Center for the Study of International Communications

On Tuesday, May 28, 2019, the Center for the Study of International Communications, known in French as Le Centre pour les Etudes de Communications Internationales (CECI), celebrated its 20th anniversary with a cocktail reception and dinner at The American University of Paris. The evening took place in the Combes Student Life Center and was dedicated to the dozens of scholarship students that CECI has supported over the last two decades.

The event, entitled “AUP Opened the Door,” was attended by numerous scholarship recipients as well as several of CECI’s notable financial supporters: Jim Bittermann, Michael Elias, Diane Johnson, Alan Riding and Lee Huebner, the Center Chairperson. Guests also had the opportunity to tour the adjoining Quai d’Orsay Learning Commons, AUP’s new flagship building.

CECI is a nonprofit organization that provides financial support to outstanding students from the developing world who are pursuing studies in journalism or communications. Since first being set up in 1998, CECI has awarded support to more than 60 students who required financial assistance. It aims to encourage recipients to take up leadership roles in the media in their home countries, thereby investing in the future of international communications across the globe.

The evening culminated in a speech from Roger Cohen, a journalist, author and columnist for the New York Times and International New York Times. He spoke of Paris’s enduring appeal, and the important role that international communications plays in defending democracy in the modern era:

You can download Cohen’s entire guest speaker address here.