Tag Archives: u.s. state department

Superheroes@State. The US Department of State & Islamic Superheroes

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Batman, Superman and… Jabbar the Powerful? These superheroes may have more in common than you think. Check out this webchat featuring David Glanzer, Director of Marketing for Comic-Con International, and Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, exchange alumnus and creator of THE 99 — the world’s first superheroes based on Islamic culture and society.

The U.S. Department of State has turned to digital diplomacy in the form of their Co.Nx web portal which features video, audio, Twitter and more. It’s a space for an “interactive exchange of ideas” like the above that brought together members of the State Department and some one of the creators of the Mulsim superhero team The 99.

Josh Neufeld Named Ambassador of Free Expression

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Josh NeufeldThe U.S. State Department has named Josh Neufeld, Ambassador of Free Expression.  Neufeld is the writer of author of A.D.: New Orleans After The Deluge which chronicled his work with the Red Cross post Katrina.  His role will send him on a three week tour of North Africa and the Middle East where he’ll show off “cultural freedoms of American society.”

Neufeld told the Washington Post:

The State Department invited me “specifically because of the Katrina book, which is blatantly so critical of the government,” Neufeld tells Comic Riffs of his comics reportage. “The program brings in cultural figures who disseminate [this message] — the State Department is proud of that freedom of expression. … They bring me over as a statement of how our civil society welcomes voices of dissent in all forms.”

Congrats!