|
March 26, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marti Hobbes, mhobbes@smith.edu
Former U.S. Ambassador to
Lecture at Smith College
NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--Cynthia
P. Schneider, a former United States ambassador to the Netherlands,
will give a talk, titled "From Monticello to Mulan: Communicating
Values Through Culture," at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 7,
in Seelye 106. The event is free and open to the public.
Collaborating to bring Schneider to campus are the Smith College
departments of religion and biblical literature, American Studies,
history, economics, government and sociology, as well as the
college's lecture committee.
It's fitting that an upcoming visit to Smith College by Schneider
has such a diverse range of sponsors. In her varied and impressive
career, Schneider has developed expertise in several areas.
A member of the faculty at Georgetown University since 1984,
Schneider teaches in the College of Arts and Sciences and at
the School of Foreign Service, focusing on Renaissance and baroque
art and on culture and diplomacy. She lectures on such topics
as public and economic policy and the life sciences, sustainable
development and, another of her specialties, art history. She
is currently writing a book on culture and diplomacy.
While at Georgetown, Schneider was appointed by President Clinton
in 1994 as the vice-chair of the President's Committee on the
Arts and Humanities, a post she held until 1998.
Schneider then became the 61st U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom
of the Netherlands, from 1998 to 2001, during which she led initiatives
in biotechnology, cyber- security, education and public diplomacy,
and culture.
As ambassador, Schneider garnered the appreciation of her government,
earning the Exceptional Public Service Order, the highest civilian
award given by the Department of Defense, for her efforts on
behalf of the U.S. aerospace and defense industry. She also regularly
spoke publicly on several topics, such as the global economy,
biotechnology, Dutch-American relations, the glass ceiling, politics
and culture in America and traditions of freedom and democracy
in America.
Schneider still found time for the arts while serving as ambassador,
launching the now-annual U.S. Embassy North Sea Jazz Festival
Jam Session. Through the State Department's Art-in-Embassies
program, she assembled at the embassy residence a museum-quality
collection of American art, for which she wrote the catalogue,
"Another Salute."
It's no surprise that Schneider, who completed her bachelor's
and doctoral studies in fine arts at Harvard University and once
served as assistant curator of European paintings at the Museum
of Fine Arts in Boston, speaks Dutch, French, Italian and some
German.
-30-
|
