Top photo: (l to r) Dean Tom Reichert, Dana Sultanescu, Ana Cristina Ruelas of UNESCO, Chair Coordinator Randy Covington, and UNESCO Fellow Dan Sultanescu are pictured in Bucharest, Romania, where data from USC’s Global Opinion Tracker used in UNESCO’s World Trends Report was presented for the first time.
The college’s relationship with UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) began on the Columbia campus in September, 2021.
The college hosted an international forum, Information Saves Lives, which brought together UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulet, World Food Programme Director and Nobel Peace Prize winner David Beasley, Philippiine journalist and also Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, and others. UNESCO credits this forum as one of the factors that led the United States to rejoin the organization.
UNESCO subsequently awarded the College a prestigious UNESCO Chair. Since then, the college’s relationship with UNESCO has continued to grow and deepen.
When UNESCO convened a major conference in Paris in 2023 to develop guidelines for regulating digital platforms, the college produced a parallel event on campus, Influencers, Ideas and Uncertainty: How Gen Z lives social media. The forum brought together influencers and experts from across the globe. Excerpts were used in the Paris conference.
A year later, the college assembled a panel to discuss climate change at UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day observance in Santiago, Chile. CIC Associate Professor Brett Robertson moderated the session.
Each year in conjunction with World Press Freedom Day, the college’s Social Media Insights Lab uses its powerful software to analyze worldwide social media conversations about the day, reviewing hundreds of thousands of posts in multiple languages.
UNESCO included our AI Public Opinion Tracker (LINK) in its prestigious World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global Report. Our UNESCO Fellow Dan Sultanescu explained how AI is viewed in four regionally diverse countries, providing a global perspective on issues like adoption and trust in AI. The college continues to monitor attitudes toward AI from a global perspective and publishes reports twice a year.
As AI becomes increasingly important, so too does the need for media and information literacy. The college is joining UNESCO’s MIL Alliance to work with scholars and others addressing the issue, building upon the college’s well-regarded children’s book, Dot Buys a Bike, which uses a funny story and cartoon characters to teach MIL to children.
In late 2025, UNESCO renewed the CIC’s chair as we continue to pursue scholarly research and events that are relevant to UNESCO’s mission.