a class at the University of Southern California on Celebrity Diplomacy in the spring of 2009.

Dr. Cooper is a recognized expert in the areas of innovative diplomacy and comparative foreign policy. His recent book, Celebrity Diplomacy, examines the role that celebrities play in international relations and his newest co-edited work Global Governance and Diplomacy: Worlds Apart? looks at the theoretical and practical disconnects between national diplomacy and global governance. He has authored and edited 20 books published internationally.

Dr. Cooper’s past honors include a 2000 Visiting Fulbright Scholar Award at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He has previously been a visiting professor at Harvard University, the Australian National University and Stellenbosch University.

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About the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program

Supported by the Government of Canada, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, the Government of the United States, through the Department of State, and a large number of public and private sector partners, the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Program promotes a deeper and more nuanced knowledge of Canada-US relations and builds mutual understanding between the two countries through high-level academic exchange. For more information, please click here.