Another winning paper: a recipe for success

Last month readers met Christina Politi, who wrote an award-winning paper on U.S. policy towards Greece between 1946 and 1964.

Today let's move east.

Annabel Lee just finished her year at SAIS Bologna and is concentrating in Russian/Eurasia Studies. She became interested in Russia in 12th grade after reading Dostoevskij's Crime and Punishment. At the time she would joke around that one day she "would learn Russian, go to Siberia in the dead of winter, sit outside of a gulag and read Crime and Punishement in Russian". A few years later, in 2008, she fulfilled that high school joke. It was during her time at SAIS that she developed an interest in Central Asia. She was eager to learn more about a region she knew little about and that was influenced by her primary interest: Russia.


Not so surprising, then, that in the "Economies of Central Asia" course this past Spring with Prof. Richard Pomfret, she choose to write about Tajikistan, an ex-Soviet republic.

Her paper won one of the three C. Grove Haines awards at graduation in May. If you read it, you'll see why.

Like Christina in her paper on Greece, Annabel, who attended the University of Texas before enrolling at SAIS, reaches some sobering conclusions:

"Western groups would thus be more effective at helping local Tajiks if they substantially reduced reform demands and adopted more apolitical development goals, for currently their humanitarian ideals preclude them from even entering the development market at a significant level.

"Most importantly, the Rakhmon administration needs to recognize that, like in Chechnya, it can improve conditions for its citizens, increase job opportunities through infrastructure development, and decrease migration flows without destabilizing the state; otherwise, the poverty-inducing status-quo will remain."

What is Annabel doing this summer before she resumes her SAIS studies in Washington?

"This summer I am interning with the U.S. State Department Public Affairs Section in Tbilisi, Georgia," Annabel writes.

Annabel receiving her award
from Prof. Akin

"It relates to my paper, for the internship is providing me with the opportunity to more fully explore how governments interact to influence policy. I am also getting to see how a different former Socialist Soviet Republic has implemented domestic and foreign policy successfully to develop into a relatively free and stable nation -- quite the opposite of Tajikistan."

I asked Çiğdem Akin, who gave Annabel her prize at graduation, what made her paper stand out: "She had an interesting topic, presented the issues well and had a solid research on it."
Sounds simple. But it isn't.


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

"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