Sebastian Rosato is a celebrated professor of political science, militant realist, and campus icon. One day after class, HCND pestered him for an interview. He acquiesced in spectacular fashion.
Name: Sebastian Rosato
Hometown: Rome, Italy; London, England
Favorite alma mater: Really, you’re asking me to choose between Cambridge, Oxford, and the University of Chicago? Chicago, hands down.
Role at Notre Dame: Associate Professor, Political Science
1. Who are you? Father (of two), husband, thinker. That’s it. I’m not interesting.
2. Why do you think you’re being interviewed? I am very popular with the undergraduates—way more popular than I deserve to be—and you asked me to do the interview knowing that I have a big enough ego to be flattered by the opportunity.
3. Highlight of your academic career to date? None. I don’t think about highlights; I focus on the process.
4. In 25 years, you will be: The most influential analyst of international politics on the planet.
5. Who do you admire? Anyone who gets to the top by outworking everyone else. Charles Darwin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Steve Jobs, Bruce Springsteen, Peyton Manning…
6. What did you think you were going to do as an undergraduate? Do university students call themselves undergraduates in the UK? I thought I was going to be a professional athlete, a trial lawyer, or a trauma surgeon. I was determined not to be an academic—I thought they were what we in England refer to as “wasters”, that is, opinionated, entitled, lazy, petty people. That view has only slightly changed over time. Yes, we call ourselves undergraduates, but we’re not all hung up about having gone to college as you are in the United States.
7. If you could change one thing about ND what would it be? Put it in Chicago.
8. Common myth you’d like to take this space to disprove: That nuclear weapons are a bad thing. They are the greatest force for peace the world has ever seen.
9. What’s your cause? Truth.
10. Favorite class you’ve taught? Probably On War, a class about the causes, conduct, and consequences of modern war. It makes the students think about depressing and uncomfortable topics. That said, I like all the classes I teach, otherwise I wouldn’t teach them.
11. Worst? I’ve never taught a bad class. Ever.
12. Speaking of classes, do you think there are any essential ones that all students should take? No. I hardly ever went to class in college and didn’t enjoy it when I did go. You learn more from reading on your own, thinking about the world around you, and talking to your peers than you ever will in a classroom. But given that you have to go to class in the US—it was essentially optional in the UK—make sure you take classes that involve arguments and thinking. Don’t take classes that fill your head with a lot of stuff and involve a lot of memorization; take those that make you organize your thoughts, figure out connections, demand logical reasoning, and require the judicious deployment of evidence. You won’t do well in them—no one does—but you’ll get a real education.
13. Bed time? Do realists sleep? Some time after midnight. Yes we do, but with one eye open just in case.
14. Favorite spot on campus? Personal Training Room, Rockne Memorial Gym. It’s where I do my best work.
15. Biggest fear? Mediocrity. I see it everywhere all the time. And people seem alarmingly comfortable with it.
16. Guilty pleasure? None of them make me guilty. If they did, they wouldn’t be pleasures. Don’t make life so complicated. Just pleasures? A cup of tea, a soccer game with my daughters, a movie with my wife, a night out with my brothers.
17. What’s your drink? Bud Light. I don’t like cocktails and I don’t like wine—both are for pretentious people.
18. Who is your mortal enemy? I don’t have any enemies. I operate in one of the most petty and vindictive businesses around where enemies and supposed enemies are plentiful. But I’m still enough of an idealist to think that academia is all about making arguments and seeing who wins and who loses. It’s never personal; there are no enemies. It’s just business; there are winners and losers (preferably graceful ones).
19. Favorite decorative possession? I don’t have any. What’s the point?
20. If you could give one verb of advice to current students what would it be? Work.
21. What is the essence of being a Domer? Optimism. And that makes me uncomfortable.
Image Concept: Malcolm Phelan