Public Diplomacy and Cultural Diplomacy
Course description
L4700 Research Methods
This course will provide an opportunity for participants to establish or advance their understanding of research through critical exploration of research language, ethics, and approaches. The course introduces the language of research, ethical principles and challenges, and the elements of the research process within quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. Participants will use these theoretical underpinnings to begin to critically review literature relevant to their field or interests and determine how research findings are useful in forming their understanding of their work, social, local and global environment.
L4711 Public Diplomacy
The course offers an overview of the main patterns and traditions of public diplomacy, mixing a historical perspective with the study of contemporary practices and applications in the framework of international relations theory, communication and public opinion studies. By combining frontal teaching, individual work and guest lectures by scholars and practitioners in the field, the course will introduce students to the practice of public diplomacy in the 21st century, including its relationship with the concepts of public relations, propaganda, branding, advertising, advocacy and other forms of strategic communication for public persuasion.
Students will be acquainted with the main actors and strategies of public diplomacy and they will be asked to reflect upon the meaning and implications of public diplomacy for state and non-state actors. The impact of structural, social and technological changes on ‘soft power’ strategies will be examined. As the flow of international news available to the general public has significantly grown with the coexistence of traditional media and new information technologies, the course will investigate the individual and social effects of media exposure on foreign publics. The notion of world public opinion and its impact on the dynamics of international diplomacy will be examined as well. In this respect, students will learn how to search for public opinion data, how to evaluate the quality of the same data, and how to study empirically foreign publics’ feelings and attitudes towards selected countries and international organizations.
L4712 International Relations Theory
The course will cover the main theoretical approaches and how they bear upon IR issues and problems at different levels of analysis, from the international system and the nation state to the psychology of decision makers. The course will explore some of these concepts and theories in a role-playing simulation. Using scenario-building and role playing through online diplomacy, students will be called on to reflect upon the role of IR theories and methods on the study of international politics. The case study this year will be chosen by the lecturer.
L4713 Rule of Law and Human Right
The object of the course will be the study of human rights in international law, including both pertinent legal rules and international mechanisms aimed at ensuring effectiveness of such rights. The global and the regional dimension will be dealt with during the course, and particular attention will be devoted to the regional human rights systems and to the case law of the monitoring bodies established by the relevant regional human rights treaties. The final part of the course will be devoted to the discussion of the influence played by cultural diversities and by the different conceptions of human rights on the concrete realization of the latter.
L4714 Cultural Diplomacy
The course offers an overview of the main patterns and traditions of cultural diplomacy, mixing a historical perspective with the study of contemporary practices and applications in the framework of international relations theory and communication studies. By combining frontal teaching, group work and individual presentations, the course will introduce students to the different approaches to cultural relations in North America, Europe and other regions of the world.
Students will be acquainted with the main actors and strategies of cultural diplomacy both at the state and non-state level. Using a role-playing format, students will be asked to reflect upon the role of cultural diplomacy for nation-states, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the private sector, civil society and ‘unconventional’ actors. The impact of structural, social and technological changes on ‘soft power’ strategies will be examined.
L4722 Global Comparative Politics
This course provides a general overview on the state of current political regimes, focusing in particular on the processes of democratization, the state of democracy in different areas of the world, and the main challenges to contemporary democracy.
A number of relevant issues and questions will be raised. For instance, what are the key elements of today’s democracy? What kind of non-democratic regimes or semi-democratic regimes can be considered as relevant features of the current scenario?
The course covers these and many other issues by utilizing the recent literature of comparative politics.
L4723 New Media And Globalization
Aim of the class is to give an overview of the historical process of globalization, with particular reference to the spreading of the social media.
L4715 Foreign Policy Analysis
The specialization in foreign policy analysis is designed for students interested in how states pursue their national interests in the realm of international affairs. The courses provide students with a strong conceptual foundation for understanding foreign security, economic, and humanitarian policy. They aim to develop expertise in evaluating the relative success of policy in these functional areas. Through carefully selected case studies, students are exposed to the very different types of challenges facing statesmen in key world regions.
In addition to preparing students for careers in government service, students interested in international business, journalism, and human rights work will find this specialization useful in their future careers. The intensive study of cost-benefit analysis and strategic interaction that is at the heart of the foreign policy specialization hones analytical skills that will serve students well in any future endeavor.
L4733 Global Negotiation and Conflict Management
The ability to negotiate and manage conflicts effectively has become an essential skill in international diplomacy, as well as in our organizational and personal settings. The objective of this specialization is to empower students in the roles of negotiator, mediator, facilitator, and problem-solver. Students explore the causes of and approaches to managing and resolving conflict in the international context; the major foreign policy issues surrounding the management of international conflict; the analytical, methodological and practical tools of negotiation and mediation; the theory and practice of cross-cultural communication and problem-solving; and the nature, history, and implications of peace operations.
The coursework moves progressively from the prevention of international conflict, to negotiation and third party intervention, and culminates with post conflict peace-building. Using simulations and negotiation role plays in class, students are provided with a solid academic grounding in the relevant theories, history and cases, as well as practical knowledge and skills. Students seeking careers in the diplomatic service, government, international organizations, as well as NGO and advocacy work benefit from enhancing their negotiation performance and their ability to persuade and build consensus.
L4734 International Economics and Development
An understanding of global trade, global finance, and the effects of multinational corporations on international exchange relations is vital in order to understand interstate relations and development issues. International economics and finance is more important than ever to interstate relations, as the forces of globalization continue to increase the complex economic and political webs linking nation-states, transnational actors, and international organizations.
In order to appreciate the importance of international organizations or the economic causes of ethnic conflict, students need to understand the interaction of politics and economics. Courses in the international economics and finance specialization provide students with the tools required to think critically and reason analytically about such topics as international trade, international finance, third world development, sustainable development and international political economy.
L4717 International Law and Human Rights
International law topics that have been in the news recently include the status of prisoners in the war on terror, the creation of the International Criminal Court, and the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. As these examples illustrate, an understanding of international law and human rights is crucial to an understanding of international affairs. International law affects the relations between states, the activities of international organizations, the operation of the international economy, and the interactions of businesses and individuals. Courses in the international law and human rights specialization examine these subjects and others, teaching students how to use the tools of legal analysis in an accessible and interdisciplinary way. Students learn to analyze issues and arguments in a rigorous manner, to tackle complicated topics with confidence, and to think on their feet.
L4716 International Organizations
How do different states and other actors work together in search of solutions to pressing global problems? What are the most common mechanisms through which these actors try to reconcile their diverse interests? This specialization examines the role that international organizations play as the primary vehicles for facilitating cooperation in international politics. As transnational issues have grown in scope and complexity, the demands placed upon both global and regional international organizations have multiplied.
From creating commonly accepted norms of state behavior to monitoring compliance with legally binding treaties, international organizations must continually struggle to promote human well-being in light of the political realities in which they operate. As such, international organizations act as forums through which states seek to balance their willingness to work cooperatively and their desire to respect each other's sovereignty. Courses in this specialization provide students with the analytical tools necessary to understand how these organizations function and to carefully evaluate their activities across a wide range of international issues.
L4727 Arabic Language and Culture
The course aims to teach the Arabic language through its grammar, conversation and listening activities, reading and translating simple texts. The grammatical part will focus on the following arguments: alphabet, roots and patterns, article, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, gender and number, declension, annexation, basic notion of verbs and on the syntax of the language. Lectures will also include the analysis of the main social, linguistic and cultural aspects of the Arab Muslim society, in order to help students understand the main contemporary issues related to the Northern Africa and Middle East area.
L4718 Cultural Heritage and Public Diplomacy
This course aims to give a definition of cultural heritage, studying the evolution of the concept through history; approaching the study of cultural heritage from a methodological point of view, observing and considering the main categories to define and study the matter.
The course will also show patterns of cultural heritage from selected places in the world, and how they were used as tools of public diplomacy.
L4729 Public Diplomacy and International History
The course intends to provide students with the tools to understand how public diplomacy (PD) actually works and how it has developed since the 1930's, focusing on Chinese PD and its influence on China-US relations.
L4724 Anthropology Of Cultural Heritage
The course will focus on the "heritage turn", i.e. the peculiar cultural policies that are marking the international scene of cultural promotion since the recent enhancement of the Unesco Heritage programs, from the anthropological and comparative perspective. The main international conventions and agreements will be explored, and some ethnographic reports on heritage institutions practices will introduce to the reading of some illuminating samples of "cultural heritage policy", taken from the World Intangible Cultural Heritage program and lists. Controversial or exemplary case studies, pivoting on some peculiar performing arts and expressions, will be drawn from Japan, Palestine, Bolivia, Malawi and Mexico, as well as from Italy and the European area.
L4726 Culture and Institutions in Latin America
The course has the objective of familiarizing the student with the main concepts and findings of Latin American historic and political literature; and to provide conceptual tools to understand the complex and dynamic nature of institution building.
L4725 Geography and Sustainability
The course introduces the study of sustainability and human-environment interactions from a geographic perspective. Lectures will address both the influence of humanity on the environment and the influence of the environment on humanity across spaces with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals. The course will introduce main sustainability indicators. The course will focus on resources and in particular on immaterial and cultural resources such as landscape. Several case studies will be shown to highlight the relationships between sustainability and policy. Student will develop research projects on topics related to sustainability. This will include: defining a research question, understanding the current state of knowledge, selecting methods with which to assess hypotheses, analyzing available data, and communicating findings. GIS laboratories will introduce students to cartographic data representation.
L4728 Sports and Culture
Mastering the basic concepts related to the idea of sport and the culture connected to it in its various political economic cultural and social areas both national and international.
The course will focus on the differences between the ideas of sports from the ancient time up to nowadays.
L4730 Language, Society and Ideology
In this course we will examine a range of significant debates on language and society (not only within the Italian, but also in relation to the international scenario) from the Unification of Italy to the end of the 20th century – focusing, in the last part of the course, on the linguistic implications of globalization.
L4731 Prehistory and intercultural relationships: ancient technologies and environmental resources
The course illustrates a wide approach to the study of ancient technologies, settlement strategies and resource exploitation of environmental resources carried on during prehistory, in particular in the Mediterranean context. The investigation of prehistoric strategies to develop sedentary and nomadic cultures offers the opportunity to explore settings and cultural or technological approaches of ancient human communities which may be related to social and economic characteristics of traditional and modern societies. Part of the course is oriented to show traces of prehistoric evidence in present day settings and in exploring the different strategies related to the peopling process of the past.
L4732 Monitoring the Mediterranean Cultural Heritage: archaeological strategies, methods and techniques
The archaeological heritage of the Mediterranean, which is of international significance for all periods, is under increasing threat from massive and sustained population explosion, agricultural development, urban expansion, warfare, and looting.
Case studies in Italy, Turkey, Spain and Iraq will be presented and discussed within the course. Case histories about partial or total destruction will be also illustrated and to the class, e.g.: Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan; Palmyra in Syria, etc.
The final goal is to excite in students awareness about the nature and the large number of factors that threaten the archaeological heritage and in doing so to train them to recognize, interpret, map and monitor past landscapes.