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

Public Diplomacy In international relations, public 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 influence with the aim of bui ...

program at the

Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism 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 ...

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 ...

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

Career

Cull earned both his B.A. and Ph.D. at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

. As a graduate, he studied at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

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 cou ...

of the

Commonwealth Fund The Commonwealth Fund is a private American 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, inc ...

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

American history The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, and from 1997 to 2005, chair in

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...

and director of the Centre for American Studies at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

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

public diplomacy In international relations, public 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 influence with the aim of bui ...

, 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 Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

. Cull has also worked more broadly on the history of propaganda,

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and radio history and the role of

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

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 (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 lang ...

'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 (RHS), 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 H ...

. In April 2008, Cull's University of Southern California program was a co-winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy, awarded by the U.S. Department of State. In January 2012, he succeeded Simon Anholt as editor of the '' Journal of Place Branding and Public Diplomacy'' (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, colloquially the Catholic University of Milan () or simply the Cattolica, is an Italian private research university founded in 1921. Its main campus is located in Milan, Italy, with satellite campuses in B ...

, Milano's Rome program and at Green Templeton College/

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 The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Publications

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

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press 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) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...

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

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

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

Polity A polity is a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of political Institutionalisation, institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any group of people org ...

, 2019) and ''Reputational Security: Refocusing Public Diplomacy for a Dangerous World'' (

, 2024) His most recent edited works are with Nancy Snow ''Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy, 2nd edition'' (

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

, 2020) and Michael Hawes ''Canada's Public Diplomacy'' ( Palgrave, 2020).

External links

Nicholas J. Cull
at the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy
Nicholas J. Cull
at

USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism is a part of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. It has 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students. Willow Bay is the dean. Prof. Hector Amaya is the Director of the Sc ...

CV

Articles by Cull on the USC Public Diplomacy Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cull, Nicholas J. 1964 births British 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)