July 13: The First Target Audiences: The Public Diplomacy of the Founding Fathers

How did a fragile coalition of thirteen colonies win the hearts, minds--and wallets--of European superpowers? Long before the term "public diplomacy" was coined, America's Founding Fathers were master practitioners of the art. Confronted with a global superpower, they recognized that winning independence required more than battlefield victories: It demanded a sophisticated campaign to shape public opinion and secure foreign alliances abroad.

Join Martha Bayles, author of Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America's Image Abroad (2014); Caitlin Schindler, author of The Origins of Public Diplomacy in US Statecraft: Uncovering a Forgotten Tradition (2018); and Eric Weiner, author of Ben & Me (2024) for an insightful panel discussion examining the innovative methods used by leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. From Franklin's calculated celebrity in the salons of Paris to the strategic international distribution of the Declaration of Independence, our panelists will explore how early American leaders leveraged their values-based public discourse to secure crucial foreign support--and how these foundational strategies continue to influence American statecraft today.

Join us at noon on July 13 at George Washington University and on-line via Zoom.The event will take place at GWU's Lindner Family Commons at the Elliott School (1957 E Street, NW, Room 602, Washington, D.C. 20052). For those who RSVP and arrive before 11:40 a.m., a light lunch will be provided. The event is co-sponsored by the GWU Elliott School of International Affairs, the GW Institute for Public Diplomacy & Global Communication, and the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. 


To register to attend in-person, click here. 

To register for the Forum via Zoom, click here.
 

Martha Bayles is an American critic, author, and college professor. Her work focuses on the arts, popular media, cultural policy, and U.S. public diplomacy. She has written for publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the Claremont Review of Books, and the Weekly Standard. Bayles' published books include Hole in Our Soul: The Loss of Beauty and Meaning in American Popular Music in 1994, and Through a Screen Darkly: Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America's Image Abroad in 2014. She has formerly taught at Harvard University and Claremont McKenna College, and is currently a professor of humanities at Boston College.

Caitlin E. Schindler currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at The Institute of World Politics and teaches a course on Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication. She works full time as a Management Consultant, focused on program evaluation.

She is the author of The Origins of Public Diplomacy in US Statecraft: Uncovering a Forgotten Tradition (2018). Her current research focuses on how different state and non-state actors use propaganda, public diplomacy, and political warfare to achieve strategic objectives.

Dr. Schindler obtained a Master of Arts in Strategic Intelligence from The Institute of World Politics in 2010. While studying at IWP, she worked as a technical writer and executive officer for a U.S. defense contractor supporting various government customers, mainly in counterterrorism policy and operations. 

Eric Weiner is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, and writing instructor. He is also a philosophical traveler and recovering malcontent. Eric’s books include The Geography of Bliss and The Geography of Genius, as well as Man Seeks God, The Socrates Express, and his latest book, Ben & Me: In Search of a Founder’s Formula for a Long and Useful Life. His work has been translated into more than twenty-four languages. A former foreign correspondent for NPR, Eric’s writing has appeared in the Atlantic, National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, and the anthology Best American Travel Writing. He serves on the board of the Alan Cheuse International Writers Center at George Mason University and teaches an annual writing workshop in Bhutan.