Visiting Scholars and Diplomats

Diplomat in Residence

The public diplomacy program and the Center on Public Diplomacy are fortunate to host a U.S. Foreign Service public diplomacy officer for a two-year fellowship. While in residence at the Center, the U.S. Public Diplomat in Residence teaches at least one course in the USC Master of Public Diplomacy program and engages in individualized program research and writing for the Center’s publication series as well as outreach to students and the academic community on matters related to public diplomacy. 

Matthew Asada

Matthew Asada joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 2003. He served as a Foreign Service Officer in border posts in Afghanistan, Germany, India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates. He most recently served as Deputy Commissioner General of the USA Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, which was the first World’s Fair held in the Middle East and the Department of State’s largest public diplomacy project of the year.

He holds a master’s degree in European Politics and Policy from the London School of Economics, a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and German from the University of Pennsylvania. He also studied at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies as an American Political Science Association congressional fellow and at the Free University in Berlin. 

Visiting Scholar

Caroline Patsias

Canada-U.S. Fulbright Research Chair in Public Diplomacy, Professor of Political Science, Université du Québec à Montréal

Patisas is a professor of political science specializing in urban and local governance at UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal). She holds a double doctorate from Sciences po Aix (France) and Laval University (Canada). Her research compares citizen participation in citizens’ committees and community groups in France and Quebec. Her analyses show how citizens’ everyday interactions, relations with the state, and approaches to conflict shape different trajectories of politicization. Her work also examines the politicization of citizens within local institutions, specifically Montreal’s borough councils.  Patsias intends to continue her research at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. By observing city councils in Los Angeles, she seeks to know how processes of politicization increase or decrease the polarization of citizens, and the role of institutions in this regard.

Visiting Researchers

The Master of Public Diplomacy program regularly hosts visiting faculty and researchers from around the world. Previous visitors include Dean and Professor Xiao Hua Feng (Nanchang Hangkong University, China), Fulbright Shuman scholar Agnieszka Lisowska (Spain/Poland), Guo Wei (Shanxi University, China).