Summer Institute ‘09 Alumnus Launches Public Diplomacy Study

The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program has a more than 20-year history influencing the U.S.-Japan bilateral relationship. The importance of the program and others like it was emphasized by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian & Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, in testimony in front of the House Armed Services Committee in July 2010. Referring to the JET Program and Fulbright exchanges in particular, Campbell said bilateral cooperation “must go beyond our governments…We have to tap into the challenge of our people, their creativity and innovation, and their ability to forge lasting relationships that build trust and understanding.”

Such sentiment has long served as primary motivation for the establishment and promotion of public diplomacy programs. While anecdotal evidence about the impact of the JET Program as a public diplomacy effort abounds, tangible details about the actual scope and impact are more elusive. As a professor at Indiana University and as a researcher whose work focuses on public diplomacy, political communication and social media, Metzgar states, "I am interested in trying to measure the impact of public diplomacy efforts in a more tangible way. As an alumnus of the JET Program myself, I have additional interest in devising a way to evaluate the impact of more than 20 years and more than 20,000 American alumni’s influence on the U.S.-Japan relationship as a whole."

In an effort to track the educational and professional career tracks of American JET alumni and to assess their opinions of Japan and the continuing impact of JET on their lives years after finishing the program, I have launched a survey for American JET Program alumni. The survey has been approved by Indiana University’s Institutional Review Board and the link will remain active until midnight (EST) on Wednesday, March 9, 2011. The survey is available here.

This study has three primary objectives. The first is discussion of emerging public diplomacy theory in a tangible context. The second is collection of data about the large pool of JET Program alumni in the United States and their degree of connection to or affinity with Japan years after their participation in the program. The third objective is a combination of theoretical input with other data to discuss ways in which the JET Program’s impact on the American political, media and public opinion environments can be meaningfully evaluated.