Metzgar article characterizes academic study of public diplomacy
An article by associate professor Emily Metzgar reviews decades of peer-reviewed research on public diplomacy in order to characterize the interdisciplinary field of study.
“The Scholarship of Public Diplomacy: Analysis of a Growing Field,” by Efe Sevin of Towson University, Metzgar and Craig Hayden of the Marine Corps University, appears in the International Journal of Communication.
The authors conducted a content analysis of English-language peer-reviewed articles about public diplomacy since 1965.
The article found a substantial increase in public diplomacy research during the 54-year period, most notably since 2003, likely an effect of 9/11. Journals that publish this research are associated with a variety of disciplines, the study found, including international relations, communications and history. And it found that “soft power” was the most commonly discussed concept in the research, followed by the intersection of media, international relations, culture and power.
The article uses this analysis to support the subject’s growth as an academic field and to make recommendations for future research.