Ambassador Cynthia Schneider

Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University

Cynthia P. Schneider teaches, publishes, and organizes initiatives in the field of cultural diplomacy, with a focus on relations with the Muslim world. With the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), she is developing the Global Initiative for Cultural Diplomacy, which will aggregate existing research, commission new research, convene "Best Practice" meetings and build a library of "Best Practice" case studies, and develop a one year post graduate course in cultural diplomacy.

For the Brookings Institution she leads the Arts and Culture Initiative within the Saban Center for Middle East Policy. The Initiative’s activities include research, convening meetings in the U.S. and abroad, and catalyzing projects, such as the Muslims on Screen and Television Initiative (MOST, www.mostresource.org ), which Schneider co-directs, and which provides valuable resources and accurate information on Islam and Muslims for the U.S. entertainment community.

Prof. Schneider also teaches courses in Diplomacy and Culture in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where, from1984-2005, she was a member of the art history faculty, and published on Rembrandt and seventeenth century Dutch art.