University of Miami political science professor June Dreyer recounts her path to expertise in China studies and her decades of experience at the College of Arts & Sciences.
Dreyer’s dedication to the pursuit of knowledge began in her childhood. The Brooklyn native displayed a strong drive for academic excellence during her formative years, becoming the first member of her family to earn a high school diploma.
In her doctoral studies in government and Far Eastern languages at Harvard University, Dreyer worked with distinguished China studies professor Benjamin Schwartz. For her dissertation, she pursued groundbreaking research on China’s ethnic minorities.
“I asked Dr. Schwartz about the topic in class one day, and he didn’t have much to say,” she recalled. “When I tried looking for books on the subject later, I didn’t find much. That clued me into a significant gap in the academic literature.”
After graduate school and some time in academia, Dreyer’s career took her to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a senior Far East specialist at the Library of Congress. There, she became a specialist in Chinese military strategy.
“When I first arrived at the Library of Congress, the nature of the work they wanted me to do was initially a little surprising. It was outside of my area of expertise, for sure,” recalled Dreyer.
Her lack of previous experience studying the military did not prove to be much of a challenge, however.
“My boss sent me to a specialist in military ranks worldwide who loaned me a few books on the topic,” Dreyer said. “It’s amazing how fast one can learn when one’s job is on the line.”
Dreyer credits her training for providing her with the skills to succeed as the Library’s China defense analyst.
“The Ph.D. teaches you how to learn on your own; the military officials really valued that skillset there. It was very interesting work, and I loved every minute of it,” Dreyer said.
After her late husbandEdward Dreyer received a professorship in the University’s history department in 1970, Dreyer eventually made the decision to join him in South Florida, shifting her professional focus accordingly.
Thanks to the wealth of knowledge that Dreyer has brought to her department, the China studies program has matured over the years—largely in tandem with the college.
“The quality of the student body has most certainly improved with time,” Dreyer said.
Within the Department of Political Science, she has contributed to a growing interest in China studies by regularly teaching “U.S. Defense Policy,” “Chinese Politics,” “Chinese Foreign Policy,” and “Introduction to International Relations” classes.
When it comes to teaching, her intent is simple: “I want students to think critically, read between the lines, and know how to deconstruct texts in order to understand their meaning,” she said.
Dreyer’s approach has paid dividends for generations of political science and international studies majors.
“The teaching has certainly been very rewarding,” she said.
