Response to Cultural Diplomacy Conference

I thought that the conference was very interesting because of the way that the panel and speakers talked about culture. The way that they discussed culture was very much like a product. I think that the idea of culture is much too complex to put in a box like that. For example, the woman who was talking about the artwork displayed in the U.S embassay in a European country wasn't talking about the merits of the artwork to the U.S, but how the artwork was used to make the United States look better. I don't like the idea of the United States 'faking' culture in order to make our culture look better. I disagree with the fact that we will have a more favorable view in the country just because the people can see a work of art in our embassy. The way to spread good messages about our culture may be through the arts, but should be through interactions with people, not just display.