Honoring a Legacy: Building Tomorrow’s Diplomats

In Professor Claudia Abate's classroom at the School of Diplomacy, the first day of the course Art and Science of Negotiation began with a United Nations tradition: a moment of silence in memory of the diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello and other UN staff members who lost their lives in a terrorist bombing in Baghdad in 2003. The students then watched the documentary Sergio Vieira de Mello: En Route to Baghdad (2005), part of PBS's Independent Lens series, and were asked to consider what makes a good international negotiator.

For Professor Abate, the School of Diplomacy’s current Sergio Vieira de Mello Visiting Chair, the moment had an even deeper meaning. She met Vieira de Mello, who at the time of his death was the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, while working as an international civil servant in Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor), an experience, she said, that changed her life. "Sergio represents the best of the UN in Timor-Leste," she added, and serving as the Sergio Vieira de Mello Visiting Chair is a special honor.

Abate joined Seton Hall University as a visiting scholar this fall. As Senior Advisor to the Council of Presidents of the UN General Assembly, she brings more than 33 years of practical experience, including 13 years as a conference officer where she organized Security Council and General Assembly meetings. Her mission assignments took Abate to the 2001 elections in Fiji and then to Timor-Leste, where she watched the nation’s birth as an independent republic. From there, she dedicated herself to supporting local communities. Abate helped establish the Foundation for Post-Conflict Development, which set up the first maternity clinic in Timor-Leste, with support from Prince Albert of Monaco. This project served as a model for Timor's national strategic development plan. In addition, Abate served as policy advisor and representative of the International Olympic Committee at the UN.

Students working with Abate will apply their learning beyond the classroom by exploring how negotiation is practiced in different fields such as diplomacy, humanitarian and post-conflict work, sports and at the United Nations. The centerpiece of the experience is a co-created podcast, SHU Embasea, a playful wink at the sea that links it to Seton Hall’s Pirate mascot. Each student will be matched with a field practitioner, from ambassadors to civil society leaders, and produce a 15-minute episode that connects academic research and reading with insights from professional practice. The resulting transcripts will be compiled into a class booklet, creating a record of students’ collective learning and perspectives.

Professor Abate shared that her path to international relations and diplomacy began years ago, when, as a child, she took part in a trick-or-treat that supported fundraising for UNICEF. Aspiring to help the world still keeps her hopeful and motivated. Abate says she wants to share what she has learned with her students, and leave them believing that they can make a difference, especially now, when democracy and multilateralism are under strain. She says: "Step by step, if you just keep going, even in those dark days, believe me, you'll have a breakthrough."

Calling herself proof, Abate says that even a student from a small New Jersey school, who kept herself humble, observant and patient, can build a network, find mentors, volunteer generously, turn experience into transferable skills and build a career.

The School of Diplomacy is proud to welcome Professor Abate and invites students to connect with her as she continues to collaborate with the Seton Hall community in the months ahead. Having her on campus offers a unique opportunity to explore humanitarian and post-conflict work, multilateralism and the United Nations through both an academic and a practitioner lens.

Categories: Education, Nation and World