No ivory tower

SAIS Bologna is first and foremost an academic experience. But don't expect an ivory tower.

Erik Jones

Our faculty have their feet on the ground and are engaged in some of the world's most pressing issues. Students benefit from the mix of theory and practice, not least of all when they speak to potential employers who are looking for savvy, plugged-in graduates.

If you have a few minutes, read this newspaper column by Prof. Erik Jones. Many of our readers know already that Prof. Jones heads the European Studies department at SAIS Bologna. He is also in the throes of launching the Bologna Institute for Policy Research.

Yet his head is anywhere but in the clouds, as you'll see from the article. There is no more pressing issue in Europe right now than the future of the euro zone and of the European Union. The kind of issue that is tackled full on by Prof. Jones and students at SAIS Bologna.

If you have a few more moments, you might like to check out contributions by other SAIS Bologna professors to the understanding of global current events.

Nelson Graves

A chat with Professor David Calleo

The Bologna Center was founded in 1955, a decade after the end of World War Two. It was created against a backdrop of political, social and economic upheaval in Europe and mounting tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. Relations between Washington and Europe were evolving rapidly.

It's easy with hindsight to see why European Studies was from the start a key component of the Bologna Center curriculum. With the changes since then, foremost among them the disintegration of the Soviet Union, is European Studies still relevant?

Meet David Calleo. Professor Calleo has been teaching at SAIS for more than four decades. He was appointed director of European Studies in 1968, Dean Acheson professor 20 years later and JHU University professor in 2001. You can take a glimpse at his accomplishments and publications here.

If anyone has a perspective on SAIS and European Studies, it is Prof. Calleo. I took advantage of a swing through Washington to chat very briefly with him.



Nelson Graves

Seeing how you think

Today meet Erik Jones, resident professor of European Studies at SAIS Bologna. You can read more about his background, accomplishments and interests here.

Our subject today is not European Monetary Union or politics in Belgium, the Netherlands or Italy -- all areas about which Prof. Jones has written.

Rather, we have taken up some of Prof. Jones's time to discuss admissions interviews. We turned to him because he has considerable experience in interviewing candidates. Indeed he will be doing so in the next few weeks in Brussels and Vienna.

We wrote about interviews in a post earlier this month. We also touched on them last week. As you know, we interview all of our candidates, either in person, on the phone or via Skype. Each applicant will be hearing in the next few days about arrangements for the interview.

Erik confirms in his own remarks on camera that the SAIS Bologna interview is not so much a test of your knowledge as an opportunity for you to demonstrate your thinking power. Consider it a chance to put your best foot forward rather than a treacherous minefield.

Erik makes the point that the conversation can touch on current events. But for students of international relations, that should pose no problem, especially if the purpose is to hear you analyse events and trends shaping our world -- as you might like to shape it in the future.

Now, over to Prof. Jones.



Nelson Graves