Our latest poll

More and more of our readers are following this blog via email. It's a convenient way to stay in touch.

However, from time to time we run polls on the blog, and they can be seen only if you view the blog on a browser. When we polled followers earlier this year, asking what kind of surveys they would like to see, they cited polls on SAIS Bologna and also on current events.

With that in mind, we've launched a poll that will run for a few more days:

Did Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou do the right thing in calling a referendum on the EU's latest financial aid package?

We encourage you to vote. It takes little more than a click of the mouse. The votes are anonymous, and it is interesting to hear people's views.

In the future, we'll be sure to announce our polls in separate posts to make sure all readers know about them.

Nelson Graves

Meeting our faculty: Prof. Jones

Erik Jones is professor of European Studies at SAIS Bologna. He is also the director of the new Bologna Institute for Policy Research (BIPR).

One of the most viewed posts in this blog's 10 months of existence is a video chat with Prof. Jones in which he discussed the interviews that we conduct with all applicants. You might enjoy watching it.

While you're at it, check out Prof. Jones's work on the eurobond proposal.

Your degrees?
AB, Princeton
MA and PhD, SAIS

What courses are you teaching?
West European Political Economies, Central and East European Political Economies, Risk in the International Political Economy, European Research Seminar

Where have you taught?
Central European University, University of Nottingham, SAIS Bologna Center

How long have you been teaching at SAIS Bologna?
Since February 2001 – in residence since September 2002

A link to a recent publication/oped/academic work by you?
See http://www.jhubc.it/facultypages/ejones for publications

Anything special about SAIS Bologna?
The community atmosphere. I don’t know any place that has as tightly knit a group of students and scholars as we do.

Anything special about Bologna?
The combination of young and old. You have about 100,000 university students living and studying in a place that has a 900 year old university.

Your favorite book?
If you want fiction, then I read a lot of junky sci-fi (Robert Heinlein) and fantasy (Robert Jordan). My reading age varies between 13 and 16. I read the Game of Thrones books in about a month. I am now working on a series by David Weber. If you want non-fiction, then I would probably go with Richard Bookstaber’s Demon of Our Own Design or Robert Schiller and George Akerloff’s Animal Spirits. But I also enjoy books on US foreign policy and am working my way (slowly) through the various Republican candidates.

Hobby?
I like to swim, either long-course or open water. Sometimes I get afraid of what else might be in the open water – particularly when I cannot see the bottom.

A quote?
Churchill was pretty good with the one-liners. Take your pick.


Nelson Graves