{"id":4873,"date":"2025-06-30T15:38:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T19:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/?p=4873"},"modified":"2025-07-14T13:44:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T17:44:22","slug":"lessons-from-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/magazine\/2025\/06\/lessons-from-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"

Associate professor Joseph Huddleston utilizes a sabbatical in D.C. to prepare diplomacy students for a rapidly changing political landscape.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Joseph Huddleston, Ph.D., is spending his sabbatical working in Washington, D.C., on federal legislation that may or may not be enacted. But his time won\u2019t be wasted \u2014 he\u2019s learning lessons he\u2019ll be bringing back to his students at Seton Hall. Huddleston, associate professor in the School of Diplomacy and International Relations, is working for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., as part of a Council on Foreign Relations fellowship. His duties include writing policy memos and official statements centered on Africa.<\/p>\n

By the time his stint with Booker ends, Huddleston will be able to share with his students more than how to write a first-rate memo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t been able to metabolize all of these lessons and real-world experiences,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

Some have stuck. He can explain how you can work on something for days and then the world changes, priorities shift, and that project becomes an afterthought \u2014 or you can work on something that winds up being historically important. Huddleston worked with Booker\u2019s foreign policy team to prepare over a hundred pages of materials for the senator\u2019s record-breaking 25-hour speech on the floor of the Senate.<\/p>\n

When Courtney Smith, Ph.D., the dean of the school, met with Huddleston in Washington last fall, one of the first things Huddleston told him was that he had ideas for how to improve DiploLab, the collaborative research space he founded at the school in 2019.<\/p>\n

At DiploLab, undergraduate research assistants work closely with professors on research projects and hone the skills they need for academic, policy making and private sector careers.<\/p>\n

Projects at DiploLab have included collecting data on separatist movements \u2014 one of Huddleston\u2019s areas of expertise \u2014 as well as analyzing the conflict in Yemen, examining the military effectiveness of alliances and coalitions in multinational conflicts and writing analytical pieces on cybersecurity. Commentaries by DiploLab faculty and students have appeared in such high-profile publications as The Washington Post <\/em>and Foreign Policy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just a really good and caring teacher,\u201d Smith said, noting that Huddleston talks with his students instead of talking at them, and that he helps students \u201cdo the learning, rather than telling them what they should know. International affairs is a complex and rapidly evolving field,\u201d Smith added, \u201cso even if we teach students a whole bunch of facts, those facts are going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huddleston also can tell students how the D.C. job market works \u2014 he has already had students inquiring about opportunities \u2014 from networking to hiring to promotions. He can attest to the value of being collegial and getting along with people. He can explain the influence legislators have on policy, and that if enough constituents call or email a senator or representative about an issue, that could affect their actions.<\/p>\n

For years, Huddleston has preached the power of humility, which he calls a \u201ckind of superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, he can tell students that asking for help \u2014 \u201cCan you please explain this to me?\u201d \u2014 works in the nation\u2019s capital. The person answering the question can build their influence; the person who asks the question gets an ally.<\/p>\n

Huddleston\u2019s absence from the classroom doesn\u2019t mean there aren\u2019t lessons to be learned now. A chance exists to show students principles of diplomacy in real time, not as abstractions, and to evaluate what the United States\u2019 relationship with the United Nations will look like in the next 20 or 30 years. Advocacy and activism, Huddleston observed, are forms of diplomacy that can be practiced by anyone at any time.<\/p>\n

When he returns to Seton Hall, Huddleston will have practice to accompany the theory. He can reinforce what Smith cites as one of Huddleston\u2019s key skills: telling students \u201cWhat they need to ask and what they need to learn. That way they can really help build solutions to these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pete Croatto is a freelance writer based in central New York.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Associate professor Joseph Huddleston utilizes a sabbatical in D.C. to prepare diplomacy students for a rapidly changing political landscape.\u00a0 Joseph Huddleston, Ph.D., is spending his sabbatical working in Washington, D.C., on federal legislation that may or may not be enacted. But his time won\u2019t be wasted \u2014 he\u2019s learning lessons he\u2019ll be bringing back to…<\/p>\n

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