The Program is offered by:

In Cooperation with:
The Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies
MA in International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy

Program Start for Fall Semester: October 2nd, 2013

Perspectives on Cultural Diplomacy & International Relations from Previous Events

Film, Music and Cultural Diplomacy

Faculty Member Prof. Cynthia Schneider Interviews World Renowned Actor David Soul (Celebrated Actor, Director & Singer)
(Berlin, December 15th, 2012)

“Prospects for Cultural Diplomacy with an emphasis on the Middle East”

MA Students discuss “Prospects for Cultural Diplomacy” with ICD Advisory Board Member Mr. Yasar Yakis (Former Foreign Minister of Turkey)
(Berlin, August 27th, 2012)

The United States of Europe

Watch a Keynote Speech by Ségolène Royal (President of the Regional Council of Poitou-Charentes)
(Berlin, November 8th, 2009)

About the Degree

The Degree is offered by the Babes-Bolyai University in partnership with the Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies.

International careers increasingly require knowledge and skills that transcend the confines of traditional academic disciplines. The contemporary world is strongly characterized by parallel processes of globalization and integration. These processes pervade almost all areas of human activity, and the issues that foreign policy makers address at the highest levels increasingly affect the ordinary lives of people around the world. Nation states are no longer capable of resolving certain issues single-handedly, whether they be international terrorism, global (and often national) financial crises, or climate change. Moreover, the emergence of asymmetrical security threats and the international convergence of social, political and economic relations, have underlined the need for a renewed focus on diplomatic relations and soft power, of which cultural diplomacy is a crucial component.

These developments have increased interest in the study of International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy and, concurrently, have created a need for professionals who understand those subjects. University programs striving to endow students and young leaders with the fundamental understanding and practical skills necessary for careers in international affairs have had to adjust their programs accordingly to include commerce, development and culture as topics of study, as well as including multinational and supranational organizations as subjects of study.

Operating under a joint partnership, Babes-Bolyai University and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy are the first institutions to offer a Master of Arts degree program that will educate students from around the world in several academic disciplines related to International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy.

Key Objectives of the Program

The Key Objectives of the program are:
  • To provide students with an in depth understanding of the theory and practice of international relations within the contemporary interdependent world placing a particular emphasis on cultural diplomacy within this framework
  • To educate students about cultural diplomacy within the context of the political, economic and cultural pillars upon which sustainable international relations are based.
  • To analyze soft power and hard power strategies within the international relations discourse in the recognition that each element is mutually important and compatible in what Prof. Joseph Nye has characterized as “smart power.”

Benefits of the Program

The main benefits of this MA program are:
  • The program offers students a core curriculum of International Relations, which will prepare the student for a vast array of career opportunities across the world.
  • Students will have access to an expert faculty with experience in international politics and diplomacy, and will acquire the knowledge and skills needed to work in a complex global order.
  • Students will obtain an expertise in cultural diplomacy which is currently a rare yet rapidly increasing and important field within the public sector, private sector and civil society.
  • Students of this program will be significantly advantaged in the political arena against students who simply obtain an MA in international relations.
  • During the “Professional Training” semester of the MA students will be able to create and implement their own programs of cultural diplomacy.
  • Graduates will discover that the curriculum and faculty prepare them for evolving careers in academia and all public and private international sectors.

Our Special Emphasis

  • The special emphasis of this MA is to analyze the past, present and future of cultural diplomacy in the framework of diplomacy and international relations as a whole.
  • The faculty puts particular emphasis on both the theory as well as the practice of cultural diplomacy in order to provide students with a deeper understanding of this rapidly developing field.

Career Service

The ICD and The Babes-Bolyai University (BBU) see it as an integral part of the MA to support and assist our students in acquiring the careers that they seek. Therefore during semester 3 of the program, together with the support of our faculty advisors and our career services department, we will create a strategy with the student of how to proceed immediately from the MA to the career of their choice, should that be the desire of the student.

For further information on the MA in International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy, please send an email to academyculturaldiplomacyorg