Last weekend we enjoyed an annual celebration at SAIS Bologna -- Alumni Weekend.
Alumni play a special role at SAIS. Like alumni of many institutions, they help support SAIS financially. But they are also a critical resource for recruiting of new students and in helping current students forge career paths. Applicants become students who become alumni -- it is a virtuous circle, the lifeblood of the institution.
Below is a video of some of the weekend, which attracted alumni from all over the world. SAIS Bologna Director Kenneth Keller gives an update on the Center and discusses what sets it apart. Student Government representatives Elan Bar and Ezra Kidane outline a student initiative.
Then there are reminisces from John Harper, who received his M.A. and Ph.D from SAIS and has taught students at the Bologna Center for 30 years (including this correspondent), and Pierre Hassner, who also taught generations of SAIS students while heading research at CERI-Sciences-Po in Paris.
Finally, Prof. Harper and Dana Allin, who also received his Ph.D at SAIS and is now Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, discuss what the Bologna Center has meant for them and whether it remains relevant 56 years after its founding.
Tomorrow: Two alumnae, from classes 50 years apart, discuss their experiences at SAIS Bologna.
Nelson Graves
