Ambassador Jeremy Kinsman from Canada Delivers Commencement Address at American Graduate School in Paris

PARIS, June 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The annual graduation ceremony of the American Graduate School in Paris (AGS – www.ags.edu) featured Canadian diplomat and democracy activist Ambassador Jeremy Kinsman as commencement speaker. The ceremony took place on June 20 in Paris and was followed by graduation dinner in the French Senate.

The graduating class was composed of twenty-five students representing eight national origins: United States, Malaysia, Nigeria, Germany, Canada, Lebanon, Poland, and France. Graduates were awarded one of the following degrees: Master of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy, accredited in the US as an affiliated degree of Arcadia University, or Executive Master of Science in Finance, accredited in the US as a Baruch College degree. Eight of the students will also receive a second degree as part of one of AGS's dual programs: Master in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from Arcadia, Master in Diplomacy and Strategic Negotiation from Universite Paris-Sud 11, France, or LL.M. in French and EU Law from Universite de Cergy-Pontoise, France (see http://www.ags.edu/dual-programs).

An experienced diplomat, Jeremy Kinsman retired in 2006 from a 40-year career in the Canadian foreign service and now practices as a democracy activist, writing, lecturing internationally and collaborating with NGOs. Among other diplomatic assignments, Jeremy Kinsman was Canada's Ambassador to Russia, High Commissionner to the UK and Ambassador to the European Union. Today he is a member of the Council for a Community of Democracies (Washington, DC), where he heads the Diplomat's Handbook for Democracy Development Support. He also is lead writer for foreign affairs at Policy Options magazine and regularly contributes to Canadian and international media, including The International Herald Tribune. On the academic side, Ambassador Kinsman is a Resident International Scholar at UC Berkeley, formerly Diplomat in Residence at Princeton University.

In his commencement speech, Ambassador Kinsman talked about the values of democracy and the role that AGS students can play in supporting the emergence of new democracies. "We can't export democracy. It has to emerge from the people in question, each in its own way. (...) Democracy is not a process – an 'app' that can be downloaded. It's about more than elections. It's about what happens after the elections. Especially about managing pluralism – tribes, religions, sects, regions, winners and losers. People need our help to build the capacity to do that. Not to tell them how WE do things but to support their own learning process."

Addressing the students, Ambassador Kinsman added: "You have some brand-new and valuable credentials as foreign affairs experts. (...) There are lots of different ways to exercise your knowledge (in this field) – in business, law, teaching, and public service, as diplomats or with development and humanitarian NGOs. (...) The principles of tolerance and inclusivity are issues you can bring into whatever profession you are following."

Previous commencement speakers at AGS include French Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppe, former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard, Pulitzer Prize winner Serge Schmemann, former Lebanese Ambassador to Japan and UNESCO Samira Hanna-El-Daher, and journalist and best-selling author Alan Riding.

Also speaking at the ceremony was Steve Michael, Provost of AGS's partner institution Arcadia University, through which the Master in International Relations degree offered at AGS is accredited in the US. Steve Michael explained that Arcadia's expertise in global education has come full circle with AGS's partnership, as it started with a study abroad trip to France over sixty years ago. He told the students: "When you hold an Arcadia diploma in your hands, be conscious always of the cardinal values of Arcadia education: relentless pursuit of excellence, confidence and courage, embracing the globe and humanity in all its richness and complexity, entrepreneurs with social conscience, and service that makes the world a better place." On behalf of Arcadia's President Carl Oxholm III, he added: "I am proud of the quality the AGS faculty embody, the vision they pursue and the excellence they represent."

The American Graduate School in Paris is a nonprofit institution of higher education offering US-accredited programs in France to students from around the world. AGS specializes in International Relations, Diplomacy and International Affairs (http://www.ags.edu/international-relations) as well as Business and Economics (www.ags.edu/business-economics). Its main partners in the US are Arcadia University (www.arcadia.edu), a top-ranked private university in metropolitan Philadelphia and a national leader in study abroad and international education, and Baruch College (www.baruch.cuny.edu), one of the senior colleges of CUNY, the largest urban public university in the US.

For more information: contact Corentine Chaillet - [email protected] - Tel. +33(0)147200094.

SOURCE American Graduate School in Paris