International Cultural Engagement Task Force
The Task Force will examine existing and proposed new international cultural diplomacy engagements that help enhance mutual understanding, respect, and trust. These include partnerships and collaborations among individuals and organizations in the U.S. and abroad, in the fields of dance; design; folk arts; humanistic study and publication; film, television and digital arts; literature; music; opera; music-theater; theater; and the visual arts; and the presenters, exhibitors, and networks of these artistic and humanistic endeavors. A special effort will be made to showcase best practices in these areas, including, in particular, connections and collaborations among local and regional citizen activities and established national and international programs that are working to improve mutual understanding, respect, and trust.
Members
Co-Chairs
- Honorable Frank Hodsoll | Principal, Hodsoll & Associates | President, Resource Center for Cultural Engagement
- Ambassador Cynthia Schneider | Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University
Federal Agency Liaisons
- Smithsonian Institute: Lea Perez (Senior Advisor for International Affairs, Smithsonian Institute)
- National Endowment for the Arts: Pennie Ojeda (Director, International Programs)
- National Endowment for the Humanities: Eva Caldera (Senior Adviser to the Chairman)
- Institute of Museum and Library Services: Nancy Rogers (Senior Project Coordinator)
Members
- Alicia Adams (Vice President, International Programming, John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts)
- Ambassador Nicholas Burns (Professor Practice of Diplomacy & International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School of Government)
- Adele Chatfield Taylor (President & CEO American Academy in Rome)
- Elizabeth Daley (Dean School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California)
- Molly Donovan (Assistant Curator Modern Art, National Gallery of Art)
- Sandra Gibson (President and CEO Association of Performing Arts Presenters)
- Howard Gordon (Executive Producer and Show-Runner 24)
- Richard Kurin (Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture Smithsonian Institution)
- Mary Ellen Lane (Executive Director Council American Overseas Research Centers)
- Steven D. Lavine (President California Institute of the Arts)
- Wayne Lawson (Director Emeritus Ohio Arts Council)
- Ellen Lovell (President Marlboro College)
- Robert Lynch (President & CEO Americans for the Arts)
- Laurie Meadoff (CEO Cancer Schmancer, Inc.; Founder Chat the Planet)
- Christopher Merrill (Director International Writing Program University of Iowa)
- Azar Nafisi (Writer; Executive Director, Cultural Conversations, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University)
USCCD Staff
- Jessica Rowe (Director of Programs & Initiatives, U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy Staff)
Top 14 Organizations Selected:
Iowa International Writing Program, University of Iowa
John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts
For a detailed list of criteria used to selected each organization, review our Guidelines for Selecting Top Organizations page.
Portfolio summaries of all top programs will be available for each Summit participant to take home.