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Durham History Department
Student walking outside the Department of History

Former British diplomat Ian Proud holds career talks for Durham students

2 December 2024
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On 27 and 28 November, former British diplomat Ian Proud, who served in Thailand, Afghanistan and Russia, held a variety of events for students from Durham University's History Department and School of Modern Languages and Cultures.

On 27 November, students from the Department of History and the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (MLAC) at Durham University participated in a foreign policy workshop under the guidance of former British diplomat Ian Proud. The workshop gave students an opportunity to experience a realistic team-based simulation of developing foreign policy ideas for UK ministers under significant time pressure.

Students created policies for the following questions:

How can we:

    • help bring about a durable and fair peace between Israel and Palestine?
    • strengthen relations between the UK and the European Union?
    • manage risks of strategic confrontation with China?
    • end the war in Ukraine?

Students discussed the past, present, and future of these regions, assessed risks, generated intelligent ideas while looking for solutions to these complex problems, and gained insight into the world of diplomacy.

On 28 November, students from the Department of History and MLAC had career mentoring sessions with Ian Proud where they discussed the process for joining the Foreign Office via the Fast Stream and other recruitment routes, and explored ways to prepare and give themselves the best chance of success. On the same day, Ian Proud gave a Foreign Office careers talk in which he discussed a foreign office career, drawing on his personal experience. Ian demystified the lifestyle, outlined the highs and lows of diplomatic life, and set out the skills and behaviours that will stand students in good stead to survive and thrive.

Our degree programmes currently include a number of modules that relate to the world regions discussed in these sessions, including the following (although we cannot guarantee that a particular module will run in any given academic year):

 

Learn more about career options for History graduates

Learn more about our BA in Modern European Languages and History (with year abroad)