On Oct. 27, diplomatic practitioners spent a day at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) as part of the annual Nebraska Ambassadors Forum, engaging with students and examining the role of American diplomacy and how it has evolved in a changing world.
The university partnered with the American Academy of Diplomacy to host the event. This year’s theme, “Older than the Nation: The Changing Nature of American Diplomacy,” explored how diplomatic work has changed over the past 250 years and how it continues to address international challenges.
During the daylong event, the visiting diplomats moved through multiple locations on UNL’s campus and hosted discussions where students had the opportunity to directly ask questions of veterans in the field of diplomacy.
Megan Stevens-Liska, assistant vice chancellor for global affairs and senior international officer and the event’s director, said it’s quite rare that students get to engage with former U.S. ambassadors.
“Events like today … give Nebraska students the opportunity to see what they can do with their degree abroad,” Stevens-Liska said.
She hopes that students use this day to broaden their understanding of worldviews and explore ways they can serve their country and see the field from a new perspective.
During class visits and the public forum, students and faculty ranging from geography to political science all had the opportunity to listen to stories of the diplomats’ experiences and gain valuable insight into understanding where they fit in the wide spectrum of diplomacy.
Following the forum was a Global Café in the Global Education Center in Louise Pound Hall. Hosted in partnership with the School of Global Integrative Studies, the Global Café gave students another opportunity to continue the conversation with the visiting diplomats.
Robert Wilson, a junior studying global studies at UNL, said it’s not very likely that these kinds of people will come to Lincoln. He said their talk at the Global Café allowed him to see how they view diplomacy.
“There’s a lot of how their actual day-to-day work goes and how they view not only our country but other countries as well and how they look at diplomacy,” Wilson said.
After the diplomats finished their brief speeches, the floor opened to questions from curious students about their time working abroad, useful skills they’ve learned and their philosophies when working with people in other countries.
Those conversations gave students a chance to hear about the day-to-day work behind a career in diplomacy and consider how their own interests could connect to international affairs.
Anthony “Bud” Rock, president and CEO of Grandavenir LLC, said that with growing complexity in society, he would love to expand this opportunity to other students who are not currently looking for careers abroad.
“I’d love to do exactly the same thing with a group of engineers or with a group of agricultural scientists, or with anyone in the university community that might have a connection or an interest in international affairs, because I truly believe that there are entry points from all of those sectors,” Rock said.
In the future, Rock believes that extending this opportunity can help people see how important their varied skill sets are. Reaching a broader community of students is a great place to start, he said.
His message encouraged students to consider how the skills they are already developing could give them a way to contribute to international work.
Ronald E. Neumann, a former U.S. ambassador and president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, said there is nothing like being immersed in a foreign culture to understand how people operate. He said that when you speak to people in their native tongue, they are more open to accepting you into their culture.
For students considering how they might use their degrees abroad, Neumann also emphasized the purpose behind that work.
Neumann said public service is an honor. He said there are not many things that matter more than serving a purpose larger than yourself.
