What's "In the Works" for R.S. Zaharna?

Over the past year, Dr. Zaharna has begun exploring the link between identity and public diplomacy. Her ongoing book project focuses on why communication between nations and publics often produce more -- not fewer -- misunderstandings and tensions in the global political arena. Rather than obvious cultural differences, the culprit may be the assumption of similarity, that “people are just people.” Zaharna is working on distinct, yet overlapping, visions of “communication” to explain the confusion of PD perceptions, practices, and policies.

Among Zaharna's interests in public diplomacy -- besides culture -- are her efforts to promote new PD scholars. At the International Studies Association in 2011, she launched a special panel titled “Emerging Scholars in Public Diplomacy” for PhD students to present cutting-edge research related to public diplomacy. 

Recent and forthcoming publications include: 

• “Beyond the Individualism/Collectivism Divide to Relationalism,” Communication Theory, forthcoming, August 2015
• “Going for the Jugular: How Adversarial Publics are using Social Media to Challenge State Legitimacy,”(co-author Nur Uysal), Public Relations Review, forthcoming 2015
• Battles to Bridges: U.S. Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy after 9/11 (2014 paperback, with new Foreword by Nicholas J. Cull)
• Relational, Networked and collaborative Approach to Public Diplomacy, co-edited with Amelia Arsenault and Ali Fisher (2014, paperback)

About this series:
"In the Works" is CPD's periodic roundup of news from the international PD scholarly community. If you've taken up a new academic position, published a new work or recently embarked on a research project on a public diplomacy topic, let us know! All updates can be sent to cpd@usc.edu. Please be sure to use "In the Works" in the subject heading.