Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training

History of U.S. Diplomacy: From Its Beginnings to Today Exhibit Opening
2026-04-29 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Russell Senate Office Building
ASSOCIATION FOR DIPLOMATIC STUDIES AND TRAINING requests the pleasure of your company at the reception for the opening of the exhibit in the Russell Rotunda:
History of U.S. Diplomacy: From Its Beginnings to Today
RSVP: info@adst.org
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM on April 08, 2026
Russell Senate Office Building
Room 325

ADST at the AI+ Expo in Washington, D.C.
2026-05-07 08:00 - 2026-05-09 17:00 | Walter E. Washington Center
ADST participated in this year’s AI+Expo Conference held from May 07 to May 09 at the Walter E. Washington Center in Washington, D.C. Organized by a non-partisan, non-profit organization SCSP.ai, the conference brought together leaders from government, private sector, academia, and student organizations for discussions about AI, emerging technologies, and national competitiveness. With more than 20,000 attendees, it is one of the largest AI-related gatherings in the world.
Over the course of three days, ADST presented its newly developed AI bot called Negot[ai]tor, which turns historical insights into actionable negotiation solutions, as well as its oral history and book program. As part of the booth presentation, ADST team members answered questions from attendees, demonstrated the bot’s capabilities, and discussed the broader value of diplomatic oral histories and emerging technologies in diplomatic tradecraft education and training.
ADST’s Fran Leskovar took the stage on May 09 to deliver remarks on the Negot[ai]tor as part of the conference’s career talk series. In his remarks, he introduced the audience to how the AI bot was conceived, how the bot works, and its educational and training value. The presentation also highlighted how ADST is leveraging emerging technologies to make diplomatic history more accessible.
ADST received positive feedback on the Negot[ai]tor and its broader mission, with many praising our AI-bot as an innovative and unique addition to the conference. Attendees expressed particular interest in how the project combines diplomacy, history, and emerging technologies to create practical educational and training tools grounded in real-world diplomatic experience.

Society for History in the Federal Government Annual Meeting
2026-05-14 00:00 - 2026-05-15 23:59 | Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building
At the annual meeting of the Society for History in the Federal Government, the ADST team presented a panel discussion on efforts to attract new audiences to our diplomatic oral history archive, including launch of the “Century of Service: Portraits of Diplomacy” initiative, publication of the anthology “Representing America,” and development of the “Negot[AI]tor” bot in collaboration with the National Foreign Affairs Training Center.

Celebrating Margery Thompson and 30 years of the ADST-DACOR book program
2026-06-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Dacor-Bacon House, 1801 F Street NW, DC, United States
On June 9 at 6:30pm, we will be celebrating 30 years of the ADST-DACOR book program, the retirement of our amazing Margery Thompson who established and developed the program, and 40 years of ADST. Please join us in celebrating Margery’s achievement, the book program and ADST at forty. You can rsvp here.
