The Meridian Center for Cultural Diplomacy and the National Endowment for the Humanities hosted the 2021 Global Humanities Symposium: Observing Cultural Diplomacy virtually on July 16. The Global Humanities Symposium is part of the Global Humanities Initiative, a slate of programming carried out by Meridian International Center and the National Endowment for the Humanities, that seeks to amplify contemporary scholarship and scholars that focus on cultural diplomacy.

For the inaugural Global Humanities Symposium, the focus is on “Observe,” often one of the first, crucial steps in building bridges across cultures. The Global Humanities Symposium will examine the following themes: museums’ role in cultural diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, and digital public humanities.

Symposium Schedule  

Keynote Address

Keynote speaker: Ambassador Glyn Davies

Cultural Exchange Panel

This panel explored the broad history of cultural exchange from the turn of the twentieth century to the present, including during the Cold War, and exemplifies the various routes cultural diplomats can take while also negotiating the limits of exchange.

Moderator: Dr. Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large

Panelists

  • Nick Pozek, presenting “Museums, Industrialists, and Asia: The Philanthropist that Fostered Cultural Exchange”

  • Dr. Rosanne A. Sia, presenting “Performing Ambiguity: Asian American and Latina Nightclub Performers as Cultural Diplomats in the early Cold War”

  • Madison Leeson, presenting “UNESCO-UNDP Programming and the Iraqi Response, 1958-1979”

Museums as Cultural Diplomacy Panel  

This panel surveyed how museums around the world impact cultural exchange by shaping economies, urban development, politics, and social change while also being a site of contention over cultural objects, authority, and interpretation;  

Moderator: Dr. Christine Sylvester, Professor of Political Science, University of Connecticut

Panelists

Digital Humanities Panel

This panel discussed innovative technologies, methodologies, and collaboration within the digital humanities field as related to cultural diplomacy scholarship. 

Moderator: Brett Bobley, Chief Information Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities

Panelists

  • Dr. Natalia Grincheva, presenting “Reviving Cultural Relations in the Post-pandemic World: Employing Geo-visualization and AI to Leverage and Augment the Cultural Appeal of Museums”

  • Kacey Hadick, presenting “Online Training in 3D Documentation and Storytelling”

  • Henna Wang, presenting “Exploring the Humanities Through Audio AR”  

The Global Humanities Initiative is implemented by Meridian International Center with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.