OADI 2175 - Cultural Diplomacy Beyond the National interest

***UPDATED for 2021/22***

In an interconnected and globalized world culture and cultural diplomacy play an increasingly important role in two major areas. The first one is the “classical” understanding of cultural diplomacy as displaying one's culture to the others, or the outwardly directed. This is essentially interest-driven Government practice, which aims at projecting a country's culture, history and heritage as a statement about its place in the world. And the second – cultural diplomacy as a codification of norms, defining common values, establishing common space for interaction and cooperation with the aim of defining “common public good”, mutual respect and understanding, preventing conflicts and promoting development and peace in a world of diversity. The shifting geopolitics and the changing distribution of economic and political power, brought about a new understanding and interest in cultural diplomacy and its deep entanglement with terms such as cultural relations, soft power and public diplomacy, Although there is still no single accepted definition of the term “cultural diplomacy”, there is nowadays a lot of practice. On one hand, national Governments have come together in different multilateral frameworks – UN, UNESCO, WTO, EU, Council of Europe, and others, to adopt international agreements with legal frameworks and structures related to culture and heritage protection, including in the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. On the other, the rise of violent extremism within “modern” conflicts, which lead to the deliberate destruction of emblematic historic sites, raised new awareness why culture matters and its link to peace and security. The course will try to understand these contemporary processes when culture and politics are in an interdependent relationship and multilateral dimension of this link. It will also try to clarify the link between interest-driven national practice and international codification in terms of Conventions and other legal instruments.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understanding the meaning and the practice of cultural diplomacy, its evolution and importance in international relations.

2. Acquiring knowledge about the role of the United Nations and UNESCO in establishing a large platform of international cooperation in the area of culture and heritage protection and putting it in the wider concept of sustainable development.

3. Acquiring knowledge about the legal framework of cultural cooperation and its evolution in the broader debate about peace, diversity and human rights.

4. Understanding the way cultural diplomacy may help solve conflict, bring reconciliation and peace, create social inclusion and resilience, and contribute to confront global challenges.

Professional Skills

1. Students should acquire understanding of the unique tool that cultural diplomacy represents in creating a space for solving problems or for promoting common values, whether they engage later in their professional activities in Governments, private sector or civil society.

2. Through the cultural lense, students should acquire the ability to critical thinking, be creative and to think “ourside the box”.

3. Understand the importance of culture in the UN Agenda 2030 and its link with global challenges such as climate change, poverty eradication, economic growth and social inclusion. Culture can be a powerful tool to solve these challenges among others.

Irina BOKOVA,Paloma JUNO

Séminaire

English

- In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester

- Reading and Preparation for Class : 2 hours a week / 20 hours a semester

- Research and Preparation for Group Work: 1,5 hours a week / 15 hours a semester

- Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 1,5 hours a week / 15 hours a semester

Spring 2021-2022

Students will be divided in not more than 6 groups in order to prepare presentations on a topic related to the themes of the course. These presentations will be discussed in class, including in some cases with the participation of the invited guests.

The final assessment will be a 2000 words paper on a topic that may differ from the topic of the presentation previously submitted for discussion.

The submission of group presentations and the discussions will be an opportunity to give to the students regular feedback on their learning outcomes and the degree of understanding of the different topics.