Mixed-reality panel in Mexico City on “Virtual Worlds, Immigration and Linguistic Diaspora” September 10

On Monday, September 10, at 10:15AM PST, there will be a mixed-reality panel discussion on "From
Global to Local: Virtual Worlds, Immigration, and Linguistic Diaspora," taking place both at USC Annenberg Island in Second Life (teleport SLURL) and the Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Santa Fe, in Mexico City. The panel will explore how "the interdependence of our world is highlighted
ever more dramatically by the role the virtual worlds are providing for
social good – especially opportunities to explore new forms democracy,
public diplomacy, migration and intercultural dialogue." Panel speakers include:

• Joshua Fouts,
  Director of the USC
  Center on Public
  Diplomacy
• Peter Marx, Former Chief Technology Officer for Vivendi
  Universal Games
• Jose Murilo, Manager of Strategic Information, Ministry of
  Culture (Brazil)
• Mark Wallace, virtual worlds journalist
• François Bar, Associate Professor, USC
  Annenberg School for Communication
• and Gilson Schwartz,
  Academic Director of the City of Knowledge, Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil).

Sounds like a really neat event. I wish I’d get invited to Mexico City to participate! I’d love to talk about how we are just seeing the beginning of how civil society groups are starting to use SL to work together across geographic, linguistic, and cultural barriers in ways that help them fulfill their missions and change lives.

Part of "Interdependence Day V," a three-day conference on global cooperation. After the jump is the complete press release…

USC Center on Public Diplomacy

USC Annenberg
School ∙ 3502
  Watt Way, Suite 103 ∙ Los
  Angeles, CA 90089-0281 ∙ (213)821-2078

USC Center
on Public Diplomacy to lead panel in Mexico
  City on virtual worlds’ role in making the global
local

CPD
Director Joshua Fouts to chair panel "From Global to Local: Virtual
Worlds, Immigration, and Linguistic Diaspora" simulcast in Second Life

LOS ANGELES – On September 10, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy is
convening a panel in Mexico City and the virtual world of Second Life, called "From
Global to Local: Virtual Worlds, Immigration, and Linguistic Diaspora", which
will explore the way virtual worlds can have an impact on making global issues
local. The panel is part of Interdependence Day V, a three-day event that
focuses on the necessity for the world’s citizens to act in cooperation across
borders in a post-September 11 environment.

The "From Global to Local" panel will focus on how virtual worlds –
3-D, immersive, interactive, digital environments — are playing an
increasingly popular role in cultural dialogue and interaction. Joshua Fouts,
Director of the USC
Center on Public
Diplomacy, will be joined by other experts to discuss the effect of virtual
worlds on democracy, public diplomacy, the social good, and migration. Other
panelists include Peter Marx, Former Chief Technology Officer for Vivendi
Universal Games; Jose Murilo, Manager of Strategic Information, Ministry of
Culture (Brazil); Mark Wallace, virtual worlds journalist; François Bar, Associate Professor, USC
Annenberg School for Communication; and Gilson Schwartz,
Academic Director of the City of Knowledge, Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil).

"The interdependence of our world is highlighted ever more
dramatically by the role the Internet is playing in providing new venues for
cultural dialogue and the public good. Virtual worlds provide an increasingly
popular, but equally misunderstood role in this. This unique group of experts will move the
discussion forward," said Fouts.

The panel will be simulcast in Second Life on USC Annenberg Public
Diplomacy Island [http://slurl.com/secondlife/Annenberg%20Island/187/67/40] and
will feature a mix of panelists participating physically in Mexico and
virtually in Second Life.

Interdependence Day was created in response to the September 11^th,
2001 attacks to bring together civic and political leaders, artists, and
intellectuals for a series of colloquia, roundtables, and cultural events all
focusing on the realities and possibilities of forging constructive
interdependence in our troubled and divided world. Originally founded by Dr.
Benjamin Barber, President and Director of CivWorld, the gathering is now in
its fifth year and is entitled "Migration, Human Dignity and Interdependence".
Interdependence Day V is hosted by Luis Ernesto Derbez, president of the Center
for Globalization, Competitiveness and Democracy at Tec de Monterrey (previously
Mexico’s
Foreign Minister and Minister of the Economy) and sculptor and philanthropist
Sebastian.

This year’s confirmed participants for Interdependence Day V include
Diana Aviv, President of Independent Sector;
former international negotiator Lord Frank Judd; Robert Kuttner of The
American Prospect; Emma Nicholson, Vice President of the Foreign Affairs
Committee of the European Parliament; author Tahir Shah; Faouzi Skali, Founder
of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music; PBS Television personality Tavis
Smiley; Hungarian parliamentarian Ivan Vitanyi; and Princeton University
Professor Cornel West.

"We are delighted to participate in this visionary conference," said
Fouts. "Now more than ever, it is critical to discuss the interdependence of
our societies, cultures, countries as an opportunity for mutual understanding. We
are thankful to have the support of the MacArthur Foundation to explore this
potential."

Fouts’ participation in
the event and that of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School
is supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
called "The Role of Philanthropy in Virtual Worlds" which was announced in
June. Fouts and Douglas Thomas, Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School, are co-principal investigators
for the grant. With MacArthur support, the USC Center
on Public Diplomacy is researching ways that virtual worlds form communities
around the public good and is organizing virtual world conversations and
simulcasts that impact real and virtual world issues such as migration,
education, and global and civic engagement.

 The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation is a private, independent grantmaking institution dedicated to
helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. Through
the support it provides, the Foundation develops knowledge, nurtures
individual creativity, strengthens institutions, helps improve public policy,
and provides information to the public, primarily through support for public
interest media. MacArthur’s $50 million digital media and learning initiative
that aims to help determine how digital technologies are changing the way young
people learn, play, socialize, and participate in civic life. More
information is at www.digitallearning.macfound.org or www.macfound.org.

 The USC
Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School studies the impact of private
activities — from popular culture to fashion to sports to news to the Internet
— that inevitably, if not purposefully, have an impact on international
cooperation, foreign policy and national security as well as on trade, tourism
and other national interests.

Please join us on September
10, 2007, from 12:15 pm –
1:45 pm CDT (10:15 am –
11:45 am PST/SLT) for this remarkable conversation. In Second Life,
please join the group "MacArthur Foundation SL Events" for detailed updates.

The complete event schedule for Interdependence Day V, as well as details on
the "From Global to Local: Virtual Worlds, Immigration, and
Linguistic Diaspora" panel, including expert participant bios, are
located here: http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php/events/events_detail/2449/

Contact: Tori Horton

vhorton@usc.edu

phone: 213-821-4024

mobile: 626-497-9798

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