Media and Public Diplomacy

Reflection

Instructor: Banu Akdenizli

The class Media and Public Diplomacy focused on understanding different strategies governments take to create bonds with other nations. Through the class, I learnt that there are different kinds of public diplomacy such as but not limited to cultural diplomacy, sport diplomacy and advocacy diplomacy. Each class was dedicated to understanding a different type of diplomacy and this helped me better analyze and understand the steps that Qatar takes with other nations. For example, the Year of Culture that Qatar holds each year is meant to strengthen relations with the two nations through exchange of culture and the collaboration of institutions and organizations (France this year). Some of the activities Qatar has created includes showcasing French art at the Mathaf and promoting French classes.

One of the tasks for the class was to monitor the news of a certain country each week. Me and my partner (Lina Noureldin GUQ 20’) focused on Myanmar due to the genocide of the Rohingya and the refugee crisis that is happening. The media monitor was very useful as it allowed me to learn how to collect news from different platforms since we were using news articles, Facebook and Twitter. I am conducting a similar task within my current internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Each day, me and my colleagues complete a media monitor on updates about the coronavirus and the task from class helped me gain experience on how to collect news and summarize them.

Within our class, we had a visit from the U.S Embassy’s Cultural Attaché to discuss the initiatives taken by the U.S Embassy. One of the programs that the U.S Embassy does is EducationUSA, which is focused on promoting study in the United States. The Cultural Attaché highlighted that these programs show the opportunities that universities in the U.S offer and the experiences they can gain from them. Having the Cultural Attaché visit provided an opportunity to hold a discussion with someone who’s job is focused on public diplomacy. It also provided insight into the working of the Public Affairs department in the U.S Embassy which I later interned for.

For our final assignment for class, me and my partner chose to do a project on sports diplomacy within the Tokyo 2020 Olympic. The project consisted of two parts which is a poster (with AR using an HP software) and a final paper. The reason we chose to study the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is because the mega-event is considered to be a way for Japan to play a bigger part in mega-events after 2011 Tsunami. Furthermore, Japan has invested a significant amount of resources into the event to ensure its success such as building new stadiums and they desire to continue the legacy of the 1964 Olympics. The project allowed me to develop new technological skills since I have never used AR before. This can be a way to make presentations and posters in the future more interactive and fun. The program makes it easy to take what could be a basic printed poster and turn it into a way to access a variety of information available online such as videos, image and music.

Note: The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed.

Class outcomes

Tokyo 2020 olympics

SOFT POWER