Recently, the online journal Russia Direct published an essay submitted by Simon Ciccarillo ’16, a Dickinsonian studying abroad in Moscow, Russia. The Third Student Essay Competition, which was open to all undergraduate and graduate students, as well as experts on Russian foreign affairs, drew submissions from around the world. Simon was one of the four contest finalists, and his essay was published in the online journal on November 18.
The essay contest, which is currently in its third year, dealt with the dramatic shift of U.S.-Russian international relations and policy, and asked applicants to suggest current or new methods to establish “people-to-people exchanges” to overcome the delicate moment in the relations between the two countries. Simon suggested the creation of an organization of undergraduate students similar to the Model U.N. and the Fulbright Scholarship program.
Russia Direct, the online journal that organizes the competition, has been active since 2003. The journal publishes contributions that focus on the fields of foreign policy and international relations. Authors hail from Russia, the U.S., and other countries, thus encompassing a wide variety of analyses and viewpoints on the interactions between Russia and the world today.
“I’m glad my thoughts were expressed well enough to merit their publication,” Ciccarillo says. “And I’m proud to have put Dickinson’s name up into yet another sphere,” he continued. Other finalists were students from the American University and the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico. Their essays, as well as Simon’s, can be viewed via the link to the Russia Direct website in the Opinion Section.
Links: http://www.russia-direct.org/company-news/welcome-winners-our-third-student-essay-competition (News release)
http://www.russia-direct.org/opinion/how-young-leaders-can-bridge-diplomatic-gap-between-us-and-russia (Simon’s essay)
