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The Grace School of Applied Diplomacy’s sixth annual international conference explores scholarship on how diplomacy can promote new thinking in the context of current complexities such as managing the digital ecosystem, protecting the vulnerable in armed conflict, recovering “soft power” approaches in the face of “hard” and “sharp” power challenges, reconciling the legacies and trends in diplomatic training, weighing the effectiveness of
formal (the UN) vs.
informal (G20, BRICS+) international organizations, strengthening democratic norms through authentic governmental engagement with home publics about diplomacy, and respecting individual rights and dignity.
International experts will present their ideas and latest work in keynote talks and panels, stimulated by the turbulent contemporary socio-political environment and its associated urgent need for diplomacy – in its varied forms – to help steer debate toward sustainable solutions in an atmosphere of constructive dialogue and cooperation.
The mission of The Grace School is to train future practitioners of diplomacy across all vocations—from those pursuing careers in the foreign service to those who want to build bridges as NGO leaders, private sector actors, scientists, artists, religious leaders, community organizers and activists. Our goal is to create cohorts of students with a wide range of vocational trajectories who engage the study and practice of diplomacy together, establishing networks that they will take with them as they pursue or redirect their respective careers upon graduation.
THURSDAY 23 October
9:30 – 9:35
Welcome: David Wellman, DePaul University
9:35 – 10:45
Diplomacy & the New Digital Technology Landscape
Jovan Kurbalija, DiploFoundation, Malta
Corneliu Bjola, Oxford University
Minseon Ku, DePaul University
11:00 – 12:10
Recovering Soft Power in Hard (Power) Times
Stephanie Winkler, Stockholm University
Nicholas Cull, University of Southern California
Jessica Ludwig, George W. Bush Institute
12:30 – 13:30
Keynote: Virginia Gamba, United Nations
Secretary General's Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict (2017–2025)
13:45 – 14:50
Multilateralism at the crossroads: The United Nations & Informal Intergovernmental Organizations
Ian Hurd, Northwestern University
Catriona Standfield, UMass, Boston
Emel Parlar Dal, Marmara University, Istanbul
FRIDAY 24 October
9:25 – 9:30
Welcome: Geoffrey Wiseman, DePaul University
9:30 – 10:40
Diplomatic Training: Histories, Geographies, Politics
Fiona McConnell, Oxford University
Jonathan Harris, Dublin City University
Sam Okoth Opondo, Vassar College
11:00 – 12:00
Keynote: Audie Klotz, Syracuse University,
President-elect, International Studies Association
12:15 – 13:20
Diplomacy’s Domestic Dimension: Global Affairs and Domestic Publics
Jan Melissen, Leiden University & University of Antwerp
César Jiménez-Martínez, London School of Economics
Hanna Pfeifer, University of Hamburg