By Julia Parmley
Sean Roberts is an associate professor of the practice of international affairs, director of GW’s International Development Studies program, blogger — and interpreter for the stars?
Hockey stars, that is. Earlier this month, Dr. Roberts interviewed Washington Capitals players Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Semyon Varlamov in Russian and translated their responses for a USA Today article. The article—which focused on the team and its playoff hopes (ended last night with an upset by the Montreal Canadiens)—was written by Dr. Roberts’ uncle, Erik Brady.
“It’s unusual to have an American journalist interviewing the players in Russian,” says Dr. Roberts, who had only conducted Russian interviews in fieldwork before. “I thought what was particularly interesting was that they spoke about how the Capitals are seen in Russia as one of the most Russian teams in the NHL.”
Enabling the players to express themselves in their native language brought “a new element” to USA Today’s story, says Nate Ewell, senior director of media relations for the Washington Capitals. “The language barrier usually makes Alexander Semin and Semyon Varlamov inaccessible for North American media. And while Alex Ovechkin typically does interviews in English, you could see that having the option of speaking Russian put him at ease. I think it really helped the story.”
Dr. Roberts became fluent in Russian after intensive study in college and eight years in the former Soviet Union during and after graduate school. He is an expert in Soviet Union and Central Asian political and economic issues and authors a popular blog, “The Roberts Report,” which has featured posts like “Borat and Kazakhstan: The Political Psychology of the Relationship.” Dr. Roberts also serves as director of GW’s International Development Studies program, which he describes as a professional degree program for the international world.
And he’s a hockey player. Dr. Roberts played the sport competitively in high school at the Nichols School in Buffalo, N.Y., which has had a boy’s varsity hockey team for more than 100 years. He began playing again when he spent a six-year stint in Kazakhstan with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“In Kazakhstan, the guards at the embassy asked me to play since they needed a goalie,” he says. “I hadn’t played for 18 years, but while it was difficult getting back in shape to play goalie, I have played ever since.”
Dr. Roberts now plays up to twice a week with the Metropolitan Hockey Club at Fort Dupont Rink in Southeast during the academic year and at Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Va., the practice home of the Capitals, in the summer. He occasionally plays for other area men’s teams, including the Canadian Embassy’s team.
“I love hockey because it is such an intense sport,” he says. “When one is playing, it is almost like meditation — everything else leaves your mind.”