Nicholas J. Cull (born 1964) is a historian and professor in the Master's in

Public Diplomacy In international relations, public diplomacy or people's diplomacy, broadly speaking, is any of the various government-sponsored efforts aimed at communicating directly with foreign publics to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influen ...

program at the

Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism comprises a School of Communication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC). Starting July 2017, the school’s Dean is Willow Bay, succeeding Ernest J ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. He was the founding director of this program and ran it from 2005 to 2019.

Career

Cull earned both his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. As a graduate, he studied at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

as a

Harkness Fellow The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several coun ...

of the

Commonwealth Fund The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, includ ...

of New York. From 1992 to 1997, he was Lecturer in

American History The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, and from 1997 to 2005, chair in

American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...

and Director of the Centre for American Studies at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

. Cull's research and teaching interests are broad and inter-disciplinary, and focus on

public diplomacy In international relations, public diplomacy or people's diplomacy, broadly speaking, is any of the various government-sponsored efforts aimed at communicating directly with foreign publics to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influen ...

, the role of

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

, culture, exchange, broadcasting, and public opinion research in

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

. Cull has also worked more broadly on the

history of propaganda Propaganda is information that is not impartial and used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively (perhaps lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or using loaded messages t ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and

radio history The early history of radio is the history of technology that produces and uses radio instruments that use radio waves. Within the timeline of radio, many people contributed theory and inventions in what became radio. Radio development began as ...

and the role of

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...

as a source for historical study. He is best known for detailed historical studies of the institutions behind public diplomacy and for emphasizing the importance of "listening" as a pre-condition for successful public diplomacy. He coined the term reputational security for a category of enhanced security that comes to an international actor when they are well thought of by external audiences. Cull is past president of the

International Association for Media and History The International Association for Media and History (IAMHIST) is a scholarly organization which brings together media historians and professionals with an interest in media history. Founded in the summer of 1977 it organizes biennial conferences, ...

(2004-2019), and has worked closely with the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

's Counterpoint Think Tank. He sits on the board of the Public Diplomacy Council and is a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

. In April 2008, Cull's University of Southern California program was a co-winner of the

Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy is an American award by the United States Department of State which recognizes individuals, foundations, associations, and corporations that actively contribute to advancing America's ideals around the g ...

, awarded by the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

. In January 2012, he succeeded

Simon Anholt Simon Anholt is an independent policy advisor who has worked to help develop and implement strategies for enhanced economic, political and cultural engagement with other countries. He is the founder of the Good Country Index. Anholt has been c ...

as editor of the ''

Journal of Place Branding and Public Diplomacy A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...

'' (published by Palgrave) and continued in this role until January 2019. He has been featured in a number of documentary films including Memory: The Origins of Alien (2019). He has held visiting appointments at

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (English: ''Catholic University of the Sacred Heart'', colloquially the ''Catholic University of Milan''), known as UCSC or UNICATT or simply Cattolica, is an Italian private research university founded in 19 ...

, Milano's Rome program and at

Green Templeton College Green Templeton College (GTC) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college is located on the previous Green College site on Woodstock Road next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford and ...

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) is a UK-based research centre and think tank founded in 2006, which operates Thomson Reuters Journalism Fellowship Programme, also known as the Reuters Fellowship. History The institute ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Publications

Both Cull's first book, ''Selling War'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1995), and ''The Cold War and the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill C ...

: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945–1989'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 2008) were recognized by '' Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries'' as outstanding academic publications of the year. Cull is the co-editor of ''Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500–present'' (2003), which was one of '' Book List'' magazine's official reference books of the year, and ''Alambrista and the U.S.-Mexico Border: Film, Music, and Stories of Undocumented Immigrants'' (2004; with David L. Carrasco). With James Chapman, he has co-authored ''Projecting Empire: Imperialism and Popular Cinema'' (

I.B. Tauris I.B. Tauris is an educational publishing house and imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. It was an independent publishing house with offices in London and New York City until its purchase in May 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing. It specialises in non- ...

, 2009) and ''Projecting Tomorrow: Science Fiction and Popular Cinema'' (I.B. Tauris, 2013). His most recent single authored work is ''Public Diplomacy: Foundations for Global Engagement in the Digital Age'' (

Polity A polity is an identifiable Politics, political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relation, social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize ...

, 2019). His most recent edited works are with Nancy Snow ''Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy, 2nd edition'' (

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, 2020) and

Michael Hawes Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

''Canada's Public Diplomacy'' ( Palgrave, 2020).

External links

Nicholas J. Cull
at the

University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy The USC Center on Public Diplomacy (CPD) was established in 2003 as a partnership between the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication, USC Annenberg School for Communication and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, A ...

Nicholas J. Cull
at

USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism comprises a School of Communication and a School of Journalism at the University of Southern California (USC). Starting July 2017, the school’s Dean is Willow Bay, succeeding Ernest J. ...

CV

Articles by Cull on the USC Public Diplomacy Blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cull, Nicholas J. 1964 births Academic journal editors Academics of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Leicester Alumni of the University of Leeds British book editors British expatriate academics in the United States British foreign policy writers British political scientists Cold War historians Cultural historians Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Harkness Fellows Historians of the United States British international relations scholars Living people Media historians Leaders of organizations Princeton University alumni Propaganda theorists University of Southern California faculty Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)