CPD Announces 2012-2014 CPD Research Fellows

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is pleased to announce its new CPD Research Fellows for 2012-14: Amelia Arsenault, assistant professor of communication at Georgia State University; Craig Hayden, assistant professor in the School of International Service at American University and James Ketterer, Egypt Country Director for AMIDEAST.

Selected from a competitive pool of applicants, the three Research Fellows will each develop case studies focusing on U.S. public diplomacy efforts online in southern Africa, digital engagement conducted by the U.S. State Department, and the use of international education as a tool of American public diplomacy in Egypt respectively.

"These non-resident fellows come to the Center with a broad range of expertise and will undoubtedly enhance the field of public diplomacy through their research findings which we look forward to publishing in the CPD Perspectives on Public Diplomacy series,” said Philip Seib, Director of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School.

About the 2012-2014 CPD Research Fellows

Amelia Arsenault is an assistant professor of communication at Georgia State University, where she researches global media ownership, the impact of international media assistance in the evolution of southern African communications, network theory, new media, and public diplomacy. In addition to her academic research, Arsenault has authored several commissioned reports and organized conferences for practitioners and policy makers on pressing issues facing international communication. Her work seeks to examine how different international and domestic actors have attempted to leverage the changing dynamics of communication networks and the ramifications of those activities for international relations, political and social power relationships, and north/south inequality.

In her CPD research project, Building linkages online: An assessment of U.S. public diplomacy efforts in southern Africa, Arsenault will utilize two case studies to compare the strategic narratives put forward via social media and related new media technologies by a major power (the United States) and an emerging power (South Africa) on strategic African policy issues. The research for this project will add empirical evidence to the emerging academic and practical discussions surrounding the use of social media to connect with and mobilize foreign publics, or what some refer to as public diplomacy 2.0.

Craig Hayden is an assistant professor in the School of International Service at American University, where his research examines the policy discourse of public diplomacy, the rhetoric of foreign policy related to media technologies, as well as the impact of global media representation on international relations. He is the co-founder (with Kathy Fitzpatrick) of the International Studies Association Working Group on Public Diplomacy and is the author of The Rhetoric of Soft Power: Public Diplomacy in Global Contexts. His current work explores the theoretical implications of networked public argumentation for the strategic engagement and changing institutions of diplomatic practice in a media saturated environment.

In his CPD research project, Communication Power and 21st Century Statecraft, Hayden will examine contemporary efforts of digital engagement conducted by the United States Department of State through two primary case studies: the e-diplomacy of the Tech Camp Initiative and the coordinated new media consultancy efforts of the Office of International information Programs. The project will provide a research-based contribution to the growing public attention to e-diplomacy, strategic engagement, and power.

James Ketterer is the Egypt Country Director for AMIDEAST, a Cairo-based non-profit organization, where he works in international education and exchange diplomacy. With a regional focus on Africa and the Middle East, Ketterer has extensive experience in technical assistance for democratization projects, international education, legislative development, elections, and policy analysis. In government, he served on the staff of the New York Commission on Higher Education, the National Security Council staff at the White House, and as a policy analyst at the New York State Senate. In addition, Ketterer has worked as an international elections specialist for the United Nations, the African-American Institute and the organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The goal of Ketterer’s CPD Research project, International Student Mobility and Public Diplomacy after the Arab Spring: The Case of Egypt, is to understand the current status of international education in the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and Egypt and to examine the role enhanced educational ties can play in strengthening it. The study will examine the use of international education as a tool of American public diplomacy in repositioning the relationship between the United States and the Middle East and North Africa, producing results that will be of value to public diplomacy scholars and practitioners, the international education community, and prospective students.

To learn more about the CPD Research Fellowship program, click here.