The 2012 Barnett Symposium—Cultural Soft Power: Policy, Practice and the Arts— explored arts-related cultural policies and programs of a number of countries. The symposium aimed to improve our understanding of how the arts contribute to advancing the interests of nations, the relations between nations and their peoples, and the creative engagement of artists across cultures.

The Symposium opened on Thursday afternoon with a keynote speech from the Honorable James A. Leach, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. On Friday, presentations by arts managers, artists, cultural policy officials and cultural policy scholars explored issues drawing examples from countries and programs across the globe including the US, France, the UK, India, Canada, Brazil, Chile, and China.