University scholarship is in decreasing demand in the real world, Harvard international affairs professor Stephen Walt said in a lecture Wednesday night about the gap between academic research and its applications to recent policy debates. This lecture is part of the newly reinstated Global Security Seminar Series, which had been defunct since 2008.
"This particular seminar series tries to bridge the academia-policy divide, bringing in a mix of distinguished policy-engaged scholars, journalists and practitioners," said Peter Andreas, interim director of the Watson Institute.
Though Andreas only formally reinstated the series this year, he said the institute continued bringing lecturers to campus to speak on the subject of global security even when the series was not active.
Walt's talk was the first of a three-part seminar series. A packed audience that included undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and community members attended Wednesday's lecture in the Joukowsky Forum.
Walt's speech focused on connecting "the insular world of academia with the outside policy debate," Andreas said. Since the general series aims to connect the academic world and the real world of practitioners, Andreas said he hopes the lectures will "stimulate greater interest in global security issues among faculty and students."
"Bringing visitors is very important as it offers perspectives that differ from the conventional and U.S.-centric ways of studying global security," said James Der Derian, research professor at the Watson Institute and former director of the global security program from 2003 to 2008.
Walt began his speech echoing this idea of bringing fresh perspectives to familiar issues.
"I want to offer provocative, maybe even controversial arguments, and then see what your reactions are," Walt said.
Walt began his argument by stating that university research does not have the impact that it could in influencing policy.
"Given how smart all of us are, you would think that policymakers would be beating a path to our doors to get our advice," he said.
Walt outlined the ways in which scholars could make unique contributions to the policy field and gave his explanation as to why there exists a gap between what happens at the university and what happens in the real world.
"The idea that a book or article is a fire and forget weapon - you send it out there and there is immediate impact - is just plain wrong," Walt said.
He then gave a list of eight suggestions on how to fix this problem, including new ideas such as "engaging policy makers in the research process" and "reconfiguring the field of international studies," before opening up the discussion for a question and answer session.
Academics in the field of global security are raising many important global issues but few people are hearing them, Der Derian told The Herald.
"Universities are one of the last quasi-independent institutions, and they need to get the message out there," Der Derian said."If you don't use multiple media to get your message out to a broader public, you're preaching to the choir."
The security seminar series also includes a lecture by Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Weiner, and Stephen Flynn, professor of political science at Northeastern University, in October and November, respectively. Despite not having final confirmation on speakers for the spring semester, Andreas said he is confident they will be the same caliber as those who spoke in the fall.
Though the long-term future of the series is unknown as the institute searches for a permanent director, Andreas said, global security will remain one of the institute's priorities.
The institute has also planned two other global security series, Andreas said. The Cyber Security and International Relations series will work closely with the Department of Computer Science, and the New Security Challenges in America series is co-sponsored and co-organized by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Andreas said.
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