Catherine Charlton is a senior at the University of Southern California, majoring in International Relations and pursuing a Master’s in Public Diplomacy. She is an elected member of Phi Beta Kappa.

At USC, she serves as Communications Director of the USC Global Policy Institute and as a Research Assistant for the Near Crisis Project under Dr. Patrick James. She is also a member of the Blackstonians Pre-Law Honor Society and has served as a Teaching Assistant for Professor Douglas Becker in USC Summer Programs.

Outside of USC, Catherine is a Public Diplomacy and Policy Intern with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at the Australian Consulate-General in Los Angeles, where she supports diplomatic engagement initiatives, media monitoring, and policy reporting. She is also the Director of Strategic Communications for the Visual International Relations Project (VIRP), a platform that makes international relations theory accessible through visual analysis.

She previously worked as a Policy and Legislative Intern for Councilmember Adrin Nazarian, focusing on land-use policy, public works infrastructure, and major international events including the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the FIFA World Cup.

Her research focuses on historical memory, national myth, and soft power. She presented her paper, Intersections of the National Myth with Memory and Soft Power, at the 2025 ISA West Annual Conference.