<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><div><br></div>I've been remiss in introducing myself to the list, as well. Trebor asked me to say hello. <br clear="all">
<div><br></div><div>I've been lurking on the list for a few years. I was initially invited by my friend Molly Steenson, who I've known since our days collaborating on the webzine '98-'00 project in San Francisco (back when blogs were called 'zines, natch). I know many others on the list, including Paul Miller, and even Thomas Malaby, in whose WoW Guild I played for many years until I ran out of time. Time. </div>
<div><br></div><div>My work, with my collaborator Rita J. King, centers around the nexus of emergent technologies and cultural collaboration. I come at it from a career in foreign policy, first at the State Department in the 1990s and then founding and directing a foreign policy think tank at the University of Southern California called the Center on Public Diplomacy. Rita approaches it from her perspective as entrepreneur, philosopher, artist and award-winning investigative journalist. </div>
<div><br></div><div>Rita and my latest project which we recently released at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs here in New York where we are both senior fellows, is called "Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds." The project, which was funded by a grant from the Lounsbery Foundation, spanned four continents in the physical world and across the virtual world of Second Life. In it we explored how virtual worlds could facilitate cultural collaboration, with an emphasis on highlighting its potential for cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy. We produced a set of policy recommendations that have been presented in recent weeks to the White House, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy, Judith McHale, as well as non-US diplomatic corps such as the British Council.</div>
<div><br></div><div>We approached the project as equal parts policy, journalism and art. And, as such, our reports came in three flavors: the aforementioned policy recommendations, a broadcast quality documentary, and a graphic book. All of them can be viewed or downloaded here: <a href="http://dancinginkproductions.com/projects/understanding-islam-through-virtual-worlds/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(7, 77, 143); ">http://dancinginkproductions.com/projects/understanding-islam-through-virtual-worlds/</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>All of this is cast through the prism of what we describe as being toward a new global culture and economy in the Imagination Age. </div><div><br></div><div>You might enjoy an essay Rita just wrote exploring many of the issues we deal with in our interactions with policymakers, which uses the framework of art and creativity as a contextualizing paradigm. This came out of a presentation we just gave at an Aspen Institute Summit on Cultural Diplomacy. Her essay is called "Art, Reality & Cultural Diplomacy" <a href="http://eurekadejavu.blogspot.com/2009/09/art-reality-and-cultural-diplomacy.html" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(7, 77, 143); ">http://eurekadejavu.blogspot.com/2009/09/art-reality-and-cultural-diplomacy.html</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>Thanks for including me on this list, I've enjoyed the discourse. </div><div><br></div><div>Talk soon ~</div></span><br>-- <br>-- <br>Joshua S. Fouts<br>Senior Fellow, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs;<br>
Senior Fellow, Digital Media and Public Policy, The Center for the Study of the Presidency<br>Chief Global Strategist, Dancing Ink Productions, LLC<br>e: <a href="mailto:josh@dancinginkproductions.com">josh@dancinginkproductions.com</a><br>
web: <a href="http://dancinginkproductions.com">dancinginkproductions.com</a><br>blog: <a href="http://www.eurekadejavu.com">www.eurekadejavu.com</a><br>twitter/skype: josholalia<br>Second Life: Schmilsson Nilsson<br>