Programa de actividades

North America (Canada, the United States, and Mexico) represents one of the most significant regions for the residence of the Korean diaspora. It is estimated that there are approximately 1.7 million Koreans in the region. With over a century since the first migrations to North American countries, particularly to Hawaii and Yucatán, the Korean presence can be considered historical. This has a couple of relevant implications: on one hand, it allows us to recognize that there are different generations, migratory profiles, and identities within the Korean community, and therefore, diverse ways of expressing what it means to be Korean; on the other hand, it enables us to understand that this community has experienced the social, political, economic, and cultural development of the host societies and, to that extent, their public actions can be linked to the various contexts of change at the local level. Thus, this paper studies the public diplomacy of the Korean diaspora in the North American region and its different roles based on various communicative strategies.

Cultural diplomacy as an objective of Mexico's foreign policy was first mentioned in the National Development Plan (NDP) of 2013. Despite the relatively recent use of the concept by the Mexican government, cultural diplomacy has been practiced throughout Mexico's history, particularly in the early 20th century when the country experienced commercial openness due to NAFTA. The objective of this presentation will be threefold: 1) to highlight the link between international relations and the publishing industry; 2) to demonstrate how the book as an object can serve as a vehicle for cultural and public diplomacy; and 3) to analyze the significance of using the concept in theory and practice to enhance its study and application. To this end, I will discuss the Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE) from 1990 to 2000, a period characterized by the state publisher's efforts to transcend borders. Thus, the publishing house aligned with the NDP, creating new publications, national and international bookstores, and actively participating in international fairs and events that projected Mexico's image abroad through the book as an object. In other words, the FCE practiced cultural diplomacy despite the concept not being mentioned in the NDPs of that time.

The video game industry, with its global reach and ability to influence millions of people, has become a powerful platform for promoting environmental awareness and climate action. In the context of public diplomacy, these efforts not only aim to educate and raise awareness among players but also to foster a global community more committed to sustainability and their participation as non-state actors on the international stage. This presentation references the efforts of the United Nations in North America, through multiple initiatives, to include the use of video games in the discourse on fighting climate change. Leveraging the influence of video games and their creativity to promote climate action seeks to encourage collaboration with environmental organizations, the implementation of sustainable practices, and the creation of educational content, inspiring a global generation to take meaningful steps to protect our planet.

Increasingly recognized amongst non-state diplomatic actors, museums have emerged as crucial sites for global engagement (Grincheva 2019, 2020; Priewe 2021). Within the sector, diaspora museums offer an important perspective for consideration of cultural diplomacy. These museums sit, just like the communities they represent and have emerged from, at the location between their host nation and country of origin (Ang 2003). Thus, they defy entrenched methodological nationalism and engender narratives that bridge the local-global continuum (Darian-Smith & McCarty 2017). This paper presents the results of a team-based qualitative research project addressing the state of the field of migration museums and their cultural diplomacy activities. Drawing on interviews with museum practitioners, we chart the development of this sector and how these museums define and represent diasporic communities and migration. Through analysis of programming initiatives, we argue for the ways in which these museums advance cultural relations, including fostering empathy and mutual understanding. Through this analysis, we respond to calls to attend to diaspora communities as active agents who connect with a significant number of diverse constituencies and challenge “the territorial assumptions associated with diplomatic practices” (Ho and McConnell 2017, p. 237).