Dr. Bojan Petrovic

For my interview assignment I interviewed Professor Petrovic. I took his course “Psychology of International Conflict” my sophomore year and was fascinated by how much knowledge he had about the topics we discussed and specifically the Middle East. Professor Petrovic is from what is formerly known as Yugoslavia and has experience traveling around the world. He speaks Serbo-Croatian, French, and English. His journey of interest in the Middle East began from learning the negative consequences of foreign rule over the Balkans in school growing up. He researched primarily focused on Europe at first and became more interested in the Middle East after 9/11.

After getting a Bachelor’s in law, he became interested in international law then international relations. In graduate school he became passionate about both international relations and comparative politics. Before becoming a professor he worked at a foreign policy think tank in Yugoslavia. There he focused on ethnic conflicts then moved religious conflicts, which he teaches and writes about today. He said that his career now as a professor just fell into place and that he actually thought he would be a researcher. However he finds that being a professor allows him to research and teach at the same time. His favorite part about being a professor is interacting with the students. It excites him when students become interested in the content of his classes. However, grading is the worst part as it becomes repetitive. Being a professor has also given him the opportunity to write a book on Afghanistan. After he was assigned to teach a course on the subject, he enjoyed putting the pieces of information together and decided to write a book about it. For his research for the book he used a lot of secondary sources along with interviews.

Overall he has found that traveling has helped him learn about his research subjects. Through his travels, he has become convinced that there’s always more to learn beyond just the reading. He has traveled all over both Western and Eastern Europe, South America, East Asia, Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Morocco, and the Gulf area. His most valuable experiences traveling have been the interactions with locals, enjoying the food (particularly street food), and people watching.

Professor Petrovic said that beginning a career in this field is not easy to get by simply applying as there is no strict path. Instead it is important to develop an interest where you can become an expert and then you will become in demand. The more niche the topic is, the better as there will be less competition. He suggests talking with colleagues for clues to issues or concepts that are in demand to be researched and understood. He said to develop your own impressions, not only in terms of us foreign policy, but also other frameworks. Additionally he suggests trying to learn the local languages, which I am in the process of doing as I have learned French and am now trying to learn Arabic. In regards to my project and interests, he said it would be interesting to contrast what diaspora communities are saying versus the natives of the diaspora who remain in their country.

I asked if he finds it challenging to have a work life balance as I sometimes feel like as a student in this field that I have to constantly be up to date on events and the world. He said that it is a busy time of the world right now as there are a lot of moving parts and everything seems to be changing with Russia and Ukraine, China, fears of nuclear war, dooming climate disaster, etc. which makes the Cold War and the 90s seem lazy and predictable. However today, since the world is so dynamic, it can also be seen as exciting because there is more to talk about. He said to just find your own pace and that it is impossible to know everything about one event. Eventually you will catch up with interactions with colleagues and friends or through social media.

Additionally I asked Professor Petrovic what he enjoys doing outside of work. He told me he enjoys playing piano, seeing live music, cooking, driving around the U.S., visiting National Parks, snow skiing, modern dance, and modern art. I told him that I also love art and museums so he gave me a list of art galleries to visit. Overall, I found his advice about research and becoming an expert in whatever I am interested in to be good advice. I feel like this is especially important if I do want to become a professor in the future as it would make me an attractive candidate. It also is another incentive for me to travel the world. I also really appreciated his advice about staying up to date with the world. Overall he said to not panic and give myself time, which is a good reminder.