57 years young

Happy birthday, SAIS Bologna.

C. Grove Haines and Clare Booth Luce
at the Bologna Center inaugural ceremony

Fifty-seven years ago today, the Bologna Center was inaugurated with a colorful ceremony and procession of dignitaries including U.S. Ambassador to Italy Clare Booth Luce and Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Ermini. The events culminated at the University of Bologna's resplendent Aula Magna, a reminder of the city's nine centuries of academic leadership and renown.

The Center started in borrowed rooms with four (all male) professors and 10 students from Austria, France, Italy and the United States. Six years after its founding, the program moved into a new building at via Belmeloro 11 where it has stayed since.

Today, there are some 190 students from 39 countries, hailing from all of the inhabited continents. At the end of this academic year they will join the more than 6,500 Bologna Center alumni from more than 110 countries.

Students in the early days

There is no shortage of legends about the origins of the Bologna Center. What is sure is the founder, C. Grove Haines, had a strong scholarly and emotional attachment to Italy. Some say U.S. intelligence funds may have supported the Center in its early days.

If so, could it be said that the money was well spent for Johns Hopkins, SAIS, Italy and the global community that the Center serves?

As this magazine commemorating SAIS Bologna's 10-year anniversary so eloquently put it, the early students were "growing up when the New Europe was being born of ashes and a dream; tomorrow they will help to prod the vision to fulfillment."

Is SAIS Bologna still relevant?

Consider SAIS's mission as defined in the magazine: "to prepare the best available candidates for careers in internationally-oriented areas of government, business, teaching, and research."

It's much the same today, 57 years later.

Class of 2011 in front of via Belmeloro 11

Nelson Graves

Connecting to Bologna: "It keeps the Center very lively"

I've heard many explanations of why SAIS ended up in Bologna. There's no dispute that C. Grove Haines chose Italy because of his longstanding love of the country, and it is said he selected Bologna because of his close association with the then rettore ('Il Magnifico') of the University of Bologna.

There is doubtless more to it. One student wrote a titillating thesis several years back that linked the Bologna Center in its infancy to Cold War cloak-and-dagger intrigue.

But let's not go there today. Instead, imagine a U.S.-style graduate institution in an Italian city. What to do?

From the start, the Bologna Center has sought to knit ties to its host city. SAIS Bologna is unique for sure, but it has not sought to be an island unto itself. Haines himself and then his successors have recognized that to thrive, the Center needs to be an active and responsible member of the Bologna community. Think of the Center as a plant and Bologna as the soil.

In 1964, Luciano Finelli founded L'Associazione di studio et cultura italo-americana to strengthen ties between the medieval city and Americans living here. It organized cultural events and courses in American English that to this day are attended by Bolognesi and foreigners living in Bologna.

Twenty years later, Giuseppe Gazzoni-Frascara started L'Associazione Bologna - Johns Hopkins University. For 17 years the group provided the Bologna Center with grants and student scholarships.

Today, these two organizations are joined in the Associazione italo-americana 'Luciano Finelli'. The association is housed in the Bologna Center and attracts large numbers of citizens from outside SAIS to its wide-ranging cultural events and English courses.

I had a word with Association Director Lisa Gelhaus, who was born in Wisconsin and has lived in Bologna for more than 23 years. In the video below she talks about the Association's work, its plans for the coming year and its habit -- wake up, incoming students -- to hire SAIS Bologna students from time to time.

As Lisa says of the Association: "It creates a community."



Nelson Graves

Weekly quiz!

Readers were quick to solve the first two quizzes.

Ilectra won the initial test, identifying C. Grove Haines as the founder of Bologna Center in 1955. Eva W. won the second, identifying Kenneth Keller, who has a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins, as the director of the Center.

So we are going to have to pick up our game if we have any hope of avoiding a lightning end to this quiz. Here we go:


What is the name of the penthouse terrace in the Bologna Center which overlooks the city skyline?

Students on the terrace in the 1950s

Please send in your answer by posting a comment. We look forward to reading them. Reminder: Winners get a free lunch at Giulio's in the Bologna Center.

The terrace today

Next week’s posts:

- Monday, January 10: Language requirements
- Tuesday, January 11: Financial aid
- Wednesday, January 12: GREs and GMATs
- Thursday, January 13: Speakers
- Friday, January 14: Weekly quiz

Nelson Graves

A Window on Yourself

Just what counts most in an application to SAIS?

There are many elements -- an academic transcript, a CV, letters of recommendation. In the case of non-Americans who apply to the Bologna Center, we require proof of English proficiency. All of this contributes to the picture of you that will be seen by the Admissions committee.

One of the most important pieces, because it offers you a chance to distinguish yourself and to put your mark on the application, is the statement of aims.

We receive lots of questions about this document. That's in part because it is not such a widespread practice in some countries outside the United States. But also because candidates quite rightly wonder what it is that they should squeeze into the 500 to 600 words making up the statement.

So what makes a solid statement of purpose?

Porticos - by Laura Moens BC'11

First, put yourself in the shoes of an Admissions committee member. Typically this person -- an Admissions Office expert, a SAIS administrator, a faculty member, perhaps a SAIS student -- will be reading a number of applications. They will want to know what distinguishes you from the pack. We are not talking about grandstanding. How would you stand out at SAIS? How would you make a difference afterwards in a career?

The statement of purpose is a window on you -- your formative experiences, values, character and promise. That's a lot to express in such a tight space. But you can save space by ensuring that the statement is not:

• a list of accomplishments
• a repeat of your CV
• an essay on how to save the world

(I was tempted to say that the writing should not be full of flourishes, but now remember that on the application to the college I ended up attending, I wrote a poem. Lucky Admissions committee. In your case, you might consider a tightly written, well crafted essay that has no extraneous words, no grammatical or spelling errors and stands on its own two legs.)

In Monday's post, we discussed the first steps in preparing an application, and they were to ask yourself two questions: Why am I interested in SAIS? And how would a SAIS education benefit me?

The good news is that the answers to those questions will make up the backbone of your statement of purpose. You'll be in a better position to say:

• what makes you special
• how you would contribute to SAIS
• what you might do with a SAIS education

Finally, as a former wire service reporter, I can't resist these tips:

• It's harder to write tight than loose; make sure each word counts.
• The length limit is there for a reason; use it to your advantage by saying all you have to say, and saying it well, in that space.
• Use your voice, not someone else's; make sure you are sincere.
• This is a personal essay, not an academic paper; you can be creative.

Obviously there is no one way to write a statement of purpose. If anyone would like to discuss the essay, feel free to send me an email. I'd be happy to discuss it.

(Yesterday we posted our first quiz. Your answers are still welcome. Hint: the right answer is not hard.)

Nelson Graves

Quiz!

Enough lecturing about applying to SAIS Bologna. Time for a break. So here is the first of periodic quizzes we'll run on this blog. If you have the answer, simply send it in as a "comment" along with your name. We'll publicize the name of the person who sends in the first correct answer and give the correct response the next day.

So here we go:

What was the name of the founder of the Bologna Center and in what year was it founded?

Don't be afraid to be famous -- we look forward to your answers.

The founder is in this picture. Extra credit: Can you name the other person?