Upcoming Events

Call for Applications: Teaching ICT Policy Skills

Central European University

Budapest, Hungary

May 14-18, 2012

Application deadline: March 11, 2012

The Center for Global Communication Studies is pleased to announce a call for applications for a course on Teaching ICT Policy Skills, to be held May 14-18 at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary.

Applications are welcome from faculty members at accredited higher education institutions interested in enhancing the curricula of their home institutions in public policy and law by developing interest and teaching capacity in ICT policy skills. Successful applicants who are citizens of the former Soviet Union, South-Eastern Europe, and Mongolia will receive full funding for their participation. A good command of written and spoken English is required.

“Teaching ICT Policy Skills” provides participants with an opportunity to enhance the curricula of their home institutions in public policy and law by developing interest and teaching capacity in ICT policy skills. The session aims to promote a critical, analytic, and innovative study of the complex and often conflicting public policy demands of the ICT sector, and to introduce participants to the basic principles underpinning international telecommunications laws.

The session intends to approach the topic from an interdisciplinary, comparative perspective; to build analytic skills to understand and critically engage with current policy debates about ICT; to survey how some of the newest industries and technologies function and are regulated; and to present an overview of policy developments and regulations throughout the region. It will also provide participants with practical skills in curriculum design, development and implementation.

More information on the program, and the online application, is available at http://web.ceu.hu/crc/crc_visit_upc.html. Applications are due March 11.

 This program is being run in conjunction with CGCS’s ICT Policy and Training Initiative (IPTI) in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Questions about the application process should be directed to CEU’s Curriculum Resource Center (crc@ceu.hu); questions about the program should be directed to the Center for Global Communication Studies, Attn: Briar Smith (bsmith@asc.upenn.edu). 

The World Bank Institute's Governance Practice, the World Bank's External Affairs Operational Communications department, the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California are pleased to announce the 2012 Summer Institute in Communication and Governance Reform. The course is designed for government/public sector officials or private sector advisors who want to build critical competencies in providing implementation support to change agents and reform leaders throughout government and civil society in developing countries.The 12-day program will equip participants with knowledge about the most recent advances in communication and proven techniques in reform implementation. The program's interdisciplinary approach and regional focus will serve as the foundation for building expert networks of incountry communication practitioners and professionals. Participants will develop core competencies essential to bringing about real change, leading to development results in a wider range of sectors.Participants will acquire critical skills in five key areas:

1. Interpreting governance diagnostics and political economy analyses.

2. Crafting multi-stakeholder coalition building strategies and tactics to support reform.

3. Providing communication skills that support the implementation on governance reforms.

4. Leveraging social/digital media tools and analytics effectively.

5. Developing communication metrics and applying monitoring and evaluation frameworks.

To apply and for more information, please visit the official website. 

2012 Annenberg-Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute: Call for Applications

Apply Now!

The Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania and the Programme of Communication Law and Policy at the University of Oxford (PCMLP) are pleased to announce that we are currently accepting applications for the 14th annual Media Policy Summer School, to be held from June 18 - 29, 2012 at the University of Oxford.

The annual summer institute brings together young scholars and regulators to discuss important recent trends in technology, international politics and development and its influence on media policy. Participants come from around the world; countries represented at previous summer institutes include Thailand, Kenya, China, Brazil, Egypt, Nigeria, Jordan, Italy and Bosnia, among others.

This year the summer institute seeks, as part of the cohort, researchers and academics (PhD candidates and early career academics, for example), who will come with a research project related to the general subject of the seminar. Research generally related to the work of the Center for Global Communication Studies and the Programme for Comparative Media Law and Policy is especially welcome, and some participants will be asked to present their research. Applications are also welcome from those working as lawyers and those employed by NGOs, government bodies, and regulatory agencies.

The seminars this year will focus on several key areas, including media governance in India and China and strategic communication in conflict and post-conflict and transitional environments, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. At the same time, the successful curriculum that has been the foundation of the program over the years will continue, with sessions covering global media policy issues such as media and economic/social development, freedom of information, internet regulation and convergence. Part of the course will be devoted to new developments in comparative approaches to regulation, looking at Ofcom in the UK and other agencies, including examples from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The seminar brings together a wide range of participants from around the globe and provides them with an environment in which significant policy issues are seriously discussed. The richness of the experience comes from exposure to a variety of speakers and from the discussions among participants themselves.

This year, Internews Network will again be offering twelve Media Policy Fellowships that cover tuition, housing, travel, and per diem for exceptional applicants who are engaged in research on media advocacy, reform, and implementation in post-conflict societies. For more information about the Internews Fellowships, please contact CGCS.

Applications for the 2012 program will be accepted via our online application form on a rolling basis through April 9, 2012. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who you think might be interested.

For more information about the program, application instructions, and a link to the online application please click here.

If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact us at lsh@asc.upenn.edu.

Recent events in Egypt and Tunisia remind us that the development of the internet as a global, free and open resource stands at a perpetual crossroads. The dynamic and decentralized nature of the internet, and other new technologies, continually offers new avenues for open communication and free expression as well as new challenges and threats. The strategic use of digital technologies and information tools with the goal of empowering civil society and building capacity for an open society is critical. At the same time, so-called ‘old media’ continues to play a vital role in communication, especially during times of crisis and conflict.

This intensive summer course is designed to help both researchers and activists gain new insights into the role which civil society can play in advocating for free expression online and communication policy change, and will highlight the opportunities and challenges of technologies and online tools for mobilizing and organizing constituencies and for enhancing the security and privacy of advocates. During the course, we will explore a wide range of practical and theoretical views related to communication policy advocacy and online tools and tactics, and how to integrate research into these fields. The course will include hands-on work in developing advocacy campaigns and seek to cover some of latest developments in online tools for advocacy, security, privacy and crowd-sourcing.  We will also look at Internet governance issues and online free expression policies. 

As part of the course, participants will also work in teams on a group assignment for the duration of the course. Each group will be presented with a case study for which they should develop an advocacy campaign for communication policy change. Each team will be required to prepare a written report (approximately 10-15 pages in total), and give a multi-media presentation to the group at the end of the course.

In order maximize the output and opportunities for participants the course will have a maximum of 20-25 students.  

Course Participants: This course is intended for practitioners, policy makers, media policy advocates, PhD students, advanced MA students, and media development professionals (drawing from government, civil society/NGOs, foundations), journalists and other media practitioners with a demonstrated interest in new media and technology and communication policy advocacy.  

For more information, visit the official summer school website. 

The Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania and the Programme for Comparative Media Law and Policy at the University of Oxford (PCMLP) are pleased to host the 14th annual Annenberg-Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute, to be held from Monday, June 18 to Friday, June 29, 2012 at the University of Oxford.

The annual summer institute brings together young scholars and regulators to discuss important recent trends in technology, international politics and development and its influence on media policy. Participants come from around the world; countries represented at previous summer institute include Thailand, Kenya, China, Brazil, Egypt, Nigeria, Jordan, Italy and Bosnia, among others. 

This year the summer institute seeks, as part of the cohort, researchers and academics (PhD candidates and early career academics, for example), who will come with a research project related to the general subject of the seminar. Research generally related to the work of the Center for Global Communication Studies and the Programme for Comparative Media Law and Policy is especially welcome, and some participants will be asked to present their research.

The seminars this year will focus on several key areas, including media governance in India and China and strategic communication in conflict and post-conflict and transitional environments, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. At the same time, the successful curriculum that has been the foundation of the program over the years will continue, with sessions covering global media policy issues such as media and economic/social development, freedom of information, internet regulation and convergence. Part of the course will be devoted to new developments in comparative approaches to regulation, looking at Ofcom in the UK and other agencies, including examples from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The seminar brings together a wide range of participants from around the globe and provides them with an environment in which significant policy issues are seriously discussed. The richness of the experience comes from exposure to a variety of speakers and from the discussions among participants themselves.