This article was originally published in the Academia print issue of The Daily Utah Chronicle, originally in stands in October of 2024. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date.
A new major program will be available to University of Utah students starting in the Fall 2025 semester.
The diplomacy major is designed to address the needs of the 21st century, preparing those interested in a career as a diplomat or any position involving the craft of diplomacy.
Michael Middleton, associate dean for academic affairs for the College of Humanities, said the U’s new diplomacy program will be the first in Utah.
“We are super excited about this new interdisciplinary program in the college that draws on the strength of international studies, world languages, communication and more. It is exceptional and there are few, if any, comparable programs in the country,” Middleton said in an email statement.
What is a Diplomacy Major?
The new education pathway stems from a redesign of the peace and conflict studies major.
Hugh Cagle, an associate professor of history and the director of the international studies program at the U, said diplomacy more accurately represents the skills students will need to learn compared to peace and conflict studies.
“The problem with peace and conflict studies is it doesn’t tell you what exactly you are to do or what you can do with a degree,” he said. “And so diplomacy is a kind of branding change and also a substantive change.”
This helps provide students and future employers transparency regarding what they are prepared to manage.
Cagle said diplomacy isn’t a discipline but rather an interdisciplinary practice. Although a college degree is not required to enter the foreign service, an educational track record could be a major advantage in the competitive entry exam and career field.
The program is designed to equip students to work with modern concerns like global health. Since the pandemic, a surge in interest in medicine has boosted the practice of global health diplomacy.
Other focuses include science, technology and the environment, which have become more significant in present-day diplomatic practices.
“You need someone who is focused not just on bringing parties with potentially competing or seemingly mutually exclusive interests together in order to build consensus around a particular issue,” Cagle said.
They also must be well-practiced in the field they are addressing, he added. They need to be well aware of the location and contexts in which issues are occurring.
An example of this is the green energy transition, a critical focus for the planet’s future. The Midwest is seeing great efforts to expand wind turbines in the region. While there is local support for these efforts, some communities are concerned about the regional impact of energy generation, storage and transmission infrastructure.
“And so this is a situation where we have people who plausibly have or feel like they have competing interests, but those interests actually can be shown to be aligned,” Cagle said. “And you need someone who understands, or can understand the various perspectives as well as a substance of the issue.”
A diplomacy major would prepare students with communication skills and education in relevant topics like engineering and philosophy of science. This will prepare them to address communities about the efficacy and potential impacts of these crucial projects.
What Will the New Pathway Look Like?
The major will be flexible and very individualized. Students must meet the foundational requirements in international studies, communication, philosophy and history based on their areas of interest. These four areas help students better understand the difficult questions and concerns an issue can entail.
The communication requirement, for example, equips students with skills based on a particular policy area. Cagle said international or global issues require communication that is different from domestic and private affairs.
Once the core courses are completed, the major diverges into culture — or language-intensive pathways, again based on one’s particular region or community of interest.
Cagle added the U has a strategic advantage in working in the areas of cultural preservation and indigenous sovereignty, health science, violence and humanitarian affairs.
The development of this new degree, according to Dr. Hollis Robbins, former dean of the College of Humanities, is some of the most exciting news of the year for humanities at the U.
“Looking around the globe at the conflicts ongoing today, I cannot think of a more direct way to prepare students for solution-based careers addressing political unrest, war and climate change than a diplomacy degree,” Robbins said in an email statement.
