Master of Arts - Applied Diplomacy - Critical Approaches to Diplomacy

Program Description The practice of diplomacy in the 21st Century requires new and creative responses to the complex nature of bridge building, community formation and conflict resolution. While the work of nation-state diplomatic corps representatives remains central to such efforts, diplomacy is also practiced by multiple non-state actors and individuals, including business people, scientists, artists, community organizers, activists, clergy and educators. Diplomacy today is truly transprofessional. DePaul's program in Applied Diplomacy addresses these realities through an innovative program designed to train a new generation of diplomats. At both the undergraduate and graduate level the curriculum is multidisciplinary in expertise, deeply rooted in an ethic of collaboration and is designed to serve the needs of bridge builders across multiple boundaries of difference.​ DePaul’s Applied Diplomacy program is dedicated to re-conceptualizing the practice of diplomacy to make these interconnections possible. Uniting traditional and non-traditional approaches to the field, the program seeks to transform our understanding of both. We emphasize the critical necessity for practitioners of diplomacy to become culturally, racially, ethnically, ecologically and religiously literate, and embrace an interdisciplinary and intercultural definition of the term diplomacy. Students will be able to: Recognize the inherent interdependence between the local and the global Explain how diplomacy is not only practiced by elite nation-state actors but also by people on the ground of diverse professions, social locations and worldviews Define the core concepts which guide the study of statecraft, nation-state diplomacy, comparative politics and international relations Describe the relationship between track-one and track-two diplomacy and the potential of this relationship to be more deeply integrated Explain how the world’s neighborhoods, community groups, cities, states, regions, and transnational environmental realities are interdependent and cannot be understood in isolation Achieve competency in a second language, not only to communicate with others but also as a means of understanding that each language comes with particular worldviews, strengths and limitations which inform the practice of diplomacy Analyze, understand and critique both normative and non-normative definitions of power, and the unique contributions both make toward the work of diminishing conflict and promoting peace-building Explain the profound value of being able to understand and learn from communities that are not one's own through the lens of art, culture, language, religion and the experiences of others. Compile a portfolio whose goal is to place the classroom learning from the program into direct, systematic conversation with the real world diplomatic challenges of bridge building, negotiation and conflict resolution presented in the context of their internship placements