Thanksgiving in Bologna

SAIS Bologna celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday last week with a dinner for some 200 students, family members, faculty, staff and children at the Bologna Center.

Below, Briana Thompson, a U.S. national from the state of Massachusetts, shares her thoughts on what it meant to her to spend Thanksgiving here in Italy.

Thanks to the Student Government Association for organizing the feast, to those who prepared the food and to Julie Aaserud of Norway for supplying the photographs for this post.


I have spent almost every Thanksgiving Day in or near Plymouth, Massachusetts -- the site of the original meal between the Pilgrims and Native Americans. From a very young age, I learned all about the struggles of the settlers in this new land and their new friends, and went on countless field trips to see Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower and Plymouth Plantation.

Briana Thompson at the
SAIS Bologna Thanksgiving dinner

The lessons were simple and emphasized sharing, friendship, appreciating different cultures and of course being thankful for what you have. However, when I was younger it was very easy to simply associate Thanksgiving with football, turkey and a long weekend off from school.

Luckily, as I’ve matured, the holiday has become more meaningful. On the one hand, Thanksgiving (Eve, in particular) means reconnecting with hometown friends, regardless of the time and distance that you’ve been apart. I have come to appreciate just how special these people are, and I defer to a quote from the television show "The Wonder Years" to explain: “After all, if growing up is war, then those friends who grew up with you deserve a special respect. The ones who stuck by you shoulder to shoulder in a time when nothing is certain, when all life lay ahead, and every road led home.”

On the other hand, the fundamental aspect of Thanksgiving -- giving thanks for the blessings in one’s life -- has become increasingly important as I’ve gotten older. It is for this reason that spending Thanksgiving here in Bologna was not entirely different.

I will readily admit that I missed my family fighting over drumsticks, monopolizing the gravy, perpetually relegating my adult cousins and me to the kids' table, cuddling up on the couch in various states of delirium from food comas, etc. But I am so grateful that I have them and my friends to miss.

At the same time, sharing a meal with 200 plus SAIS students, faculty and staff this past Saturday was really an attestation to the unique family we’ve become here, and I’m incredibly thankful for that. For me, the spirit of the holiday was present more so this year than ever before as the emphasis was placed on all those lessons I learned as a kid (sharing, friendship, appreciating different cultures, being thankful) and less on football and stuffing my face.

I can’t say I’ll be adding pasta to my Thanksgiving Dinner menu from now on, but the post-meal dance party might just become a tradition.

The Gathering

Matthew Melchiorre

Polina Bogomolova

Geoffrey Levin

Rositsa Georgieva
and
Lachezar Manasiev

Petra Vujakovic
and
Nicholas Borroz

Julie Aaserud
and
Jemilatu Abdulai

Nelson Graves

SAIS students on SAIS

SAIS students put out a special publication in April that offers prospective applicants a window on our graduate school.

The SAIS Observer edition includes a range of vantage points: accounts of trips by students to China, Sri Lanka, Spain, Panama and Costa Rica; articles on life at SAIS Bologna and at Hopkins-Nanjing; descriptions of concentrations and student clubs.

There is a tongue-in-cheek piece on dating at SAIS: "Dating at SAIS or rather within SAIS is like dating in 9th grade except everyone is taller and the acne is gone."

In a note to prospective students, the three editors wrote that "the best way to predict what SAIS is like is to continue talking to current students and alumni and to be vigilant about reaching out to departments, professors, leaders and others."

Sound advice.

Mia Warner, writing about her year at SAIS Bologna in 2009-10, said "the really fascinating part was listening to my fellow classmates' questions and comments. I was in awe of the range of perspectives that other students presented."

If it's true that students are SAIS's best ambassadors, then we offer up this publication as a very good way for prospective applicants to learn more about what makes this program different.

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

What are SAIS Bologna students most proud of?

We asked this year's SAIS Bologna students to drop any pretense of modesty and tell us what they are most proud of. Here is what we learned:

I authored the first-ever concordance of the Persian text of the Masnavi of Rumi -- 3,000 pages long. I have also written a history book, "Memoirs of the Badshahi Mosque," which is under editorial review at the Oxford University Press.

Finished 4th at the 2008 Dutch Youth Chess Championship and was ranked among the top 100 adults that year.

I am the first person in my family to earn an undergraduate degree and to enroll in a masters program.

I composed the first municipal heraldry data base in Bosnia.

Conceptualized a series of short videos that emphasized the importance of the internal socio-political reforms in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Worked with local NGOs in Delhi, India to provide shelter, medical supplies and advice to homeless men and women fighting heroin addiction.

Launched a public health NGO in the Bahamas that has over 120 members and volunteers and which raised nearly $16,000 in donations and through fundraising.

As a team captain, led my badminton team to four consecutive badminton championships at Tsinghua University.

Was part of a small student team that designed and coded a dispatch system for my former college's Public Safety Office.

Started work at the World Bank 10 days after earning my undergraduate degree.

Saw Cat Stevens in concert.

Other than dealing with my Italian landlady with poise, I am proud of crossing cultural divides by being a Jew who lived in Jordan and worked with Palestinian students.

Have visited former or current conflict areas such as Belfast, Sarajevo, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Northern Cyprus.

I participated in a three-month internship with non-profit AVANTI in Quito, Ecuador, working on a public health research project. We surveyed 60 households in one of Ecuador’s poorest villages as a first step in discovering what the biggest public health challenges were.

In El Gamaleya, Egypt

I was among 15 American college students selected to participate in the Global Leaders in the 21st Century public diplomacy program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. As part of the program, we worked alongside 35 Arab students restoring primary schools in the historic El Gamaleya district of Cairo, Egypt.

Have spent time in 35 countries, mainly thanks to scholarships, Department of State Public Diplomacy Programs, humanitarian outreach.

I'm most proud of a moment when I stood in front the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America in support of a resolution to ordain practicing homosexuals. I was 19 and the president of the church's youth organization. It was the first time I received hate mail.

I was diagnosed with narcolepsy a week before DC pre-term, which helps to explain the 100% success rate of falling asleep in certain classes in undergrad.

I worked as an Emergency Medical Technician for the past six years during high school and college, becoming an ambulance Crew Chief. While in Bologna as an undergraduate, I served as an emergency responder for the Pubblica Assistenza.

Last year, I served on the Board of Directors for the Mission Learning Center, a childhood literacy non-profit. I managed the MLC's social marketing and fundraising efforts, more than quadrupling the organization's donations from Facebook.

I have served as an undergraduate "ambassador" student to India, China, Ecuador and Russia, and won several language competitions in Russian and French.

I flew over the Himalayas, seeing Mt Everest, K2 and seven other of the highest peaks in the world.

I'm most proud of having the courage to leave a really good job to come back to school at SAIS.

Last year I created a Facebook group to gather friends willing to help the families of the victims of a series of racist murders in my country. In a few weeks time we ended up with 200 members and achieved prime-time news coverage. We are now supporting seven affected families by helping them get proper legal assistance and access to medical attention, and by raising money to help them pay overdue utility bills.

I climbed the Parinacota volcano in Bolivia -- 6300 meters high.

I tried out for the under-19 U.S. Women's National Rugby Team in my senior year of high school. The coach told me if I worked out with the team for the few months and then went to a college with a very strong women's team, I would be their starting fly-half. It was an exciting prospect, but eventually I had to choose between serious athletics or serious academics. I went to a college with a small, relatively uncompetitive team. In two years we went from being last in the matrix to first. I chose academics over athletics in a pivotal point in my life, and five years later, I have accomplished more both academically and athletically because of that choice. There's not a moment I wish I would be playing professional rugby instead of being at SAIS Bologna pursuing an MA.

I left Cambridge University with a starred first and a half Blue.

I've circumnavigated the globe by ship and been to 26 countries. I'm 25 and I'm trying to keep my country count above my age.

The documentary series I worked on is going to attract more than 60 million Chinese viewers on CCTV in prime time in November.

Conquered the highest accessible mountain in Southeast Asia -- Mt. Kinabalu on Borneo (4,095 meters).

The most difficult environment in which I have lived was my high school year abroad in Columbia, South Carolina. During the first three weeks I had serious problems understanding my math professor and not many students were interested in cultural exchange.

I spent 6 years writing and editing at magazines and for public radio. I was on the floor of the Republican National Convention blogging when Sarah Palin gave her "what's the difference between a hockey mom and pit bull" speech.

I am most proud of having taught English in rural Thailand. I learned more about myself and what I wanted to do with my life than I had in the previous 23 years.

A discussion about the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin prompted me to write a paper about it in high school that was awarded the highest award by a state parliament and which allowed me to be part of state delegation to the "Day of German Unity" and to meet the president of Germany.

As a cross-cultural awareness expert in a multinational consulting company, I conducted workshops for large groups in India and across Europe.

I was a mentor during undergrad and helped inner city youth on Saturday mornings with college applications and social justice issues. My mentee ended up receiving a scholarship and many prestigious internships at MassArt for graphic design.

As a senior in college, I led a retreat for freshmen. There was a student in my group who hated school, hadn't made friends, was consistently bored with classes and wanted to drop out or transfer the next year. We spent a lot of time together second semester discussing how he could find his place at school. He's now a senior, loves school and has done incredibly well. He'll graduate this spring cum laude and with a solid group of friends and peers. I'm so proud of his success and courage.

Worked for U.S. Army Intelligence, then for the U.S. Treasury, then in London as a tax lawyer for 31 years.

Held shuras with tribal elders in Afghanistan.

I launched a project to help street children in Thessaloniki Greece. We ended up rebuilding a community center for the Roma children of the Aghia Sophia community.

While an undergraduate I traveled to some 28 countries while involved in programs such as Semester at Sea, the Model U.N. and relief efforts. This summer, as a Pickering fellow, I worked at the U.S. State Department reporting daily to the Secretary of State.

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