SAIS in print and cyberspace

I call your attention to two publications that give a glimpse into SAIS.

The latest edition of SAIS Reports notes that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who graduated from SAIS in 1985, will be the speaker at the ceremony next month marking the end of the academic year at SAIS DC.

(For those unfamiliar with U.S. academic tradition, the ceremony celebrating a class's graduation is called "commencement". And if you haven't seen the movie The Graduate, you're in for a treat.)

Einhorn and Nasr

The publication also features an interview with outgoing SAIS Dean Jessica Einhorn, who joined SAIS in 2002 after nearly two decades in leadership roles at the World Bank.

"With a curriculum that combines regional and functional studies, SAIS is designed academically to offer what a young professional needs to learn about the world that is taking shape now," Einhorn says.

Einhorn will turn over SAIS's reins on July 1 to Vali Nasr, currently a professor at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. To listen to Nasr's recent remarks to the SAIS community, click here.

In a reminder of SAIS's multidisciplinary curriculum, SAIS Reports writes about a new program of study called the Global Politics and Religion Initiative, underwritten by a $440,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

The second publication, Rivista, is a window into SAIS Bologna. It's geared mainly for alumni. But prospective applicants and admitted candidates will find articles on the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development and its initiatives in Bosnia and Ghana, and on the Bologna Institute for Policy Research.

It also notes that Austria's new ambassador to Athens, Melitta Schubert, is an alumna of SAIS Bologna. One of many SAIS graduates in a leading diplomatic post.

Nelson Graves

Looking back: Three graduates reflect on SAIS Bologna

Today we turn this journal over to three recent graduates of SAIS Bologna.

Astrid Haas, Patrick Flanagan and Elan Bar all serve on the Bologna Center Advisory Council, composed of leaders from Europe and the United States who help guide the institution.

Astrid attended SAIS Bologna in 2008-09 and studied the following year at SAIS DC. She is currently working as an analyst for the Food, Agribusiness and Rural Markets Project in South Sudan.

Patrick followed Astrid by one year at SAIS. He is currently a consultant with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation in Washington.

Elan Bar is a second-year student at SAIS DC. Some of our readers may recognize him as the president of the SAIS Bologna Student Government Association last year. Before coming to SAIS Bologna in 2010, he had worked as an English teacher and language consultant to several large Italian companies and institutions, including the Italian military.

I caught up with these three graduates before the Advisory Council's annual meeting in Bologna last month. In the video below, they discuss why the decided to attend SAIS Bologna and what it meant for them.

My apologies for the background noise on the tape. Some local university students were in the street outside the Bologna Center taking advantage of the fine spring day and celebrating with one of their classmates who had recently earned a university degree. In Italy, tradition has it that a graduate marches proudly through the city streets while wearing a crown of laurel leaves. Hence the English word "laureate".



If you are reading this via email, you can see the video by clicking here.

Nelson Graves

SAIS Bologna: "a transformative process"

Tom Tesluk is chairman of the Bologna Center Advisory Council, comprised of U.S. and European leaders who provide operating advice and financial support to the institution.

A 1981 graduate of SAIS Bologna, Tom decided to attend the program to expand his horizons and challenge his assumptions by studying with students and faculty from other countries.

"It is still changing my life," Tom says in the video interview below, calling SAIS Bologna a "transformative process."

His motivations remain valid for many of the 190-odd students who attend the Center three decades after Tom did.

I spoke to Tom last week when he was in Bologna for the Advisory Council's annual meeting. Tom currently is CEO of Sequent Consulting LLC and provides management and international business development advice to European and U.S. clients.



If you are reading this via email, you can see the video here.

Nelson Graves

"A sense of family" - the SAIS Bologna alumni

Today we turn the podium over to Alex Skinner, who attended SAIS Bologna in 2009-10 and then SAIS DC. As he recounts below, after graduating he started a job at the World Bank. He was helped in his search by SAIS's extensive network of alumni, who hold down leadership positions in many leading organizations, governments agencies and corporations.

SAIS’s greatest strength, next to its formidable academic programme, is certainly its alumni network. Particularly amongst the Bologna crowd, a very tight-knit group, there is a sense of family, a feeling of pleasure and joy derived from helping a fellow Bolognesi.

Alex Skinner BC'10

It has been extraordinary to observe the number of cases where that particular connection has led to jobs, not just within SAIS Bologna classes but across them as well.

In my particular case, I had some 15-20 informational interviews before getting a job as a research analyst at the World Development Report 2013, where I currently work. Of these, about 80% were with SAIS Bologna alumni from BC'05 to BC'09, between one and four years before my time. All of them were extremely helpful and even if, as in most cases, they were not able to link me directly to a job, they provided further contacts that have resulted in various offers since.

In the week I got my job, I was on the cusp of another, assisted directly by former Bolognesi. After a few months on the job, I was offered an interview, without having submitted anything myself, for a management position requiring 3-5 years of experience at the International Finance Coroporation (IFC). While I did not end up getting this job, the fact I was interviewed for a position I did not think I would ever attain was thanks to a referral from a BC'09 class member.

In addition, a few weeks after I started my job, my boss informed me that we would be requiring further analysts and asked me if I could recommend anyone. Within a week, I set up five classmates for interviews, two of whom eventually got jobs.

Overall, there are currently about 30 of my classmates working in various capacities at the World Bank and some others at the IMF. I have been personally astounded by how successful the alumni network has been, particularly in a time of economic strife, and would not have believed myself if I were reading this right now, about to embark on my Bologna adventure.

How very good it was that I placed my faith in SAIS nonetheless.

Alex Skinner (BC'10)

The best things about SAIS Bologna career trips

How does SAIS Bologna help students find the careers they want?

Career Services makes sure students can tackle the search for internships and jobs with the skills and know-how they need.

Every year the department organizes trips to European capitals where students meet movers and shakers -- many of them SAIS alumni -- learn about institutions and companies, and explore possible employment opportunities.

This year students have traveled to London, Brussels and Geneva to hear advice from alumni who were in their shoes 2, 5, 10, even 20 years ago.

In the video below, five students discuss the trips they have taken this year.



If you are reading this via email, you can see the video here.

Amina Abdiuahab

"A wonderful time taking a break from final exam studying"

Our more loyal readers will remember a contest that SAIS Bologna ran last summer and which generated a stream of memories from alumni.

Natalya (R) and Lisa
 in the winning photo

The contest challenged our former students to show what they missed most about their year in Bologna. A total of 33 alumni submitted content, 7,450 visits were recorded on the "Summer Challenge" page and 566 votes were cast.

Natalya Lyoda of the SAIS Bologna Class of 2011 won first prize for her entry, a photograph of her and classmate Lisa Heinrich "making new friends while learning how to make fresh pasta", as her caption said.

Natalya garnered 266 votes to collect the $600 voucher, good for a feast at an Italian restaurant of her choice.

Last weekend, Natalya cashed in and invited nine friends, including Lisa, to lunch in Washington, DC, where they are studying in their second year at SAIS.

"I chose the place because it is a replica of a restaurant in Florence and ideal for a family-style lunch to recreate the Bologna experience," Natalya said. "We had a wonderful time taking a break from final exam studying."

The contest was a foray by SAIS Bologna into untrod social media terrain. It highlighted the close ties that many of the Center's more than 6,500 alumni feel toward each other and the institution that brought them together in what for many is a life-changing experience.

Nelson Graves

"La Rivista": Another glimpse into SAIS Bologna

Here's another window on life at SAIS Bologna: La Rivista magazine.

The latest edition -- available online here -- is a special issue that explores the 150 years of Italian unity. If you're interested in learning more about Italy and what goes on at the Bologna Center, it's worth a look.

The four pieces on Italy's 150th anniversary as a nation-state include three by SAIS Bologna professors (Adrian Lyttelton, Vera Negri Zamagni, Gianfranco Pasquino) and a fourth by Federiga Bindi, who is a senior fellow at SAIS's Center for Transatlantic Relations.

Here is Lyttelton on Italy's ambivalence towards its own birthday: "Why is the existence of Italy as a nation-state more subject to criticism than it was at the time of the 50th or 100th anniversaries?"

(Remember the photo of Garibaldi that we featured in last week's quiz? It came from Lyttleton's article.)

Negri Zamagni explores Italy's economic history and concludes: "Italy is now at a crossroads. What is badly needed is a government that has the courage to launch new infrastructure projects, make critical changes in public administration, revitalize innovation and improve the labor market."

Of course the jury is out as to whether the new prime minister, Mario Monti, will be able to do as much.

Last May we published a post on Alumni Weekend that included a video with Prof. John Harper discussing his 30 years at SAIS Bologna. La Rivista prints an abridged version of that talk in which Harper said: "The Center is a bit like the legendary Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo. Someone said that if you sat in the lobby long enough you'd see all the famous people of the age."

Vera Negri Zamagni

Other articles include reflections by second-year SAIS student Lu Zhang, a feature on Bologna's cuisine by second-year student Elizabeth Hegedus-Berthold and an interview with Prof. Winrich Kühne, whom we featured in a recent Dewar's profile.

A list of books and other publications by faculty take up an entire page (page 23) and include new titles written by a half dozen professors teaching at SAIS Bologna this term: Harper, Pasquino, Erik Jones, Stefano Zamagni, Richard Pomfret and David Unger.

(Disclosure: Lyttleton, Harper, Pasquino and Pomfret all taught me when I was a student at SAIS Bologna three decades ago. Seems like yesterday.)

Nelson Graves

What do our alumni miss most about their year in Bologna?

For eight weeks, SAIS Bologna's website has been a repository of alumni memories.

Flexing our social media muscles, we asked alumni to answer the question: "What do you miss most about your year in Bologna?"

The result has been a river of postings by several dozen alumni. Below you will see some of the photographs that were submitted to the competition, which ended yesterday, October 17.

In an August post published just before the competition started, I wrote about how for many alumni, SAIS Bologna is an intimate academic community.

Before turning to the photographs, let me exercise a bit of editorial prerogative and call your attention to a touching piece by Patti Bonnet, who attended SAIS Bologna in 1992-93. You might find her reminisces unusual, but I'm sure you will admire her skillful way with words and read her tale until the end.

My technological talents are not up to the task of posting two other items you might like to view: an offering by Fabiana Papaianni capturing her class's fifth year reunion, and a slideshow by Tom Tesluk with images of the city accompanied by the haunting sound of church bells.

I've also taken the liberty of including a slideshow of photographs that I submitted. Auteur oblige.

Enjoy.

by Alix Murphy

by Nick Hopkinson

by Kathleen Tesluk

by Teresa Meoni

by Tom Tesluk

by Natalya Lyoda

by Jerome Ingenhoff

by Christopher Brownfield

by Monica Sendor

by David Mason

by Monica Sendor

by Sarah Sparker

by David Mason

by Tanya Gulnik

Nelson Graves

Bologna's mayor welcomes SAIS students

Earlier this week, Mayor Virginio Merola welcomed SAIS Bologna students to Bologna. This traditional welcome was launched by Giuseppe Dozza, who served as mayor from 1945 to 1966, as a friendly means of telling SAIS students what makes Bologna special.

Giacomo Tagiuri
and
Harriet Di Francesco

Bologna is home to the oldest operating university in the world. Since medieval times it has been a temporary home to students from all over the world, including this year's SAIS students. Our more than 6,500 alumni remember their time in Bologna as a life-changing experience, and many of their memories connect to the friendliness of the bolognesi, their open-mindedness and the beauty of the city.

(For a record of some of our alumni's memories, have a look at photos, videos and text that they have posted on our website here.)

Mayor Merola discussed his experience as il primo cittadino di Bologna and the challenges he's faced since coming to office. At the end of the speech students asked questions. Graffiti are normally a popular issue our students address, but this year they engaged the mayor on his battle against corruption, recycling and parks in the centro storico.

Below is a short video that captures a brief bit of the speech and comments by two students, Giacomo Tagiuri and Harriet Di Francesco, after listening to Merola.



If you are reading this on email, you can view the video here.

Amina Abdiuahab

Meet Prof. Gianfranco Pasquino

What course are you teaching?

Contemporary Italian Politics (Fall semester)

Political Systems of the Developing World (Spring semester)

Your degrees?

SAIS, MA in International Relations, 1967 (very proud of it)

Where have you taught?

U. of Bologna, U. of Florence, UCLA, SAIS DC, SAIS Bologna Center since, at least, 1976

How long have you been teaching at SAIS Bologna?

Hence, about 35 years

A link to a recent publication/oped/academic work by you?

My University of Bologna Profile: http://www.unibo.it/docenti/gianfranco.pasquino

Anything special about SAIS Bologna?

Exceptional: it changed my life. I am a SAIS Bologna alumnus from 1966.

Anything special about Bologna?

Small and beautiful with a great University (and the Bologna Center)

Your favorite book?

"Auto da fé," by Elias Canetti

Hobby?

I am a moviegoer.

A quote

"Il cielo stellato sopra di me; la mia coscienza in me." - Immanuel Kant

Is SAIS Bologna for you? Here are ways to find out

This post is for those who are wondering if SAIS Bologna might be for them.

There will be a number of opportunities in coming weeks for you to learn more about our program and to meet some of our students, faculty, alumni and staff. Below is a rundown on the events.

If you have any questions, be sure to write us at admissions@jhubc.it.

1. ALUMNI EVENTS

BERLIN
Saturday, October 15 (1030-1300)
SAIS alumni will gather in the morning at the Deutsche Gessellschaft für Aswärtige Politik for a program that will include an address by SAIS Bologna Director Kenneth Keller and a panel discussion. There is also a dinner that evening at 1930.

LONDON
Monday, October 17 (1800)
A group of current students on a career trip will join SAIS alumni for cocktails.

If you are interested in participating in either the Berlin or the London event, please send an email to admissions@jhubc.it and we will follow up.

2. GRADUATE SCHOOL FAIRS

Alumni will join Amina Abdiuahab and myself at four fairs organized by the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA):

VIENNA
Wednesday, November 2 (1800-2000)
The Diplomatic Academy

GENEVA
Thursday, November 3 (1700-2000)
The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

MADRID
Saturday, November 5 (1200-1400)
IE School of Arts and Humanities

PARIS
Monday, November 7 (1800-2000)
Sciences Po

For more information on these fairs, click here. Please come if you are in the area and meet us.

3. ONLINE INFORMATION SESSIONS

We will be holding online information sessions. They have been tentatively set for October 25, November 22 and December 13. Prospective candidates will be able to participate via the Internet and/or by phone. More details later.

(By the way, we are conducting a poll on this blog to determine which time slot suits you best for an online information session. Feel free to participate in the poll, which is in the upper right-hand spot on the blog's main page. You'll be helping us set up a suitable schedule.)

4. OPEN DAY

SAIS Bologna will open its doors to prospective candidates on Friday, December 9. Open Day is a chance to meet current SAIS Bologna students, faculty and staff; to learn more about our programs; to sit in a class or a seminar. It is an excellent way to get to know us better. More details on Open Day later.

Nelson Graves

Diversity and careers

Our recent poll gives me a chance to discuss two of SAIS Bologna's distinctive features.

The poll asked readers what they thought was best about SAIS Bologna. Here are the results:

Diverse student body - 36%

Career preparation - 26

Camaraderie - 18

Courses & faculty - 10

City of Bologna - 5

European perspective - 5

That means that more than one third of the respondents consider "diversity" to be SAIS Bologna's key asset.

"Diversity", of course, can mean different things to different people, and it can work in unpredictable ways.

(I have landed two jobs in my life in large part because I happened to be a "diverse" candidate. In one, I had an advantage over another candidate because I did not speak the language of the country where the job was located and so could ostensibly bring an impartial eye to a post that needed it. In another, I was a male applying for a job at a company where there were predominantly women, and the hiring managers wanted more gender balance. Some irony in both cases.)

I think the diversity that respondents to our poll were thinking of stems to a large extent from the range of nationalities. This year we have 43 nationalities (48 including dual passports), up from 34 last year and the largest number of nationalities in the Bologna Center's 57 years.


View SAIS Bologna 2011-12 class in a larger map

With 43 nationalities among 200 students, everyone is in a kind of minority. Even our U.S. students, who make up 44% of the class, are in a minority because they are outnumbered by non-Americans and, of course, are living in a foreign country.

This sense of being in a permanent minority is part of the SAIS Bologna learning experience. One is constantly confronted by different points of view. One's assumptions are regularly challenged. You cannot hide behind conventional wisdom because in such a place, it is neither conventional nor necessarily wisdom.

Students who thrive at SAIS enjoy learning from and about others. They are willing to give of themselves because they understand that others want to learn about them, too. It is one important reason why SAIS students are expected to participate in classes -- because so much of what is learned here comes from sharing experiences from such a wide range of backgrounds.

Of course with the diversity of nationalities comes a mix of religions, beliefs, languages and economic circumstances -- all part of the learning experience. Some of our students have been in the workforce for some years, others are coming directly from undergraduate study.

I'm delighted that our readers recognize that diversity is part and parcel of what makes SAIS Bologna special.

A word on careers: It is true that SAIS considers itself a professional school. Most of our graduates take up jobs after finishing a SAIS master's (but by no means all -- check out the number of SAIS professors who continued studying and got their Ph.Ds at SAIS). Who wants to invest in a graduate school without the prospect of landing a good job afterwards?

While SAIS does not guarantee graduates will get the job of their choice, our students do very well. We like to think that a SAIS education prepares students for a wide range of careers throughout their working lives. You'll see many SAIS graduates during their careers move between the public and private sectors, from one industry into another,  from a multilateral institution into an NGO.

If you are considering applying to SAIS Bologna, think of it as a long-term investment, one that will bring you benefits throughout your working years. Certainly our alumni see it that way.

Nelson Graves

Bits & Bobs

Today we offer some bits and pieces.

SUMMER CHALLENGE
SAIS Bologna is running a month-long contest aimed at alumni. They have been asked to show what they miss most about their year in Bologna. It's a way of sharing memories and drawing the SAIS Bologna community closer together.

If you go to our home page and click on any of the pictures on the right under the heading "Summer Challenge", you will see contributions from alumni. After less than a week, the offerings include photographs, video and an essay from an alumna whose fondest memories will surprise and move you.

Most of our readers are not alumni and so would not want to participate in this contest -- even if the first prize is a dinner worth up to $600. But if you are a prospective applicant or an incoming student, you might like to take a peek at the contributions to see what Bologna has meant to our alumni, from the most recent graduates to those from earlier days.


POLLS
Some of you may have noticed that we recently added some new features to this blog including a search function and a list of the labels or tags that we've used on posts. We'd like to start running occasional polls of readers to promote interactivity and stir ideas.

Our first poll aims to help us focus on what might interest our readers. We are asking you to tell us what kinds of polls you would like to see: polls on international economic issues, graduate study, SAIS Bologna, politics, global security, global social trends or technology.

After one week and with one week remaining, we've received only seven responses. We thank those who have taken the time to register their views; however, seven responses are not enough to give us a clear idea of what readers would prefer.

So please take a minute -- quite literally, a minute -- to vote on this poll so we know what kinds of polls would most interest you.

PROSPECTIVE APPLICANTS
We watch our readership statistics with an eagle eye. (If you have a blog, I bet you do the same.) In any case, we've noticed a pickup in the number of readers who are shopping around for graduate schools. We know this because they are reading some of our earliest posts which laid out the basics of SAIS.

If you are considering applying to a graduate school in international relations, you might like to subscribe to this blog. It's an easy (and free) way to stay in touch and learn more about SAIS. We would encourage you to submit your email address in the "Follow by Email" section on the upper right hand of the main page. Up to you whether you'd like to become a Follower.

We encourage readers to send in feedback, either by using the comment boxes at the bottom of posts or by sending an email to admissions@jhubc.it.

In the next few weeks, as our incoming students get their feet on the ground in Bologna, we'll turn our attention to those readers who know relatively little about SAIS. Our goal will be to give readers a sense of who and what we are, how the application process works, what is expected of candidates, how to learn more about us and how best to prepare an application.

We look forward to helping prospective candidates take the right decision as they -- you -- face the future.

Nelson Graves

A summer challenge

When John Harper, professor of American Foreign Policy, spoke to alumni last spring, he sought to sum up why he and other faculty have chosen to "tarry" at SAIS Bologna for many years (or decades, in Prof. Harper's case).

"Those who were associated with the Bologna Center -- from library stack attendants to members of the permanent and visiting faculty -- were all part of an intimate academic community such as one rarely finds today," Prof. Harper told the Alumni Weekend gathering, quoting from a 1977 obituary of the Bologna Center's founder, C. Grove Haines.

The word "community" comes up often when alumni talk about Bologna. SAIS Bologna tends to be an intense year that packs academic challenges, career planning and healthy socializing into a few months.

It may sound ironic, but the diversity of the student body contributes to the sense of togetherness. This coming year we have 202 students enrolled from 44 countries. That means everyone is in a minority of sorts. Even the 87 U.S. citizens are guests in a foreign country. Diversity in a common, intimate setting: it helps bring people together.

Helped by one of our most active alumni, Tom Tesluk (BC81/DC82), SAIS Bologna has decided to tap into that sense of community and at the same time have a bit of fun this summer.

We are asking alumni to show us what they miss most about Bologna -- and to show it to the world.

Starting this Friday, August 19, alumni can upload content capturing their feelings and memories -- text, photos, audio, video -- onto the SAIS Bologna website. The entries will be part of a five-week contest, or mission, with the content that captures the most votes from registered visitors winning a free dinner for six in the Italian restaurant of their choice.

I bring this to the attention of our readers because you may want to check out the content (by going to www.jhubc.it). It will give those of you who are thinking of applying or even those enrolled for 2011-12 an idea of what our 6,700 alumni consider special about the place. I think much of the material will be imaginative and compelling. It should give a unique perspective on the Bologna Center.

Remember: our network of alumni is regularly cited as an advantage for SAIS students looking to plug into opportunities around the world.

Much is made of social media nowadays. This initiative seemed a natural: to harness the power of technology to bring our community even closer together.

Nelson Graves

Weekly quiz

A reminder to those candidates who were admitted that the deadline for accepting the offer is Monday, May 16. To accept (or in the academic parlance, "matriculate"), please consult your acceptance letter. The class of 2011-12 is shaping up nicely -- more on that when the dust has settled.

We're going to be cutting back on the pace of our blog posts after May 16. We haven't yet decided how regularly we will post -- this is a work in progress, as most of you know. One thing we intend to do is to poll our readers for feedback to help guide us in coming months.

On to the quiz.

Why was the SAIS Bologna Alumni Weekend unable to take place as scheduled in 2010?


The prize: a SAIS Bologna tee shirt. (If you want to win, we'll need your shirt size -- via a comment or email.)

Nelson Graves

Two SAIS Women Spanning 50 Years

Mary Lee McIntyre was in the Bologna Center's first graduating class in 1956. Melanie Standish followed her 50 years later.

Mary Lee and Melanie spoke to us during SAIS Bologna's Alumni Weekend last week. Much has happened to the Center and the world in the half century between their classes, but their reflections about the Center are remarkably similar.

Mary Lee was one of two women in the Center's first class. After SAIS she worked at the Congressional Quarterly and then the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington. Later she lived in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Lebanon.

Melanie is currently working in northern Iraq for the American University of Iraq.

Listen to these two women talk about what the Bologna Center has meant to them.



Amina Abdiuahab

Alumni & SAIS Bologna - "a real community"

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

Weekly quiz

Statistics, which of course never lie, show that our readership has tailed off in the past week. This could be because our posts have been bad. It could also be because candidates, many of whom have been wrestling with difficult decisions, are tired of thinking about graduate school -- at least for now. Finally, there are holidays in many countries this time of year, and there might be better things to do on vacation than read this blog.

We do intend to throttle back on the posts after the May 16 deadline for admissions decisions for SAIS Bologna. Until then, we have many questions to answer. Carlos asked earlier this week for more information on housing; we will provide a post next week on that. We are getting quite a few questions about visas and also, of course, about finances. These are issues we need to address. Finally, my inbox is full of queries about pre-term and the economics requirements. We will write about those matters, too.

As you've heard me say many times before, we like feedback on this blog and especially suggestions on topics to cover. We aim to answer any and all questions. If there is something you think we should be discussing, please tell us.

Looking ahead, the Bologna Center's Alumni Weekend is April 29-May 1. We will take advantage of that to talk to alumni about their experiences at SAIS and afterwards. The SAIS Bologna Open House is May 5&6, and we'll give our readers a glimpse of that.

Speaking of Open House, click here if you want to see the program and the registration form. Do think of coming if you can. It's a great way to get to know the Center.

Now, the quiz. This week, a simple question:

An honorific academic title recently cited by Bologna Center Director Kenneth Keller in comments captured on film in this blog. What is the title?


The winner gets, yes, a free lunch at Giulio's -- as soon as Open House, if you come then.

Nelson Graves

From Bologna back to Istanbul

Efsane Aşkin is proof that there is no typical SAIS alumnus.

A Turkish citizen, Efsane studied at the Bologna Center after doing her undergraduate work in the United States. As she recounts in the video below, she took advantage of what she learned at SAIS to carve out a career as an entrepreneur in her home country.

Efsane discusses at some length the textile business that she runs in Istanbul and explains how her understanding of trade helped her stand out in a very competitive industry. As if to prove that monetary matters do not take a back seat to trade at SAIS, she even notes that with a weakening U.S. dollar, her business in Europe has grown. Her clients include some of the biggest names in fashion.

What Efsane does not discuss -- as much out of modesty as for lack of time -- is that she also has a chain of 14 award-winning restaurants spread out in five countries.

In her spare time, Efsane runs the Johns Hopkins alumni chapter in Turkey, a responsibility that brought her back to Bologna this past weekend.

A SAIS degree can prepare you for a wide range of careers. Not everyone has Efsane's entrepreneurial flair. But as she herself notes, the Bologna Center experience very much helped her on her way.



Nelson Graves

Giving back to SAIS Bologna

Students develop strong bonds at SAIS Bologna, both with one another and with the institution. The small size and diversity of the student body and the intensity of the experience create a special atmosphere. When they graduate from SAIS, they often want to give back.

The Advisory Council is made up of distinguished leaders from Europe and the United States who represent both the private and public sectors. The Council plays a major role in the life of the Center by providing operating advice and financial support. Many of the Council members are Bologna Center alumni.

Today we introduce you to Astrid Haas and Patrick Flanagan, who were in Bologna this past weekend attending the Advisory Council's annual meeting as junior members.

Astrid attended the Bologna Center in 2008-09 and then SAIS DC, where she received her master's in 2010. Patrick studied at the Center last year and is currently attending SAIS DC.

In the video below, Astrid and Patrick speak about their experiences at SAIS. In addition, Astrid discusses her current job as an economist in the Ministry of the East African Community, in the government of Kenya. Patrick's concentration at SAIS is International Development.

The overriding theme of their remarks is their desire to give back to SAIS Bologna. As Astrid puts it: "We all have a fantastic experience here, and we would all like to give back as soon as possible once we've graduated. But as a young person who has just started their career, it's not always possible to give back financially, but this way you're given an opportunity as a young member to be part of the Advisory Board for the Bologna Center to look at issues, where it's going in the future."



Nelson Graves