Abstract

Much has been written about the need to “bridge the gap” between the academic study of international relations—particularly policy-oriented subfields such as foreign policy analysis and security studies—and the needs of policymakers. This important agenda largely focuses on encouraging academics to produce more policy-relevant, accessible research. While such efforts are indispensable, they neglect another important piece of the equation: teaching future policymakers how to translate theory into practice. The bridge needs to be a two-way street. Scholars add value for policy because their work is grounded in theory, offering analytical structure to make sense of a complex world. But applying theory to policy is unlikely to resonate with practitioners who do not have the basic conceptual literacy to grasp why theory-informed research is relevant to their own hands-on concerns. We therefore propose a teaching approach we term “practical theory,” geared specifically for professionally oriented students. Drawing on our own experience in teaching, developing curriculum, and writing for students in professional master's degree programs, we recommend instructors: choose theories and frameworks that are most likely to be useful in practice, update these theories for the times as needed, reconsider nomenclature and banish unnecessary academic jargon, and apply theory early and often.

中文翻译：

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弥合差距的另一面：向未来的从业者讲授“实践理论”

摘要

关于“弥合”国际关系的学术研究（特别是外交政策分析和安全研究等以政策为导向的子领域）与政策制定者的需求之间的差距的文章很多。这个重要的议程主要侧重于鼓励学者进行更多与政策相关的，可访问的研究。尽管这种努力是必不可少的，但它们却忽略了方程式的另一个重要部分：教会未来的决策者如何将理论转化为实践。这座桥需要是一条双向路。学者为政策增值，因为他们的工作以理论为基础，提供分析结构以理解复杂的世界。但是，将理论应用于政策不太可能会引起没有基本概念素养的从业者产生共鸣，而这些从业者无法理解为什么理论上的研究与他们自己的实际问题相关。因此，我们提出了一种称为“实践理论”的教学方法，专门针对专业型学生。根据我们在专业硕士学位课程中为学生提供的教学，开发课程和写作的经验，我们建议教员：选择最可能在实践中有用的理论和框架，根据需要及时更新这些理论，重新考虑术语并消除不必要的学术术语，并尽早并经常应用理论。