Global Education Leads to Ph.D. Student’s Passion for International Relations & Teaching

From Chicago to London to Washington, DC, Alexander Rodriguez (G’29) has pursued his passion for political science around the world.

Originally from Texas, Rodriguez earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago and a Master of Science in international relations from the London School of Economics.

After earning his master’s, Rodriguez worked as a social media manager for Millennium, an academic journal in the UK, promoting articles and events about international studies.

He realized during this time, however, the broader value in pursuing advanced studies and decided to continue on in his academic path. Rodriguez applied to the Ph.D. in government program at Georgetown and was selected for the fully-funded Patrick Healy Graduate Fellowship. 

“I am grateful for the fellowship for creating a community that brings people with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives together,” says Rodriguez. “We can all learn from each other, empower each other and contribute to the conversation that makes a difference.”

The Patrick Healy Graduate Fellowship is designed to recruit students whose life experiences contribute to the diversity of perspectives at Georgetown and who want to pursue careers in academia after their doctoral degrees.    

At Georgetown, Rodriguez looks forward to continuing to pursue his research interests and becoming an expert in the field of historical international relations (IR).  

Coexistence of Competing Perspectives

At the start of his journey to become an IR expert, Rodriguez spent time during his undergraduate studies conducting a research project on decolonization. He looked at the national identity of territories and the reasons some territories became states. For his master’s thesis, he investigated the formation of states’ motives for engaging in colonial rule imperialism.

“During my master’s, I put forth a theory, after conducting my research, that states pursued imperialism to get recognized as important and reap those privileges. For my Ph.D, I want to build on this theory,” says Rodriguez.  

As he has continued his path in historical IR research, Rodriguez has also realized that there can be multiple explanations to a question. A theory can help explain the current affairs of the world. However, the universalization (or generalization) of theories can, in fact, weaken the theories themselves as it prevents deeper understanding. 

“Multiple explanations can co-exist,” says Rodriguez. “We need to allow conversations that have multiple competing perspectives to make space for diverse backgrounds and inquiries.”

Understanding these competing perspectives and the philosophies behind them are what drive Rodriguez to press deeply into his doctoral studies. His determination to pursue these ideas also drives his interest in teaching.

Power in Teaching

Rodriguez plans to gain pedagogical training through teaching experiences in the classroom. He believes in the merits of teaching and making the classroom a valuable place to grow – and not as secondary to research experiences. He notes that in academia, it can be difficult to measure teaching effectiveness and success. Institutions tend to put an emphasis on research output because it is easier to measure that kind of performance, he said.
 
“Pedagogical training is useful to my future career in academia. I want to become the voice that recognizes and upholds the importance of teaching and making the classroom a place of learning,” says Rodriguez.

The government Ph.D. program requires second and third-year doctoral students to serve as teaching assistants in undergraduate-level courses, co-developing syllabi and grading papers with a faculty member. This will allow Rodriguez to achieve his long-term career goals.

Rodriguez sees himself becoming a professor at a university that values the art of teaching. However, he is also open to new experiences and following new callings in life should they come his way. 

“It is difficult to tell who I will be in ten years,” he says. “My advice for anyone who feels the same way is to try anything that interests you. You never know how it fits into the bigger picture of your life.”

Find Alexander on LinkedIn.