Stephen Seche, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, Syria, is the new State Department Diplomat-in-Residence at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. Seche will teach a fall semester course in the school’s new public diplomacy master’s program and advise graduate students interested in pursuing careers in foreign service.

Doctorow, who edits the widely read culture and technology blog site Boing Boing, will be the first to hold the Canada-U.S. Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Public Diplomacy.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is proud to present FYI - Film Your Issue, an unprecedented "issue film" competition inviting young Americans to add their voice to the public dialogue on contemporary issues via 30-to-60 second films.

The Edward R. Murrow Journalism Fellows Program — a partnership among the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Aspen Institute, and six American universities — will invite 100 international media professionals to spend time at leading journalism schools in the United States, honing their skills, sharing ideas, and gaining first-hand understanding of American society and democratic institutions. The goal is to not only inform the fellows about the United States, but also to promote journalistic freedom and excellence around the world.

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is pleased to welcome two new senior fellows. Professors Benjamin Barber and Ernest Wilson will begin work with the Center in Fall 2005 and Spring 2006, respectively.

Brill Academic Publishers, Netherlands, launches the publication of the Hague Journal of Diplomacy. The Journal, described as "the premier journal for the study of diplomacy and its role in international relations," is an effort of Jan Melissen of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations 'Clingendael,' and Paul Sharp of the University of Minnesota, Duluth.