The first one is still the traditional, “classical” understanding of cultural relations as displaying one's culture to the others, or the outwardly directed. This is essentially interest-driven governmental practice, which aims at projecting a country's culture, history and heritage as a statement about its place in the world. This type of “cultural diplomacy” is government driven, but takes expression in cultural relations, practiced largely by non-state actors.
And the second - cultural diplomacy as a codification of norms, defining common values, establishing a common space for interaction and cooperation with the aim of defining “a common good”, mutual respect and understanding, preventing conflicts and promoting development and peace.
Although there is still no single accepted definition of the term cultural diplomacy, there is nowadays a lot of practice – both at the national as well as the international level within the UN context as well as the EU and other entities.
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 The course will try to clarify the link between interest-driven national practice and international codification in terms of conventions and legal instruments in the areas of culture, heritage protection – both tangible and intangible, and to look at the areas where there is still a place for such codification.
The course will focus on contemporary tensions related to the function of culture and heritage in a globalised world, and on the role cultural diplomacy can play in addressing the most burning issues, including the rise of violent extremism within “modern” conflicts, which lead to the deliberate destruction of emblematic historic sites. The course will try to define who are today's actors and what is their role in the cultural diplomacy apart from Governments – Cities, cultural NGO's, Museums, Foundations and Trusts, educational institutions.
The course will be interactive, with students preparing and discussing case studies, as well as with invited experts in the respective areas.
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.
- 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
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.