The Cultural Diplomacy Study Group
FALL 2026 SESSIONS
4:30 - 6:00 PM ET | Hybrid
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. You will receive a confirmation once approved.
A global forum for dialogue, exchange, and cultural diplomacy in practice.
The Cultural Diplomacy Study Group, convened at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School, examines how the arts, music, education, and sports sectors can be strategically mobilized to advance foreign policy objectives and address complex social challenges. It is an initiative of the Cultural Diplomacy Project, an initiative under the auspices of Harvard Kennedy School’s Program on Diplomacy and Statecraft, founded by Ambassador Nicholas Burns.
Led by Carla Dirlikov Canales, the Study Group brings together participants across government, academia, the arts, education, civil society, philanthropy, and the private sector to examine how culture shapes relationships between people, institutions, and nations.
Through policy analysis, comparative case studies, and discussion, the Study Group equips participants with practical tools for understanding the creative sector as a strategic instrument of soft power and statecraft.
At a time of increasing geopolitical tension and social fragmentation, cultural diplomacy offers a vital space for connection. The Study Group is grounded in the belief that cultural exchange is not peripheral to diplomacy, but central to how trust is built, stories are shared, and meaningful relationships are sustained across difference.
NEXT SESSION | October 28th, 2026, 4:30 - 6:00 PM ET
Culture in the Age of AI: Identity, Ownership & Human Creativity
As AI systems increasingly learn from and create with the world’s cultural heritage, we’ll ask what that means for authorship, ownership, cultural identity, and human creativity itself. We’ll also take up a larger cultural diplomacy question: how can these technologies expand cultural access and exchange while protecting the diversity of human creativity and cultural memory, rather than flattening it?
In conversation with interdisciplinary artist and creative technologist Margaret Murphy.
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