The Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication at George Washington University is an outgrowth of what was known from 2000-2008 as the Public Diplomacy Institute. IPDGC is supported by both the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and the Elliott School of International Affairs at GW. The Institute is a leader in research, practice, training, and innovative thinking in the areas of global communication and public diplomacy.

The Institute engages in a variety of activities, including sponsoring major conferences as well as more intimate panels, research talks, and workshops; hosting leading scholars and practitioners including several Undersecretaries of State; and offering training for NGOs, embassies, and others.

Our most recent event, held October 5th of this year, was:

New Approaches to U.S. Global Outreach: Smart Power on the Front Lines of Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication.
More information

The Institute is also associated with the Global Communication Master's Program, a joint effort between CCAS's School of Media and Public Affairs and the Elliott School of International Affairs.

The Institute has been fortunate to have a close relationship with the U.S. State Department, embodied most directly in the appointment of a senior Foreign Service officer to serve as IPDGC's Senior Public Diplomacy Fellow. Currently, that role is filled by Mark Taplin, whose career spans the globe, with many postings in Moscow and Eastern Europe, where he was most recently Deputy Chief of Mission to Romania.