Academics»Master Of Public Diplomacy

Program Information

Application guidelines

Learning Objectives

The Master of Public Diplomacy Program offers a transformative educational experience that integrates the rich history of public diplomacy scholarship with content creation and data insights and combines emerging communication platforms with long-standing practices of cultural programming and exchanges to address complex challenges in contemporary global affairs.

Public diplomacy, defined as the effort by an international actor to understand, engage and influence foreign publics, has expanded to encompass the ever-increasing complexity of global affairs. The USC Master of Public Diplomacy degree program aims to develop next-generation public diplomacy and international communication professionals eager to engage with the diversity of the United States and the international community at large through innovative and strategic methods.

The program focuses on the nexus of communication and foreign affairs, incorporating study of the role of state and non-state actors, global public opinion, and the media ecosystem in the public diplomacy process. It trains students for careers in international public service, business and non-governmental organizations, strategic communications, and cultural and media diplomacy.

Upon successful completion of the public diplomacy program you should be able to:

  • Demonstrate strategic thinking and deploy the full range of Public Diplomacy instruments to advance foreign policy goals by engaging foreign publics
  • Apply the tools of modern communication technology, including data management and insights, digital analytics, and multi-platform content creation
  • Approach issues related to foreign public engagement across a variety of times and geographical locations through multiple academic disciplines including those of Communication and International Relations in order to advance and inform professional practice
  • Demonstrate an understanding of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and, as appropriate, other forms of diversity in relation to international communications and their significance and impact in a global society
  • Work effectively as both a member of a team and as an individual researcher and/or practitioner in the field of foreign public engagement
  • Communicate persuasively and succinctly in spoken and written forms and in the genres of communication currently in use in professional public diplomacy practice