I'll be out of town, and not blogging, for the next few days. I'm heading out to LA to visit and give a talk at the new Center for Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California.
I've been really excited to see it, and not just because I suspect that USC doesn't currently have a foot of snow or temperatures hovering around zero. It is, to my knowledge, the first post-graduate program specializing in public diplomacy. Such a program offers a real opportunity to build bridges between theory and practice, as well as between the Media/Communications side of things and the International Relations side - both of which I find extremely exciting. They've got some really interesting faculty already, a steady stream of speakers from both academia and policy (Benjamin Barber has given a few talks lately, Karen Hughes and Dina Powell paid the Center a visit last fall, and State Department Deputy Spokesman Adem Ereli is there the same day as me though I don't know if we'll cross paths), and John Brown's daily Public Diplomacy Review has already become must-reading for most people interested in the topic (and I'm not just saying that because my Mother Jones interview is currently the lead item, although of course that's pretty neat!). Anyway, I'm just very curious to see what they've got cooking. In 70 degree weather, of course.
Blogging will resume later in the week.
Hope you get into the country without any hassle!
Posted by: Osama Saeed | January 15, 2006 at 06:55 PM
Ya Ustaz, are you an East Coaster? Because L.A. in January could disappoint you terribly. Don't forget to pack your raincoat and a sweater. We've been having floods of rain in Northern California this season, a mini-El Nino. Last year the rain was so bad in So Cal that a hillside collapsed on Highway 1 north (west) of Malibu. (La Conchita, there's even a short story based on that disaster in a recent NYer magazine)
Anyway - I see it every year - bleary snow-blasted East Coasters plan January trips to California, imagining sunny skies and balmy weather, and then they get soaked to the bone with our winter rains.
The worst thing that will happen to you in the rain at USC is the traffic will suck, but for your emotional health, I feel obliged to warn you.
Then again, it could very well be in the 70s. You never know. Best of luck to you.
Posted by: Leila Abu-Saba | January 16, 2006 at 12:49 AM
Checked the weather in the LA Times. No rain predicted. But it won't be 70 the whole time. Bring a warm coat for the evenings.
Posted by: Leila Abu-Saba | January 16, 2006 at 12:52 AM
As far as I know the Aardvark has spent many years in California. Also, his wife is a native of the Bay Area, so I'm sure he knows what to expect!
Posted by: sheila | January 16, 2006 at 09:17 AM
Ok, sorry for being a busybody. I just see this all the time, East coasters expecting great weather in Cal in January...
Posted by: Leila Abu-Saba | January 16, 2006 at 01:25 PM