For complete information, please visit http://publicdiplomacy.syr.edu.
This dual-degree program is offered jointly by the Maxwell School’s International Relations Program and the Newhouse School’s Department of Public Relations. It is designed to train professionals to assume public communications responsibilities for governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector. The need for such a program grows out of the complex challenges inherent in cross cultural communication. Organizations often create or exacerbate image and policy problems for themselves because their representatives lack understanding of the theory and practice of public communications.
Public diplomacy is a new field that has evolved beyond such traditional practices as government- sponsored culturalprograms, educational exchanges, and broadcasts aimed at promoting the interests of a nation-state. Public diplomacy encompasses the efforts of governments adn NGOs to communicate in ways that have impact and influence on audiences of many types in the public and private sectors.
Increasingly, employers in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors are looking for professionals who understand communicating with diverse audiences at home and abroad and who can skillfully craf messages that describe an organization, convey its vision, explain its actions, and capably and confidently communicate its message in times of change or crisis.