Simon Rotzer joined the Political Science department last semester. Rotzer grew up in a small village in Germany and became interested in politics when he realized that his home state of Bavaria had been ruled by the same political party for decades, and wondered why. He completed his Bachelor's in Political Science and Social Studies at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and went on to earn his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he had already spent a semester abroad during his undergrad. It was during this semester abroad that he fell in love with the southern United States.
Rotzer specializes in Civil-Military Relations, a subfield of International Security. Although his current regional focus is the West, he plans to expand his research scope to the global level. Perhaps his main research focus and biggest academic interest is conscription, the process wherein states mandate compulsory enlistment in the armed forces. Rotzer’s dissertation examined why states maintain conscription policies during peacetime, and how the dynamics of conscientious objection impact society. Parts of his dissertation are the subject of his current research, demonstrating that although Rotzer’s interests have changed very little, “they’ve deepened a lot, though.” Even though conscription is still practiced in many countries, only a few of them offer Conscientious Objection to potential draftees, restricting Rotzer’s ability to conduct research in the field. Nonetheless, he retains academic and research connections in Germany, which he hopes will facilitate international connections for Tulane political science students.
Rotzer previously worked at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as a teaching assistant before switching over to the International Studies Quarterly Journal as the production manager. He will tell you that he didn't choose Tulane. It chose him. In his time at Tulane, he has been impressed by the students’ quality work and energetic enthusiasm. He finds that he always leaves seminars energized by the discussions and the things he learns from students. Not to mention, he loves New Orleans and is a fan of any restaurant serving good red beans, gumbo, and po boys, he says that “the best po boy is always the next po boy”. Rotzer says he has no opinion on Bourbon street yet but apparently his mother who doesn’t speak a single word of English and is usually skeptical of everything American decided she wanted to move to New Orleans permanently after a minute on Bourbon Street. The Political Science department welcomes Rotzer to the team and encourages students to ask him about his senior dachshund named Joey, his opinion on the abysmal New Orleans roads, and, of course, how conscription impacts Civil-Military Relations.