The next steps to the finish line

SAIS Bologna candidates are understandably getting itchy as they await the outcome of their applications to study here in 2012-13.

Here are the next steps in the process for non-U.S. candidates (U.S. candidates, who are handled by the DC Admissions Office, have already been contacted):

- Faculty and staff on the SAIS Bologna Admissions Committee have been interviewing candidates and reviewing the dossiers. Their work is about over. The committee will meet next week to take its admissions decisions. We hope to communicate those decisions to all candidates by Friday, April 6.

Some important details such as financial aid grants, economics or English language requirements and admission to the International Development concentration may have to wait a few more days. We are aware that some candidates will be facing deadlines from other programs, and we want to make sure they have time to take the best decision.

We are planning two events to answer any questions from admitted candidates and to enable them to know us better:

1. an online Q&A session planned for April 25;
2. Open House at SAIS Bologna on May 3&4.

We'll be circulating more details on these events later.

- There are two separate deadlines for admitted non-U.S. candidates to matriculate:

May 9 for candidates offered financial aid;
May 16 for all other candidates

- The summer online Principles of Economics course for any incoming students who have not satisfied both the introductory micro and introductory macro requirements starts on May 23.

- The deadline for registering for the SAIS Bologna pre-term is July 2. The pre-term session will run this year from August 27 to September 19.

The pre-term session in Washington will run from July 30 to August 25. The deadline for registering for the DC session is June 29.

If you are a candidate awaiting the Admissions Committee's decision, why not use the next few days to make  a mental note of what you've learned during the process? It could end up helping you in the future.

Nelson Graves

A key to understanding international relations

It is crucial to economic growth, global security and the environment. It has major implications for global affairs in coming decades. In the words of SAIS Dean Jessica Einhorn, it "is key to understanding the foreign policy of nations."

Agriculture.

The latest edition of SAISPHERE, the magazine for SAIS alumni and friends, explores the thorny issue of agriculture from a variety of perspectives -- not surprising considering the breadth of expertise at SAIS.

Robert Thompson, a SAIS visiting scholar and rural development expert with experience in the private and multilateral spheres, examines the challenge of feeding the equivalent of two more Chinas between now and mid-century.

Thompson is developing an agriculture-focused curriculum at SAIS, "blazing the trail to restore agriculture to its rightful place in international studies," according to Einhorn.

The 128-page magazine looks at lagging agricultural reforms in India, the reshaping of China's farm output to feed a rapidly expanding middle class, the links between food prices and economic growth -- and between global warming and food security.

Thompson sums up the challenge in his essay: "World demand for agricultural products may double between now and the middle of this century -- but by then there will be at most 10 percent more land and less freshwater available."

Charles Pearson, SAIS professor emeritus, puts it succinctly: "Do biofuels mandates and subsidies disrupt world food supplies and inflate food prices while inadvertently contributing to global warming?"

Important issues and questions for the future of nation states and our planet.

Nelson Graves

The finish line is nigh

It's almost the deadline for applications from non-U.S. students to SAIS Bologna.

Some candidates have submitted their dossiers while others are putting the finishing touches on theirs.

To facilitate matters for those who have yet to finish, we will try to answer the most frequently asked questions.

UPLOADING
Some applicants have had trouble uploading documents via the online system. Last week we published a post detailing the required computer settings. If you've followed the checklist and are still unable to upload, please send us an email at admissions@jhubc.it.

DEADLINE
We expect to receive completed applications by the deadline of February 1. However, our system will not automatically shut down then. If you know that your application will not be complete by the deadline, please send us an email at admissions@jhubc.it.

APPLICATION FEE

Non-U.S. students to SAIS Bologna are not required to pay an application fee. If you are asked to do so, please send us a message.

MAILING ADDRESS

While most documents can be submitted online, transcripts and standardized test scores are not. If you are mailing hard documents to us, our address is:

Johns Hopkins SAIS Bologna Center

Admissions Office

via Belmeloro, 11

40126 Bologna

Italy

TRANSCRIPTS, TEST SCORES

We need to receive official copies of your transcripts and standardized test scores. We accept transcripts electronically if your university Registrar's Office sends them directly to us. Standardized tests should be sent directly to us by the examining board.

If you know your transcripts or standardized test scores will not reach us by February 1, drop us a line at admissions@jhubc.it to let us know. We may ask you to send us a scanned copy while we wait for the original copies to arrive by post.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Letters of recommendation can be submitted online by the referee. If your referee has yet to submit the letter, please urge them to do so as soon as possible. In case you have trouble getting the letter, or the reference is being sent via post, be sure to let us know.

CONFIRMATION
If something is missing from your application, we will notify you soon. In the first half of February we will notify candidates whose applications are complete.

INTERVIEWS

Interview dates and locations will set shortly after the deadline. We expect to conduct them from the end of February through March. Candidates can be interviewed in person, on the phone or via Skype. There is no advantage or disadvantage in opting for an in-person interview. In fact, most candidates are interviewed over the phone or via Skype. But members of our Admissions Committee will be travelling to some cities in Europe and North America.

ECONOMICS

Before starting courses at SAIS, incoming students must have mastered the principles of micro and macroeconomics. (Note this is not a prerequisite to apply.) Admitted candidates are informed in their letter of admission whether they have already met the economics requirement. We'll provide more information on the economics requirement after the deadline. For now, you can take a look at last year's post.

DECISIONS

The Admission Committee will meet at the end of March. Its decisions, including financial aid awards, will be communicated to applicants in the first half of April.

Amina Abdiuahab

Former senior IMF official joins SAIS

John Lipsky, who until recently served as the number two at the International Monetary Fund, is joining SAIS.

Lipsky will start teaching at SAIS from January 1 as a distinguished visiting scholar with the school’s International Economics program.

Lipsky served for five years as the IMF’s first deputy managing director. Most recently, he was a special adviser to Managing Director Christine Lagarde, helping to direct the fund’s preparations for last month’s G20 Leaders Summit in Cannes, France.

"John’s service at the IMF coincided with the most challenging era for the international economy in the past 70 years," SAIS Dean Jessica Einhorn said. "During this historic time, he was a dedicated and effective advocate for international cooperation and coordination to heal and restore the global economy."

Before rejoining the IMF in 2006, Lipsky had spent more than 20 years in the private sector, including serving as JPMorgan’s chief economist and Chase Manhattan Bank’s chief economist and director of research. Earlier he had spent a decade at the IMF, where he helped manage the Fund’s exchange rate surveillance procedure and analyzed developments in the international capital market.

Lipsky's appointment underscores SAIS's strong stable of academics and practitioners who know their way around academia and global policy making.

For a copy of the Johns Hopkins press release of Lipsky's appointment, click here. For the IMF's profile of him, click here.

Nelson Graves

Professor calls SAIS Bologna students "a breed apart"

What do SAIS, economics and global warming have in common? Charles Pearson's expertise.

Pearson studied at SAIS. Later he taught at SAIS and headed the International Economics department for 17 years. He taught at SAIS DC, SAIS Bologna and Hopkins-Nanjing.

We spoke to Prof. Pearson while he was in Bologna this week teaching a three-part seminar on economics and the challenge of global warming. The seminar is one of several "mini courses" that are longer than the traditional 90-minute lecture but more compact than a semester course. His most recent book is "Economics and the Challenge of Global Warming".

In our interview below, Prof. Pearson, who now lives in Thailand and teaches at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, discusses changes at SAIS, his mini course and the connection between economics and climate change.

What has changed most at SAIS since he was a student? A SAIS education now costs more, he says, and students want to make sure it can lead to a good job. Solid training in economics helps land such jobs, he says.

Asked about SAIS Bologna, Prof. Pearson says he has always been envious of Bologna Center students, calling them "a breed apart".

No disagreement there from us in Bologna.



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

Nelson Graves

Meeting our faculty: Prof. Carbonara

Emanuela Carbonara is teaching Microeconomics in pre-term at SAIS Bologna. Like Francesco Moro, Prof. Carbonara has provided us with her version of a Dewar's profile.

Your degrees?
Laurea (MA), Economics, University of Bologna
M.Phil, Economics, University of Oxford
Ph.D, Economics, Bocconi University, Milan
D.Phil, Economics, University of Oxford

Where have you taught?
Oxford University, University of Bologna, University of Amsterdam, University of Haifa

Anything special about SAIS Bologna?
I would say SAIS Bologna is a special place for many reasons. Let me just mention two. We are a real team: teachers and students working together, in a very friendly environment, for a common goal, supported by outstanding administrative staff. Plus the numerous opportunities to meet politicians, entrepreneurs, diplomats, and discuss with them on a peer to peer basis.

Anything special about Bologna?

Walking around in those medieval little streets, a unique experience. The idea that anything within the city center is walking distance. Bologna is not a huge town but it is so active on the cultural side, much better than many bigger cities.

  

Your favorite book?

Too many to recall them all. Recently, António Lobo Antune’s "The Inquisitor’s Manual" but a book that really left a mark is Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s "The Idiot".

Hobby?

Travelling and photography.

A quote

"I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him." - Galileo Galilei

Math and Economics: Staying Ahead of Events

You don't have to look far to see why economics is important to understanding world events. Take the front page of any major newspaper.

The debate in Washington over the U.S. debt ceiling. The euro zone's struggles with Greece (and vice versa). The Arab spring. Investor's views of News Corp's value following revelations of phone hacking by journalists at one of its newspapers.

Guess who?

How could you begin to grasp the complexities of any of these titanic issues without examining the economic forces at work?

Perhaps less easy to understand is why it's important to understand mathematics in order to master economics.

Incoming students who have been taking the SAIS Online Math Tutorial this summer, with the help of seven DVDs covering 86 modules, may be asking themselves that question. As might prospective applicants.

I asked Prof. Erik Jones about this relationship between mathematics and economics. Here is what he told me:

"At SAIS we teach economics both for substantive reasons and for methodological reasons. We want students to understand how the economy works but we also want them to realize why we believe it works that way. The recent economic and financial crisis is a perfect illustration of the importance of this combination. Many people had simple rules of thumb to explain how liberalized capital markets should be more stable than tightly regulated markets; many fewer understood the importance of basic assumptions about human rationality that lay at the foundation of those rules of thumb. When those assumptions proved to be incorrect – as former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan explained to the House of Representatives – the whole edifice of free market economics came crashing down.

Prof. Erik Jones

"The connection between  the assumptions that underpin economic thought and the rules of thumb that guide ‘conventional wisdom’ works through logic as expressed in mathematical models. Those students who do not understand mathematics will never be able to trace back the links between what they think they know about how the economy works and what they assume to be true about the world writ large. As a consequence, they will never be able to anticipate what will happen should their assumptions prove incorrect. They will be trapped in the crowd, doing whatever everyone else is doing and hoping for the best. Our goal by teaching mathematics for economics is to help students avoid that fate. We don’t intend to turn SAIS students into mathematicians, but we do intend to give them the understanding that they will require to stay ahead of events."

If you're tempted to wager that the connection between mathematics and economics is relatively recent, think twice. The use of math in economics dates back at least to the 17th century before hitting its stride in the 19th.

I'm sure at least one of our readers can tell us more about the symbiotic rapport between math and economics -- if not now, then in a few more months.

Anyone seen this before?

In the meantime, let's get back to brass tacks. Incoming students are strongly encouraged to take both the pre-calculus and calculus tests online this summer before starting their course work. It's the best way to make sure you will thrive at SAIS.

Anyone who comes up short -- it happens -- will have an opportunity to take math catchup classes, either in pre-term or after, and to take the exams again.

The obvious question is: Am I required to take the math tests and to pass them?

The answer is less obvious. Do yourself a favor. Study the material, pass the tests and tackle economics with the confidence and skills you will need to succeed.

Questions? Send them to admissions@jhubc.it.

Nelson Graves

It's better to be safe than sorry!

Today, I would like to answer some questions we are asked frequently. Please take some time to read this post and especially to go through the information available on our website as well as in the Incoming Student Guidebook. They are precious sources of information that can help you answer most of your questions.  

Q: I am having problems with my visa application, what should I do?

A: The first step is to check which documents you need on the website of the Italian embassy of your home country . 

Q: I have checked the documents on the website of the Italian embassy of my home country and it seems that I am missing some documents. 

A: Contact us as soon as possible. We will be happy to help you. 

Q: I have not started my visa application yet, should I worry?

A: Yes. By now, everyone should have at least been in contact with the Italian embassy in their home country. If you have not contacted them already, make sure you do so as soon as possible. 

Q: I am not a citizen of the European Union. What should I do for medical insurance?

A: You need to arrive in Italy with a sound health plan that will cover you in case you need care. Remember that the Italian emergency insurance applies to emergency hospitalization only. For more information see this post  published in May. 

Q: When is the deadline to pay the first tuition instalment?

A: The deadline is on September, 30.  See the Incoming Student Guidebook to learn how you can make the payment. 

Q: I received financial aid from SAIS, how does paying tuition work for me?

A: Financial aid from SAIS goes towards tuition. If you received financial assistance from SAIS the award will be split in two. One half will be credited towards tuition in the first semester and the other half in the second semester. You will be asked to pay the outstanding balance at the beginning of each semester. You can read more on financial aid and tuition here.

Q: I have not registered for a principles of economics course yet, what should I do? 

A: You should find a course now. Remember that when you arrive in Bologna, you will need to have successfully passed courses in principles of micro and macroeconomics or you won't be able to start your studies at SAIS. 

If you feel there are questions that should be addressed, please comment on this post so that everyone can benefit from your queries. You know we welcome your input! 

Next week:

- Your views on the Blog: a summary of your answers to our survey.

- Q&A on concentrations, jobs and more.

Amina Abdiuahab 

Getting to the core

Earlier this month we published a post with a question from the final exam in International Monetary Theory. It was an opportunity to expose incoming students to the kind of question they will be facing soon and also to the Economics requirements.

Today we turn to another set of obligations: the core requirements.

Before getting into the nitty gritty of the core requirements, a word on why. SAIS students come from very diverse academic backgrounds. This year in Bologna we had 34 nationalities, and for 2011-12, students from 45 different countries have enrolled.

To ensure that all SAIS graduates have acquired a common set of useful skills and knowledge, we require them to meet a set of requirements in Economics, languages, history and political science.

There are four core subjects:

• American Foreign Policy Since World War II
• Comparative National Systems
• Evolution of the International System
• Theories of International Relations

You can read about the core subjects here and here.

Here is chapter and verse with respect to the core requirements:

M.A. candidates must pass written examinations in two of four core areas (except students in European Studies, who take three European Studies comprehensive exams). Students are urged to pass one of these exams by the end of their first year and to pass both before beginning the second year. Students with an adequate background are encouraged to take the core examinations upon entry. During the year, students may prepare for a core examination by studying on their own, auditing or enrolling for credit in a core course. Core exams are graded with a letter grade. Only passing grades appear on the transcript. Students who fail a core exam twice are required to register for the corresponding core course for credit. After enrolling for credit, a student's result of any prior examination is eliminated from the transcript, and grading requirements for regular courses apply. Core exams are offered three times a year at the Bologna Center: first week in October and at the end of each semester. 

So you can satisfy the core requirements by taking core courses, passing core examinations without taking the course or a combination of the two.

As with Economics waiver exams, you can satisfy a course requirement by passing the exam but you will not receive credit towards the 16 courses that must be completed in order to receive the M.A. It does free you up to take other courses beside the basic Economics or core courses

Prof.Erik Jones

Note that these core requirements apply to candidates for the two-year Master of Arts in International Relations. The MAIA, MIPP and Bologna Diploma requirements are different.

All of that is so complicated that the questions on the core exam in Comparative National Systems may seem, well, comparatively simple. Here is a copy of the exam.

And here is a video of Prof. Erik Jones, who taught that course in Bologna this past Spring semester, discussing the core requirements and his course. He also explains why his office is full of boxes.



Nelson Graves

Weekly quiz

It would not be a weekly quiz without some housekeeping first, right?

Incoming students have lots of questions. This is entirely normal. Before writing an email, please make sure that you've read the material on the web page for incoming students. There you will find the answers to many questions. And do not forget the Guidebook for Incoming Students. It tackles myriad matters: visas, health issues, finances, communications, travel and housing among them.

Many of you are experiencing the joy of applying for a visa. Alas, like tuition it is a fact of life. Please do not panic. Each of you who applied through the Bologna Admissions Office should have received a letter, in Italian, that provides Italian diplomatic authorities with some important information. The letter informs the authorities that:

• You have been admitted to SAIS Bologna and gives them the dates of your attendance in 2011-12;
• SAIS Bologna is recognized by the Italian state;
• SAIS Bologna has an ample number of apartments at its disposal, and you will be able to choose from among them;
• If you are a non-EU citizen, SAIS Bologna will make sure you have the emergency medical insurance that is required by law;
• We request that the diplomatic authorities return the letter to you along with your visa so that you can obtain, if necessary, a permesso di soggiorno once in Bologna.

This letter has been written so that the Italian consular authorities have the information they need to issue a visa. Of course different embassies and consulates have different approaches. If you hit a brick wall, get back to us.

Enough of the logistics. On to the quiz -- which this week is for the daring only.

Earlier this week we published a post with a question from the final exam in Prof. Akin's International Monetary Theory class. Click here for the exam question.

What is the answer to the first part of the question, which asks: 

I'll give you a break: unlike during a real exam, you can ask for help on this one. The key is to provide the right answer.

This week the winner gets a SAIS Bologna tee shirt plus a free lunch at Giulio's -- with Prof. Akin.

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For the answer to the quiz question, click here.

You can also see it here:

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Next week:

Tuesday: What a winning paper looks like
Thursday: Getting to the core of international politics
Friday: Weekly quiz

Nelson Graves

The IS-LM-FX Equilibria

We're going to shift tack here.

Most of our posts over the past few months have been about admissions procedures, the student body, faculty, careers and internships. What have we perhaps under-clubbed?

Academics.

SAIS is fundamentally an academic experience. It prepares one for a host of careers. Students are able to tap into a formidable alumni network spread around the world. Faculty, many of them famous in their fields, are accessible and approachable. There is an enjoyable social aspect to a program that is part of a large research university -- Johns Hopkins -- but with separate, self-contained campuses just for SAIS students.

Still, the main challenge is academic. It is true that the course work ties up nicely with career opportunities including internships, making the academic experience especially relevant. But it is not networking with a scholarly gloss. Studies are front and center.

Prof. Akin

In that light, I thought it would be interesting to publish a question from the final exam that Prof. Çiğdem Akin gave to her SAIS Bologna students this spring in International Monetary Theory.

Before I give the question, keep in mind that International Monetary Theory is one of four economics courses that are required of all MA candidates. The others are Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and International Trade Theory. The Micro and Macro courses are at the intermediate level. A student can place out of intermediate Micro or Macro either by taking the corresponding course in pre-term or by passing a waiver exam. (Waiver exams are also offered in Monetary, Trade and Statistics.) One does not earn a course credit towards one's degree by placing out, but it does mean the student can take different courses. Finally, in addition to the four courses mentioned above, an MA candidate has to take two other economics courses, for a total of six, to graduate.

For more on the economics requirements, click here.

Why so much economics? Let me quote from the International Economics home page:

"The SAIS international economics program is designed to provide students with an understanding of the international economic system, enabling them to work effectively on international matters in both the private and public sectors.... These skills are an important component of modern training in international affairs."

You're dying to see the exam question? Bear with me just a bit longer.

As a reader of our blog, you likely fall into one of two categories:

- You are an incoming student. If so, this is the kind of exam question you'll be facing soon.

- You are a prospective student. Don't be turned off if the question seems hard. The whole point is that after a one-term course in International Monetary Theory, you will be able to answer the question because during the course you will have mastered:

"... the foundations of international macroeconomics, including foreign exchange markets, exchange rate regimes, balance of payments analysis, open-economy models, capital movements and other aspects of financial interdependence, policy responses to external shocks, monetary cooperation at the regional and international levels and the international monetary system."

Enough lecturing. Here is Question 1 on Prof. Akin's exam. It counted for 20 out of 100 points on the three-hour exam. Students should have spent 15-20 minutes answering the question.

Feel free to send your answers to admissions@jhubc.it. We'd be happy to take a look at them.

Nelson Graves

Incoming students: Ignore this at your peril

Now that we have your attention....

Two important points are worth our emphasizing as you prepare to start you studies at SAIS Bologna in the autumn.

1. Every student has to have passed both basic microeconomics and basic macroeconomics BEFORE they can start any course work at SAIS. Many students have already met this requirement. But some have not.

SAIS offers an online course over the summer which allows students to satisfy this requirement if they have not already. However, registration for this course, which starts on May 25, is now closed, so it is no longer an option if you have not already registered.

If you need to take either basic micro or basic macro this summer, you should look for a similar university-level course elsewhere. There are such courses offered online and at universities around the world. If this is the tack you need to take, please be sure to clear the curriculum with Amina Abdiuahab before committing to the course.

Remember: if you have not satisfied this economics requirement by the time classes begin, you will not be able to commence your studies. This is no joke: in the past students have been sent back home at the outset of the academic year for failing to meet this requirement.

The same holds true for pre-term: if you want to take part in pre-term, either in Washington or Bologna, you have to meet the micro/macro requirement beforehand.

One thing that continues to flummox some students: the micro and macro courses that are offered during pre-term are at the intermediary level. In order to take them, a student has to have already satisfied the basic micro and macro requirement.

2. Every student has to show proof of an undergraduate degree before starting any course work.

As hard as it is to believe, this is another requirement that has tripped up some incoming students.

The way to show such proof is to obtain from your undergraduate institution either an official final transcript that confirms you received your degree, or bring your original diploma from that institution.

Please keep in  mind that we do not accept copies of a transcript or of a diploma for this requirement. Please obtain the original.

We hope this nuts-and-bolts blog post will prevent awkward scenes come the autumn. Forewarned is forearmed. (Now who said that?...)

Nelson Graves

Weekly quiz

Before we get to the weekly quiz, an update on where we stand. The Bologna Center will be closed April 17-26. We will be checking email during that period, but if you do not hear from us quite as quickly as you normally do, don't worry. We will respond. 

Open House will take place on May 5&6. If you need a visa for Italy, please make sure you plan in advance. Getting a tourist visa is fairly straightforward, but sometimes it can be tricky. Make sure you contact us if you face any difficulties in obtaining your visa.

For candidates who applied to SAIS Bologna through the Bologna Admissions Office, the deadline for matriculation is May 16.

If you have not met the economics entry requirement, you will receive an email soon after April 27. As you know, we offer an online course over the summer  and the deadline to enroll is May 17. We know you'll meet the deadline! 

Now, on to the quiz:

What is the name of the art work in the center of the picture and where exactly is it located?

Picture by Elisabeth Mondl, BC 2011

Amina Abdiuahab

Concentrate on your future

Before we dive into concentrations, I would like to thank all of our candidates for attending your interviews. Now you can sit back and breathe a sigh of relief. The Admissions Committee will gather next week, and shortly after candidates will be informed.    

All SAIS students take up two concentrations. Each student needs to fulfill the requirements of International Economics. In addition, a student needs to choose either a Regional or Functional program of study.

The Regional programs focus on every area of the globe. The Functional programs include International Relations and its various strands -- conflict management, energy/resources/environment (ERE), international law, global theory and history, strategic studies -- as well as International Development.

If you have applied, you will have indicated either a Regional or Functional concentration on your application. The choice you indicated is not binding. During the first year a student has the chance to think things through, to attend different classes and to make a final choice. Your academic adviser will help you select your concentration and make sure it is aligned with your career goals.

International Development ("IDEV" in SAIS-speak) is the only program with capped enrollment. A limited number of students admitted to SAIS are accepted into IDEV, although courses are open to all SAIS students on a space available basis. Students are admitted directly to IDEV as part of the SAIS application process.

The International Economics concentration requires the successful completion of at least six economic courses. Four are required: intermediate microeconomics and macroeconomics, trade theory and monetary theory. The other courses can be chosen from a rather long list covering economic theory, development economics, quantitative methods and international finance.

If you have already taken intermediate micro or macro, or both, you can opt to take a waiver exam to place out of that course and to enroll in higher level courses. If you have not taken intermediate economics, pre- term is a good way to meet some of the requirements before the start of the academic year. 

You have already heard us mention the importance of languages at SAIS. We deem them so important that Regional concentrations require students to demonstrate proficiency in a language of that region, whether or not they have already passed a proficiency exam in a language from outside that region.

A student at SAIS Bologna can pursue any concentration. We recommend that candidates interested in concentrating in Asian Studies consider spending two years in Washington, partly because Asian languages are not taught in Bologna. However, there are some top-notch courses on Asia taught in Bologna. This term, Prof. Plummer is teaching "Asian Economic Development" and Prof. Pomfret is teaching "The Economies of Central Asia".

Any questions? You know how to find us.

Amina Abdiuahab

Getting a solid start

It's dry, sunny and comfortably warm. You're more likely to take your dinner outside than in. The bolognesi have returned from summer holidays. The city's pulse picks up.

It's pre-term at SAIS Bologna.

The Bologna Center's academic calendar traces that of European universities, which generally start their school years in October. Historically the late start relative to the U.S. system stemmed from the need for students to help with the harvest before beginning class.

Bologna intra muros

But the corridors of SAIS Bologna begin to fill in late August when most incoming students come to Bologna to get some work under their belts before the full Fall term begins.

I don't know the origins of pre-term, but it existed when I attended the Bologna Center 30 years ago. I showed up on a hot August afternoon, had a picnic lunch with my girlfriend in Giardino San Leonardo next to the Center and then went with Salvatore La Ferlita to find what would end up being my home for the next nine months -- an apartment in a tidy brick building just outside one of the city's medieval gates.

(Salvatore, as some of our readers know, still finds apartments for our students. When I returned to the Center this fall after nearly three decades as a foreign correspondent, I could not remember the address of the flat I had lived in. "Via Brevantani," Salvatore quickly remembered.)

Pre-term in Bologna lasts four to five weeks, depending on one's choice of subjects, and offers courses in Italian, intensive English, microeconomics and macroeconomics. Here's a mini-scoop for those hoping to come here for the next academic year: pre-term is tentatively scheduled to start on August 25 and end on September 27. Subject to change.

About four out of five students enroll in at least one of the pre-term courses:

- Microeconomics (intermediate level)
- Macroeconomics (intermediate level)
- Intensive Advanced English
- Intensive Italian
- Survival Italian

First, a word on economics. The pre-term courses are at the intermediate level and not geared to someone who has had no economics. Students with no background in micro- or macro- are required to take and pass the SAIS Online Principles of Economics course or an equivalent course outside of SAIS before taking the intermediate level courses.

Also, the intermediate pre-term economics classes do not carry credit towards the 16 courses required for the M.A. degree, but they satisfy the respective economic theory requirements.

Intensive Advanced English is geared towards those who, despite having a sound basis in the language, want to increase their fluency in writing, listening and speaking.

Intensive Italian provides a foundation for students new to the language. I'm living proof that after some 100 hours, a student can go out and take full advantage of life in Italy. Who knows, you might end up back in Italy years later and still be able to make yourself understood.

Survival Italian is reserved for students taking a pre-term economics course and involves about 40 hours of classes.

For more detailed information on pre-term, click here. Keep in mind that the schedule was for the last pre-term, not the coming one.

Beyond allowing students to get their feet on the ground academically, pre-term is a chance to get to know the other students and to settle down in Bologna. Many students spend weekends exploring Bologna or nearby destinations such as Florence, Venice or Cinque Terre.

In my case, my roommates and I set up house, I had a good laugh in Mili's intensive Italian class while getting a solid grounding in the language and my girlfriend of the time became my fiancée (and later my wife -- she still is).

A lot can happen in pre-term.

Tomorrow: democratic development

Nelson Graves

"Now I get it!"

Economics is one of the academic pillars at SAIS. We wrote about this in December and have come back to it from time to time. All SAIS students take economics as part of their course of study; understanding of economics is essential for anyone wishing to play a leadership role in the international arena.


Today our guest blogger is Çiğdem Akin, an assistant professor who this year is teaching Macroeconomics and International Monetary Theory. Prof. Akin received her Ph.D from George Washington University, her master's from the International University of Japan and her undergraduate degree from Bogaziçi University in Turkey. She has worked at both the IMF and the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo.

Economics is not a simple field of study. It requires logic, an ability to grasp abstract problems and the capability to simplify real issues and to isolate key concepts. Because economics is analytical in nature, it can be a difficult subject to teach and learn.

Over the many semesters that I have been a professor of macroeconomics and international monetary theory, I have often encountered students professing at the beginning that they are "not an economics person" or even that they "hate economics".

Slope is no issue for
 Çiğdem Akin

Yet they are willing to confront "the economics monster" at SAIS because they know that rigorous economics training is one of the unique characteristics that sets SAIS apart from other graduate programs in international affairs.

As a teacher, I face the challenge of converting a room full of students from varying academic backgrounds and with different levels of enthusiasm and confidence into a collection of people who can reflect positively on their economics education at SAIS.

So how do I approach teaching economics at SAIS?

First, combining theoretical concepts with real-life examples and policies has helped me keep the class materials relevant to students at SAIS.

For example, in the Macroeconomics course this past semester I used the subprime mortgage market crises in the United States as a case study.

Using cross-country comparisons, our students applied theoretical economic models and analyzed a wide range of topics: the functioning of financial markets; patterns of international interdependency; governments' fiscal policies and their implications for debt sustainability; deflation; monetary policies such as quantitative easing, and unemployment in the context of the current global recession.

Light reading for Prof. Akin

In the coming semester, students will deepen their understanding of open economies in the International Monetary Theory course. They will write research papers on the recent debt crises in the euro zone; the emergence of BRIC economies; the changing pattern of global economic balance of power, and the implications for growth of global financial integration.

The students will conduct hands-on research using macroeconomic data, read academic or policy-oriented research papers from the IMF and follow current policy debates through publications such as the Wall Street Journal or the Economist.

When students integrate theory into their own experiences, they gain the intuition, inter-disciplinary skills, critical thinking and curiosity to understand economic problems.

Learning is a cooperative experience at SAIS. A crucial component of teaching economics at SAIS is to encourage our students to work in study groups for assignments and problem sets. Students from diverse backgrounds learn to cooperate, apply their analytical and quantitative skills, manage their time and use available resources to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

At SAIS, we take pride in one-on-one education. I make myself available for students after class and often outside of office hours. Students appreciate this supportive and welcoming attitude and overcome any initial fear of economics.

I am always full of pride when a student I am helping tells me, “Now I get it!” 

Students appreciate the relevance and the strength of our economics training when they apply for internships or jobs in international finance, public policy, business or economic development in the public or private sector. During summer vacation, many of my former students have sent me thank you letters indicating that what they learned in economics helped them succeed in positions with organizations as diverse as the U.S. Treasury, an investment bank in London or an NGO working to alleviate poverty in Latin America.

At the end of the day, making a difference in the lives of generations of students by expanding their understanding of global issues and helping them become better world citizens is what makes teaching economics so rewarding at SAIS.

Çiğdem Akin

The Economics requirement (gulp)

The application puzzle is coming together. You’ve hammered out your CV, your statement of purpose is almost ready, you've contacted your referees, your university is sending us your transcripts. Now you're thinking: "There is something missing. What could it be? Oh, I know! It’s Economics!"

Most of you are considering applying to SAIS because the master's program is unique. There is the opportunity to study in Bologna and Washington on campuses that complement each other. There are vast opportunities to learn languages. And there is Economics, truly one of SAIS's distinguishing features.

I studied law, not "the dismal science", at university. It was not until I listened to Çiğdem Akin, resident professor of Economics at SAIS Bologna, that I began to grasp the importance of this subject to an understanding of international relations. Put simply, it is difficult if not impossible to appreciate how the world works without understanding Economics. Economics permeates all areas of study at SAIS and, more broadly, provides the context and even the motivation for countless decisions by individuals and policymakers.

Here is an explanation of the importance of Economics at SAIS. "Whether you are interested in pursuing a career in international finance, public policy, business, or economic development, our program provides students with the knowledge, skills and abilities to succeed in both the public and private sector."

An example: my Admissions colleague Nelson Graves had had little if any Economics before coming to SAIS Bologna. In his first journalism job after graduating, he covered international finance from Washington and had a front-row seat on Latin America's debt crisis in the 1980s.

You may appreciate why you will be studying Economics at SAIS and how you will benefit. You should also know that to start classes, you will need to grasp the basics of both micro- and macroeconomics. You can satisfy this requirement through introductory courses, either as an undergraduate or independently. SAIS offers an online course during the summer before classes start to those without the basics. The choice is yours, and it's best that you consider as soon as possible how you will meet the requirement.

If you are not sure whether the course you plan on taking is right, send us an email with the course syllabus and we will let you know whether it meets the requirement.

There are also Economics requirements for graduating from SAIS. But that will be discussed in a future post by Professor Akin. So stay tuned.

Amina Abdiuahab