Course 2026-2027 a.y.

Classes: 31 (II sem.)

Instructors:
Class 31: CAMILLA PAGANI

No specific background knowledge is required.

This 48-hours joint course delves into the intersection of culture and International Relations through an innovative and cooperative model between Bocconi University and Sciences Po. Its main objective is to offer a critical and comprehensive perspective on International Relations by analysing the role played by culture – in its broad sense – at international, European and global level. On the one hand, it will examine the role of art, cultural heritage, museum and music in shaping international relations and the security agenda. This will permit to focus on soft power, cultural diplomacy and international security in a comparative analysis based on various historical and contemporary case studies. On the other hand, it will analyse the cultural, visual and acoustic dimensions of International Relations through thought-provoking and innovative methodologies.

As part of CIVICA Engage programme, this course will be conducted in hybrid mode by two professors at Sciences Po in Paris and Bocconi University in Milan with the purpose of engaging students from both institutions in a collaborative work at-distance.

 

The “Bocconi University” module (12 hours), taught by Dr. Pagani, will study the notion of cultural, heritage and museum diplomacy by investigating the role of museums, cultural institutions and cultural practices in influencing interstate relations. This will enable to study how different actors – states, international, multilateral, regional and non-governmental organizations – use culture in its many forms for various foreign policy purposes.

The “Sciences Po” module (12 hours), taught by Prof. Ramel, will examine the role of music in different historical and political contexts, from the Cold War to the contemporary age, as well as the way in which images and cultural artefacts enable to represent and analyse IR.

The third module, (24 hours) taught by Dr. Pagani exclusively for Bocconi students, will permit to deepen the main concepts of the course though the analysis of case studies, interactive in-class group works and guest lectures offered by professionals.

 

Part 1 – Joint Bocconi University and Sciences Po

 

Session 1 – INTRODUCTION

 

Bocconi University Module - THE USES OF CULTURE IN IR

 

Session 2 – Security and Cultural Heritage: a new nexus?

Session 3 – Heritage diplomacy: the role of multilateral organisations (UNESCO, ICCROM, ALIPH)

Session 4 – Heritage diplomacy: the role of States

Session 5 – Museum diplomacy

Session 6 – The International politics of restitution 

 

Sciences Po Module - ACOUSTICS AND IMAGES AS CULTURAL ARTEFACTS FOR ANALYSING IR 

 

Session 7 – Music and diplomacy: an overview

Session 8 – Comparing musical diplomacies from the Cold War to Post-Cold War

Session 9 – Silence in IR: another acoustic dimension

Session 10 – Representing the diplomats: a way to decipher foreign policies

Session 11 – Visualising threats: the role of images in IR

 

Session 12 – CONCLUSION

 

 

PART 2 – Bocconi University only – CULTURE AND IR IN PRACTICE

 

Session 1 – Introduction and group work organisation

Session 2 – The invention and uses of soft power

Session 3 – The evolution of the international normative framework on the protection of cultural heritage

Session 4 – Protecting cultural heritage for peace - Guest lecture

Session 5 – The European Union’s cultural diplomacy

Session 6 – Hard, soft or sharp power? -  Case study on China

Session 7 – Case studies from Central Asia and the Gulf countries

Session 8 – The role of UN peacekeeping missions in cultural heritage protection– Guest lecture (prof. Mathilde Leloup, Université Paris 8)

Session 9 – Case studies from Africa

Session 10 – Indigenous peoples’ cultural diplomacies - Case studies from the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Session 11 – The protection of cultural heritage in contexts of conflict and emergency – Guest lecture

Session 12 – Conclusion and final debate

At the end of the course student will be able to...

•       Become familiar with the cultural dimensions of international relations and security studies from a critical perspective;

•       Identify the main theoretical and practical fields to which IR and culture can intersect;

•       Evaluate and compare different theories and case studies within the field of culture, soft power, cultural diplomacy, museum diplomacy, music, and the protection of cultural heritage;

•       Analyse cultural aspects and materials in the field of security and IR.

At the end of the course student will be able to...

•       Develop analytical and critical skills thanks to group debates both within each institution and between the two institutions;

•       Develop analytical written communication skills in the field of IR and culture;

•       Present and discuss a case study in the field of IR both in-group and individually through in-class presentations;

•       Work in group at distance with students and professors from the partner university.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Practical Exercises
• Individual works / Assignments
• Collaborative Works / Assignments
• Interaction/Gamification

  

Lectures

 

Lectures will permit to analyse the main concepts, theories, and aspects of the course.  Most lectures will be followed by interactive sessions (seminars) permitting to apply the acquired knowledge. They will focus on contemporary case studies and on the analysis of texts/articles, engaging students in active class debates. 

 

Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)

Professionals or scholars with a specific expertise will share their professional/technical experience with students. This will permit to enrich the course content with a more in-depth approach or with a policy-oriented analysis.

 

Collaborative Works / Assignments

 

Every student will participate in a collaborative work through an in-class group presentation. Every group will be formed with students from both institutions. This will enable students to improve planning, communication and teamwork skills in an innovative and hybrid way.

 

Interaction / Gamification

 

Interaction is considered primordial in this course. Students from both institutions are expected to actively participate in class debates and share their analysis with their peers individually and in group

	Continuous assessment	Partial exams	General exam
Written individual exam (traditional/online)		x	x
Collaborative Works / Assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)	x

- A partial written exam (1h30): (30%) aimed to test the students’ ability to critically analyse a topic of the course.

 

- In-class group presentation (30%) aimed to assess the students’ skills to present and discuss a case study or a topic related to the course. Each group will be composed of students from both institutions, encouraging teamwork and organization skills. Each student belonging to the same group will receive the same mark. If a student fails to attend her/his group presentation, she/he will receive an individual mark of zero for this part of the course’s assessment. This will not affect the mark of the group members who deliver the presentation. 

 

- A final written exam (2h00): (40%) aimed to assess students’ knowledge on the course, as well as their critical and analytical skills.

Final written exam (2h00): 100%.

 

This exam will permit to assess students’ knowledge on the entire course (sessions and reading materials) as well as their critical and analytical skills.

 

Part 1 – Joint Bocconi University and Sciences Po

 

Session 1 – INTRODUCTION

 

Required reading

 

Suggested reading

Roland Bleiker, Aesthetics and World Politics, London, Palgrave MacMillan, 2009 (Chapter 1 : p. 18-47).

 

Bocconi University Module - THE USES OF CULTURE IN IR 

 

Session 2 – Security and Cultural Heritage: a new nexus?

 

Required reading

Russo, A., and S. Giusti. 2018. “The Securitisation of Cultural Heritage.” International Journal of Cultural Policy 25 (7): 843–857. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2018.1518979

Suggested reading

 

Giusti, S. 2026. The ‘warization’ of cultural heritage: the case of Ukraine. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2026.2641564

 

Session 3 – Heritage diplomacy: the role of multilateral organisations (UNESCO, ICCROM, ALIPH)

 

Required reading

Winter, T. 2015. “Heritage Diplomacy”. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 21(10), 997-1015. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2015.1041412

Suggested reading

Čeginskas, V. L. A., and T. Lähdesmäki. 2022. “Introduction: Reflecting on Heritage Diplomacy.”

International Journal of Cultural Policy 29 (1): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2022.2141730

 

Session 4 – Heritage diplomacy: the role of States

 

Required reading

Foradori, P., S. Giusti, and A. G. Larmonica. 2018. “Reshaping Cultural Heritage Protection Policies at a Time of Securitisation: France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.” The International Spectator 53 (3): 86–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/03932729.2018.1467161

Suggested reading

Pagani, C. 2025. Embedding the protection of cultural heritage into a security agenda: China’s and Russia’s heritage diplomacy. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2025.2599799
 

Session 5 – Museum diplomacy

 

Required reading

Grincheva, Natalia. 2020. Global Trends in Museum Diplomacy. Post-Guggenheim Developments. London: Routledge.

Suggested reading

Pagani, C. 2017. Exposing the Predator, Recognising the Prey: New institutional strategies for a reflexive museology. ICOFOM Study Series [Online], 45 |, Online since 06 February 2018. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/iss/341; DOI : 10.4000/ iss.341

Paumgartner, N.T., Raphael Zingg, R. 2018. The Rise of Safe Havens for Threatened Cultural Heritage. International Journal of Cultural Property. 25:323–346. doi:10.1017/S0940739118000188.

 

Session 6 – The International politics of restitution

 

Required reading

Barkan, E. (2001). The Guilt of Nations: Restitution and Negociating Historical Injustices. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, selected parts.

Suggested reading

Sarr, Felwine, & Savoy, Bénédicte (2018). "The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward

a New Relational Ethics", https://www.unimuseum.unituebingen.de/fileadmin/content/05_Forschung_Lehre/Provenienz/sarr_savoy_en.pdf 

Savoy, Bénédicte. (2022). Africa’s Struggle for Its Art: History of a Postcolonial Defeat (S. Meyer-Abich, Trans.). Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

 

Sciences Po Module - ACOUSTICS AND IMAGES AS CULTURAL ARTEFACTS FOR ANALYSING IR 

 

Session 7 – Music and diplomacy: an overview

 

Required reading

Rebekah Ahrendt, Mark Ferrugato, and Damien Mahiet, eds. Music and Diplomacy from the Early Modern Era to the Present, eds. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). (Introduction)

Suggested reading

Oliver Urbain, ed. Music and Conflict Transformation : Harmonies and Dissonances in Geopolitics. London : Tauris, 2007.

 

Session 8 – Comparing musical diplomacies from the Cold War to Post-Cold War

 

Required reading

Danielle Fosler-Lussier “Cultural Diplomacy as Cultural Globalization: The University of Michigan Jazz Band in Latin America.” Journal of the Society for American Music 4 (2010) : 59-93.

 

Suggested reading

Michael Jung, Frédéric Ramel, « The Barenboim Case: How to Link Music and Diplomacy Studies», Arts and International Affairs , 3, 2, Summer 2018. doi: 10.18278/aia.3.2.5

 

Session 9 – Silence in IR: another acoustic dimension

 

Required reading

Le Breton, Sensing the World, Bloomsbury Academic, 2017 (extracts).

Suggested reading

Sophia Dingli, Thomas N. Cooke, eds., Political Silence. Meanings, Functions and Ambiguity, London & New York : Routledge, 2019 (introduction).

 

Session 10 – Visualising threats: the role of images in IR

 

Required reading

Lene Hansen, "How Images make World Politics: International Icons and the Case of Abu Ghraib." Review of International Studies 41.2 (2015): 263-88. 

Suggested reading

William Callahan, Sensible politics : visualizing international relations, Oxford, Oxford Univeristy Press, 2020.

 

Session 11 – Representing the diplomats: a way to decipher foreign policies

 

Required reading

Quentin Skinner, “Lorenzetti: the artist as a political philosopher’ In Quentin Skinner (ed.), Proceedings of the British Academy, Volume 72: 1986. pp. 1-56 (1987).

 

Suggested reading

Roland Bleiker, Visual Global Politics, London & New York: Routledge, 2018.

PART 2 – Bocconi University only

 

The list of reading materials will be indicated in December 2026