Dylan Royce on Education, Research Interests and the Importance of Academic Writing
Dylan Royce joined the team of the International Relations and Global Studies programme in January, 2024. He is teaching his own course “Academic Writing Workshop”. In his interview, he talks about his experience as a PhD student in the USA, his research interests, his life in Russia, the importance of academic writing and gives some useful tips to current and prospective students.
You got your PhD from the George Washington University. Now you are teaching in Russia, at the Higher School of Economics. Do Russian and Western approaches to international relations studies differ?
This is a very good question. In Russia and probably in many other countries of the world, realism as an approach to the study of world politics is predominant, both as an actual scientific theory and as a general picture of the world reflecting the worldview of ordinary people, political leaders, and legislators. Liberalism and constructivism are much more popular in the West. Liberalism has gained fame in the United States, while constructivism is the most popular paradigm in all Western international relations, especially in Western Europe. I think, there is nothing surprising in this fact, because these paradigms, these theories are just academic formulations of broader worldviews, and often times and ideologies.
In other countries, such as Russia and China, scientific Marxism was probably the dominant approach to international relations during the Cold War. These countries have become less ideologized and have a unique perception of international relations compared to the United States and Western Europe.
Do you think it is worth sticking to one specific paradigm when studying international relations and world politics, or should we mix the approaches? For example, in our programme, we study different approaches, thereby combining different schools of international relations.
I don't think it's necessary to adhere to a specific paradigm, or that it's worth trying to use all of them. Instead, novice researchers in international relations should focus on a limited number of approaches with clearly defined boundaries. In practice, when dealing with real-world problems or a serious academic research, it makes sense to approach problems partly within paradigms. However, there's no need to maintain artificial barriers between different paradigms. So, it's best to do what makes sense in each case, whether that involves one or more paradigms.
How would you describe your experience of teaching at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs?
It is still difficult for me to fully answer this question as I have only been physically in Russia since mid-October and I have been teaching the course in academic writing since mid-January. While I am new to this position and especially to teaching, I am looking forward to continuing our collaboration. This is only my fourth week here, but I am excited about the future!
In preparation for the interview, we reviewed your page on the website of the Higher School of Economics and found that your area of scientific expertise is related to post-Soviet space, specifically Kazakhstan. What attracted you to this region and what prompted you to pursue a career in this field?
First of all, I would like to define the scope of my expertise more clearly. At the moment, I focus on the policy of the West, and in particular, the United States, in relation to Eurasia, and more specifically, Russia. This means that I pay special attention to this region as a whole.
However, I would describe myself as an expert in American-Russian relations. I could tell you a long story about how, when I was studying for my bachelor's degree, I wanted to work for the US government and at that time, the most promising languages to learn were Chinese, Arabic, and Russian. I chose to study Russian because I felt it would be more relevant in terms of my future career goals. However, during my training period, I started to have doubts about my choice, worried that maybe Arabic or Chinese would be better options. I thought that Russian might not be as competitive when it came to working for the US government, but that was only at the beginning of my studies. As I continued to learn and grow, my perspective on international relations and my professional goals changed. At a certain point, I started to worry less about my choice of studying US foreign policy, because I developed my own attitude towards it.
As I am from the United States, I tend to see things from the perspective of someone who comes from there. I formed the opinion that many of the things the United States does do not make sense, including its policy towards Russia. It began to seem strange to me, to put it mildly, illogical and counterproductive, both for the whole world and for the Russian Federation. This issue became my focus when I enrolled in a doctoral program, and I began studying US policy towards Russia in order to understand the reasons behind its formation and how to deal with it.
You have an article titled "Polonization as a Determinant of the National Identities of Ukraine and Belarus". We have carefully studied it and found that its’ chronological framework is quite extensive. This has led us to reflect on our own experience and consider the advice of many professors who recommend focusing on short time periods. Which approach would you recommend for undergraduate students - studying a long-term process, or focusing on a shorter period?
Thank you for finding this polonization job! I'm glad someone did it (laughs). In the world of international relations and political science, especially in the West, there is a vivid focus on the events of recent years. This distinguishes these disciplines from history, which is known to pay attention to chronology. If you are focused on the present, it is international relations, if you are focused on the past, it is history. Of course, this approach has its limitations. Everything that happens now is determined by what happened in the past, so there are studies in the field of international relations and political science that include longer periods of time, and this, to some extent, has even become fashionable in recent decades.
I can assume that your professors meant that deep fundamental research can be difficult at the undergraduate level. From my experience, I can say that expanding your knowledge will make you think that you know very little. In my case, the article on polonization is based on previous research, which creates the basis for a new one. It would be very difficult to use the primary sources for the entire period, so you have to rely mainly on historians who have already done this work. At the same time, I added quantitative analysis to identify key points, which in my case was more realistic than trying to delve into history for 500 years.
Referring to your experience of working in our programme. You teach academic writing. Many people tend to think that “Well, maybe I can't swim, maybe I can't play football, but I can definitely write, I do have this skill.” How could you convince those people so that they pay attention to your course? The benefits may not be obvious to everyone.
I am not from Russia, I didn't go through the Russian school system, so I could be wrong. But I sincerely believe that most people could write better than they do now. Just because you can write doesn't mean that you really write well or clearly. In the case of my course, in Russian conditions, students will definitely learn to write better than they do at the moment. Both, in English and perhaps even in Russian.
What exactly do your students do during the Academic Writing Workshop?
We are mostly working on students' term papers they have completed earlier in their program.
What skills can students get through your course in academic writing?
The work we are doing here is not specific for international relations, academic writing or English. Everything we do here is about professional writing, so it can help in either your coursework or a project proposal, maybe it will help with a letter to your boss or with an application for a job. To some extent, I believe that writing more professionally in a foreign language can improve your native language too. For instance, I’ve started speaking English much better since I’ve started learning and practicing Russian.
Can you name any relevant skills which can be acquired through the course? Maybe the ability to write shorter?
Well (laughs), this one is the first which comes to the mind of many students. Writing efficiently and precisely is probably both the easiest and the most effective way of improving your writing because it is not that difficult to get rid of things that are wrong or unnecessary, and to fill the gaps with useful information.
But what do you think about our academic essays: we are usually told to write more. This is often a serious challenge for us.
I don’t want to fuel an international incidence here (laughs). I remember when doing my bachelor’s degree many people were worried about meeting the word count only. But writing less is actually a relevant skill. For example, when writing a letter to your boss, it should take only one page since no one would probably turn this page. I think that the most appropriate thing that I can say here is that you should accept that the situation with word count exists, but try to fill the space by expressing useful ideas, not water.
Getting back to your academic career. Did the political landscape which has occurred in recent years change the approach of studying PSS?
Since 2014 and with increased tensions between the US and Russia, the attention to the region of the post-soviet space, especially to Russia, has upsurged. To a large extent, every Russian neighbour is seen in the context of Russia. It is good news if you are an expert in the post-soviet region, the situation is changing day by day.
Can you tell us about your new research?
My current research is a logical continuation of my dissertation research. It is about explaining the US foreign policy, especially regarding Russia since 1992.
What would you advise to the students?
I would start with more general things. In the near future, you are going to understand what you would like to do for living, and it’s obviously connected with what you do while studying. My advice here is to do what is useful for your country, your society and your family, and, finally, what you really enjoy. What you should not do, is what others are saying will be financially good for you, especially if this thing is not socially useful. It is so because of two reasons: first, other people tend to be wrong about what is good for you specifically. Secondly, if they say to you that one activity is profitable for you and can improve your financial well-being, why should they worry about your financial well-being? I think that you should do what you enjoy and what is socially useful.
What tips can you give for academic writing?
The first thing is what we have already discussed, write shorter and make the text as full of information as it is possible. Second, after writing something reread it and check whether you can really understand what you have written. If you cannot, maybe reread it the next day. You want your readers to be involved in your mental ideas and energy, so do not hesitate to double-check everything you have created.
Can you please end the interview with one phrase?
I hope to see you in my class next year!