The annual Ambassador Milton Wolf Seminar on Media and Diplomacy took place at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna from April 8 to April 10, 2025. The seminar is jointly organized by the Media Inequality and Change Center (MIC) at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, the American Austrian Foundation and the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. International experts in media and diplomacy gathered for this three-day seminar in Vienna to discuss trust in the traditional institutions of governance, media, and politics, disinformation and AI linked to this year’s seminar topic Ouroboros: The infinite loop of Media, Democracy, and Diplomacy.
The panel discussions included panelists from the New York Times and international media organizations, as well as academicians from Austria, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK and the USA and experts from the EU.
Fourteen emerging scholar fellows from institutions in the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the USA were chosen to participate and had the chance to present their research and ideas. Five students from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and three observers also joined the seminar group and their vivid discussions. The individual sessions were moderated by Martina Schubert (Deputy Director, Diplomatic Academy Vienna), Sarah Jackson (Co-Director, Media, Inequality & Change Center, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania), James Pamment (Senior Lecturer, Researcher, and Associate Professor, Department of Strategic Communication, Lund University), Kevin Marc Blasiak (Postdoctoral Researcher, Vienna University of Technology), and Natalie Fenton (Professor of Media and Communications and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Media, Goldsmiths, University of London).
Panelists, emerging scholars, students and observers also enjoyed a cultural program including a visit to the Freud Museum, where they learned about Sigmund Freud’s life and research, as well as a farewell dinner at a Viennese Heurigen, a traditional local vineyard tavern, where local dishes and wine are served.
